Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 5) – The Labor department on Tuesday said the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has filed a fresh petition for a minimum wage increase in Metro Manila after its earlier request for an across-the-board ₱470 salary hike was rejected.
According to the department’s National Capital Region director Sarah Buena Mirasol, TUCP is no longer asking for an across-the-board pay raise but is still calling for an additional ₱470 for the minimum wage.
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) had junked the labor group’s initial petition, saying an across-the-board increase is “not within [its] jurisdiction nor authorized by R.A. 6727.”
TUCP called this decision “insensitive” to the plight of Filipino workers, especially amid oil price increases.
“While it is true that the RTWPB cannot grant an across-the-board wage increase, it has jurisdiction insofar as providing an increase in minimum wage. It should have decided based on the arguments and computations that we submitted which are focused on a minimum wage increase rather than dismissing it,” said TUCP President Raymond Democrito Mendoza in a statement on Monday.
Mirasol said the fresh petition may be considered during the next regional wage board meeting.
She also said the board has consolidated three other salary increase petitions filed from 2019 to 2022 “to expedite the process of wage hike determination” in Metro Manila.
One of these is calling for a ₱213 increase and was filed by the Unity for Wage Increase Now in November 2019. The second is asking for the same amount and was lodged by the Metro East Labor Federation just this March. The third was also filed last month by the Solidarity of Unions in the Philippines for Empowerment and Reforms, and is proposing a pay hike ranging from ₱213 to ₱250.
“The board received three wage hike petitions and upon review, we have issued a resolution to consolidate all petitions and proceed to public hearings,” Mirasol said.
“The petition filed in 2019 was already given due course. We have conducted consultations; however, we were prevented to pursue on the conduct of public hearings because of the pandemic,” she added.
The labor official also said the department is set to conduct a consultation with labor and employers’ groups this April 8 and April 19, respectively.
