Mixed signals for the labor sector?
This was the question of the local labor group General Alliance of Workers Association as it urged the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) to address the issue on the proposed wage hike in Western Visayas.
In a statement on Tuesday, June 18, GAWA Secretary-General Wennie Sancho said the government is sending mixed signals on who will issue the wage hike order.
He said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the Regional Wage Boards to review the existing minimum wage, however, it was not an assurance that wage hikes would be granted.
The situation was exacerbated with the approval of Senate Bill 2534 for the proposed P100 per day wage hike that is still pending in the Lower House, Sancho said.
“The government is sending a mixed signal to the labor sector as to who will issue the order for a wage hike? Is it the regional wage board or Congress?” he asked.
Sancho said that these questions must be answered by the RTWPB as soon possible as wage hikes can still be affected by inflation and “could not even restore the deterioration of the workers’ purchasing power”.*