The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity (RTWPB) has rejected the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) appeal for a 470-peso raise in Metro Manila’s minimum daily salary from P537 to P1,007.
The Metro Manila wage board reasoned in a March 22 resolution that the TUCP’s petition was not within its jurisdiction.
The current daily minimum wage, according to the group, “can only provide employees and their families nutritionally insufficient survival meals.”
It further stated that the P3,874 deducted from the monthly salary of P12,843.48 was “severely inadequate” to cover expenses such as health, transportation and communication, and education.
However, the grant of an across-the-board minimum wage raises “does not fit under the jurisdiction of the board,” according to the Metro Manila wage board, citing the Employers Confederation of the Philippines’ (ECOP) opposition to the hike.
“After due deliberation, the Board agrees with the contention of the ECOP that the prayer for wage increase is a matter that lies beyond the jurisdiction of the Board,” the resolution stated.
TUCP 470-peso salary hike in Metro Manila rejected
According to the RTWPB-NCR, its authority is confined to minimum wage fixing and determination in the region, citing a Supreme Court judgment.
The TUCP slammed the dismissal, calling it “grossly unfair” since the RTWPB “choose to overlook the reasoning and computations that are all about a minimum wage hike.”
While the RTWPB cannot give an across-the-board wage raise, according to TUCP President Raymond Mendoza, it does have power over increasing the 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,” Mendoza said.
The TUCP plans to file a motion for reconsideration or resubmit its wage petition.
“The NCR-RTWPB of all places, are contemptuously setting aside our wage petition, which is a matter of survival for millions of minimum wage earners and their families in Metro Manila. The wage board’s total insensitivity to the plight of our poor workers and their families is appalling,” Mendoza said.
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