The labor movement was furious after the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) blocked any increase in wages this New Year.
Recently, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said that it is still necessary to “feel” the previous wage increases, while the DOLE ensures that it is fulfilled.
“Last year’s wage increases only ranged from P30-50, just enough for a kilo of rice, or fare for a short ride in a modern minibus under the PUV Modernization program, or a one-way train ticket now that fare hikes loom in the MRT and LRT,” said Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Tuesday, in a statement.
“To hear the DOLE Secretary preemptively saying that wage hikes are unlikely this year is also the government admitting that they have no interest to alleviate the plight of workers especially now that the economic crisis worsens day by day.”
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) initially said that it is possible to approve the petition to raise the fare on the MRT-3 this 2024, after the first fare hikes on the LRT-1 and LRT-2 this August.
It was only in December that the IBON Foundation predicted that jeepney fares may increase by up to 400% so that operators and drivers can recover the expensive expenses associated with the PUV Modernization program.
Workers disappointed with DOLE’s disapproval of 2024 wage hikes
Although the DOLE should ensure that the capitalists fulfill the previous wage increase, the KMU said that this is not a sufficient reason to pass the problem of monitoring to the workers.
“All these issues – measly wage increases that are given in tranches and are sorely delayed – only reveal the failure of RA 6727,” KMU added.
“To our fellow workers, we join you. Let us continue to fight for significant wage increases, and the passage of a National Minimum Wage based on the family living wage standard, currently at P1188.”
Progressive sectors have been demanding for a long time the passage of a P750/day increase in the wages of regular employees and workers nationwide due to the speed of the increase in the price of goods and services, but it continues to stall in Congress.
The daily minimum wage in the National Capital Region currently stands at P573 to P610, the highest minimum wage in the entire Philippines. It is smaller than other regions of the country.
All of this is far from the Family Living Wage in Metro Manila, which is P1,188/day wage required for a family of five to live decently, according to the IBON Foundation.
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