By Tara Yap
ILOILO CITY—A labor group from Bacolod City, Negros Occidental is calling for a minimum of P50 or a maximum of P60 salary hike in the Western Visayas region.
The winners of the 2019 Productivity Olympics, which is handed by out by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB-6) under Department of Labor and Employment, during a ceremony in Iloilo City. (Tara Yap/Manila Bulletin)
Atty. Ailyne Valaquio, secretary of Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB-6) under Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-6), confirmed to Manila Bulletin the new wage hike petition.
The New and Independent Workers Organization (NIWO), a union of Bacolod-based workers for Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc., argued the current wage rate “cannot adequately answer the continuing increases of prices of prime commodities and basic services”.
Workers in Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental currently earn a minimum daily wage of P365 in the commercial industry and P295 in the agriculture industry.
NIWO cited the April 2019 Consumer Price Index that showed the depreciation of the purchasing power of the workers’ peso. For instance, the rate of P365 has depreciated to P302.40 while the rate of P295 has deprecated to P244.16 respectively.
NIWO’s petition excludes workers in Boracay Island, which is still reeling from the six-month tourism closure last year.
Meanwhile, RTWPB-6 awarded five enterprises for the 2019 Productivity Olympics. Winners are Dreamers Valley Camp and Resort, Belison Multi-Purpose Cooperative Dairy Enterprise, Pontevedra People’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Harbor Town Hotel, and Barbaza Multi-Purpose Cooperative.