A progressive youth group on Tuesday, Feb. 20, alleged some legislators were using Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as "shields" to evade demands for wage increases.

Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK), in a statement, condemned representatives Joey Salceda, Stella Quimbo, and David Suarez, as these legislators claimed that they were thinking of the possibility that MSME workers may lose their jobs when employers had not been able to comply with a legislated wage hike.

"These veteran legislators are using the same, worn out angle of pitting workers against workers," SPARK national coordinator John Lazaro said.

"To use MSMEs as shields every time workers demand a wage hike is nothing but fear-mongering and shameful," he added.

Lazaro also lamented that the stance of the legislators "only exhibits their bias and loyalty to the capitalist class."

On Feb. 7, Senate Bill No. 2534, which suggests an increase of P100 in the daily minimum wage of private sector workers was put forward to the Senate plenary.

SPARK said Quimbo pointed out that an increase in the minimum wage would only be counterbalanced with the increase of prices of goods in a "cost-push inflation," while Salceda said that an encompassing wage hike across the country would make the MSMEs perish.

"In a time of increased automation of industry, especially given the developments in robotics and artificial intelligence, it should come as no surprise that capitalists are becoming even craftier in finding ways to subvert wage laws by arguing that their labor pool is as small as MSMEs in other industries," said Lazaro.

SPARK supported the Senate bill, as it will persist in calling for a national 750-peso wage hike "as a first step in achieving family living wages in the country."

"Living wages are a youth concern too. We are future workers who deserve liveable conditions and dignity," said Lazaro.