A labor center welcomed a legislative measure approving a P200 increase in the basic wages of workers in the country.
The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) said the proposed increase in the minimum wage of private sector workers is a “small step in the right direction.”
Reacting to the House of Representatives Committee on Labor and Employment’s consolidation and passage of bills for a legislated wage hike, the CTUHR said it is glad that the consolidated measure doubles Senate Bill 2534’s proposed P100.
“We hope that this difference will be resolved in favor of an even higher wage hike,” the center said, noting that prices of basic goods and services have been steadily increasing.
“The government’s claims of economic growth must be reflected in improvement in workers’ wages,” it added.
Family living wage (FLW) in the country currently stands at P1,224 for a family of five, economic think-tank Ibon Foundation said.
Metro Manila’s P645 minimum wage, the highest in the country, is 53% of the FLW, while the country’s average of P465 stands at a mere 38%.
“While we recognize the bill’s advance inside the House of Representatives, we also see the legitimate demands of those protesting outside its gates. The country’s legislators should give a hearing to national labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU, May First Movement) which is calling for a P1,200 national minimum wage,” CTUHR said.
The center added that that the bill’s advance in Congress is not just for show given that 2025 is an election year.
CTUHR called on the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government to prove cynics wrong by upholding the Filipinos’ right to a living wage and standing up against both foreign and local employers as well as his economic managers on the issue.
“We take this opportunity to call on Marcos Jr. to resume the government’s computation of an FLW. No less than the country’s Constitution mandates the Filipino workers’ right to a living wage, but the government has discontinued computing the FLW years ago,” CTUHR said.
The last legislated wage increase in the country was in 1989. # (Raymund B.Villanueva)
