TUCP files P430 wage hike for workers in Region 7; cites price hikes, malnutrition, hunger, poverty

By ALU-TUCP
March 21, 2022

CEBU CITY – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) today files a petition before the Regional Wages and Productivity Board VII (RTWPB-VII) for a P430 increase in the daily minimum wages in the Region.

TUCP stated in its petition that minimum wage earners and their families in Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor and other underlying islands are barely surviving with their meager income. The labor group said that since 2018, the prices of basic goods and services have gone up substantially which eroded the purchasing power of the current minimum daily wage of P404.00. This year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas projected that inflation will hit at 5.1% with the continuing increases in the price of oil triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ensuing economic and digital war.

“With the current high prices of food and other essential items, the measly income of workers can only accord them and their families with nutritionally deficient survival meals. We are deeply concerned that with the looming price hikes in the basic commodities, including electricity and transport fares, our workers and their families could really go hungry this time and that is unacceptable to us. We are filing our wage petition today to help our workers and their families in Cebu and in the entire of region VII to at least survive,” said TUCP President Raymond Democrito Mendoza said.

TUCP said that an P18 increase in the daily minimum wage which the RTWPB-VII granted in January 2020 has long been dissipated by the high cost of basic goods and services, even before it could be felt by minimum wage earners.

“Today, we are waging war against malnutrition and imminent hunger of our workers and their families in Central Visayas. We are fighting for a minimum wage that at least will save them from starvation. We are not even asking for wage adjustment that will also cover the increasing costs of non-food items which are also necessary to the daily lives of our workers and their families,” said Mendoza.

“With the current minimum wage in Region VII, a measly P15.00 per meal can be allocated per member of the family which is P41.17 lower compared to P61.17/meal/person estimated by the Ateneo Policy Center using the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Pinggang Pinoy model, and the March 2019 PSA Media Service Market Price of Selected Commodities. What kind of food can be bought by P15.00? Do our workers deserve just to eat nutritionally deficient foods while they continue breaking their backs to sustain and expand the economy?” asked Mendoza.

During the recent meeting of the House Committee on Labor and Employment, Mendoza who is the Vice Chairperson of the committee, pushed for the RTWPBs to act immediately on the wage petitions filed before them within 30 days. The TUCP also wrote President Duterte to direct the RTWPBs to swiftly deliberate on the same petitions.

“This is a race against time for the survival of millions of workers and their families who fell through the cracks. There dire conditions should be improved without delay by approving our desired minimum wage increase,” said Mendoza.

“Let me also be clear on our fight for decent wages. Wage hike was needed long before the Ukraine-Russia war and the skyrocketing oil prices that followed. The possible oil price rollback this coming week, although we would certainly welcome it, does not mean rolling back our wage petitions. Our minimum wage earners and their families have already fallen below the poverty level even before the ongoing conflict and its aftermath. The fact that our minimum wage earners have become the newly poor is a blatant injustice that must be seriously and urgently addressed by the government,” Mendoza said.

TUCP said that Region VII enjoyed an average GRDP growth rate of 9.35% for the period 2016 - 2019 before hitting -8.3% in 2020. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by an average of 5.6% in 2021. Central Visayas has been the consistent fourth biggest contributor to the GDP, averaging 6.44% for the period 2016-2020.

“Workers continued to give and sacrifice even with their declining health and strength due to poor nutrition for the sake of regional and national economic development. And what do they get? Malnutrition, hunger, and poverty,” said Mendoza.

The labor center said that the present monthly take home pay of P9,663.94, is far below the P16,295.00/month poverty threshold for a family of five in Central Visayas.