Region 6 workers get P15 raise

BACOLOD — Minimum wage workers in Western Visayas will get a P15 increase in their daily wages starting December 25, after the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board approved in a meeting in Cebu last Tuesday night a new wage order granting the raise.

Wage Order No. 17 will add P15 to the existing P225-235 daily pay of nonagriculture workers, and P193-P203 for non-plantation and plantation agriculture workers, respectively, pegging minimum wage rates in Western Visayas at P208-P250.

The wage hike petition actually sought a P40-P50 wage increase in the region.

John Peter Millan, employers representative in the wage board, said in an interview that "we want to our workers’ salaries at par with other regions, considering that we did not grant an increase in Wage Order No. 16."

That last wage order drew protests from board labor representatives Wennie Sancho and Hernane Braza, who noted that it provided only a P15 emergency relief allowance that ran from July 6-October 15.

This time, Mr. Sancho was supportive of the new wage order. "This is an opportune time to grant a wage increase. There’s a series of rollback of oil prices, so it’s [a raise in daily minimum wage] not economically impossible," he said in separate interview.

But employers warned the additional pay could force some companies and sugar farms to retrench. "The wage increase will be a welcome relief to the labor sector. The danger to companies and farms that cannot afford the increase will be to reduce manpower," Roberto Montelibano, Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, said in a mobile "text" message.

BY NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER, Correspondent, Business World , Dec 11, 2008