TUCP asks NCR wage board for P320 minimum wage hike for workers

June 14, 2018

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)  Thursday asked the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board - National Capital Region to grant an additional P320 across-the-board minimum wage increase for private sector workers in Metro Manila.

In its petition, TUCP said the regional wage board must increase the existing P512 daily minimum wage

in Metro Manila to P832.

“TUCP believes that a regional across-the-board wage increase of P320 is now needed in NCR because the existing P512 daily minimum wage is not enough for a household with at least five members to survive and to live a decent life,” TUCP President Raymond Mendoza said in a statement.

House Bill 7805 filed by the TUCP Party List also proposes a P320 increase in the minimum wages in all regions.

TUCP Vice President Manuel Corral said the amount of P320 stemmed from the government’s pronouncement a family of five needs at least P42,000 a month to live decently.

He said this means a family of five roughly needs P1,400 daily income.

“The P832 per day wage is still a ‘survival wage’ in Metro Manila given the soaring costs of rice, fuels, sardines, school supplies, education, medical support, transportation and all other basic goods and services due to the implementation of the TRAIN law, oil price increases, and dramatic peso depreciation,” he stressed.

Earlier, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) ordered all regional wage boards nationwide to assess the prevailing minimum wage rates in their areas amid the recent spike in prices of basic goods and commodities.

The last wage hike in Metro Manila was imposed in September 2017 and took effect the following month. DMS