Workers group rejects wage boards

The Partido ng Manggagawa on Tuesday rejected the idea of having the
regional tripartite wage boards set the pay hikes of minimum wage earners, calling instead for its abolition.
In a statement, PM chairman Renato Magtubo called on fellow workers from other labor groups "to unite behind the demand to reform the wage fixing system and for Congress to instead legislate the wage hike."
Magtubo, who as party-list House member in the 13th Congress batted for a legislated wage increase, said his proposed National Wage Commission will have the mandate to set wages at the national level and at the level of the cost of living.
"The National Wage Commission will be different from the regional wage boards in that its mandate will be to set wages at the national scope and at level of the cost of living," he said.
The regional wage boards are only mandated to set minimum wages at the regional level and only after due consultation with all the stakeholders.
"We prefer a legislated wage hike not because Congress is pro-labor. The parliament is simply a better arena of struggle since the trapos (traditional politicians) are vulnerable to popular pressure unlike the wage boards whose tripartite composition is so designed that the unholy alliance between the representatives of employers and government will always outvote their labor
counterparts," he said.
"The regional wage boards are governed by 10-point criteria in fixing wages; among them is the capacity to pay of the capitalists that it always considers paramount," he said. Magtubo reiterated that Congress has the authority to legislate wage increases. "A wage hike can be legislated by Congress -- even tomorrow if it so desires and such will be reasonable because of the crisis situation if we follow the logic of the solons who want to give [President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo] emergency powers," he said.
He said that workers have always been bearing the brunt of economic crises, not being allowed to enjoy the fruits of economic growth.
"Despite the series of wage orders since 1989 when the wage boards were established, they still owe the workers for lost purchasing power. Minimum wages may have increased 307 percent from 1989 to 2007 but prices galloped 342 percent from 1989 to 2006," Magtubo said.
"Moreover, the wage boards have denied the wage hike from the majority of laborers through various exemptions, deferments, and creditability," he said.
Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya has said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would issue an executive order by May 1 granting government employees a 10-percent increase in their basic pay starting July.
1. The government would then spend P12.05 billion for the adjustment of salaries of government employees.
By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net