THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said on Thursday that it filed a petition seeking a P420 increase in the minimum wage for Ilocos Region, in line with other petitions it filed with other boards.
In a statement, the TUCP said the current P340 minimum wage in the Ilocos Region is “far below the needed daily income for a family of five to survive in the face of rising prices of basic goods and services.”
“The regional wage board must set the new daily minimum wage in Region 1 at P760 so that our minimum wage earners and their families can survive and live decently,” it said.
The TUCP said that take-home pay in the region for minimum wage earners gives them “only P12.44” to spend per meal per person.
“Minimum wage earners and their families are already suffering from hunger and malnutrition,” it said.
The TUCP said the administration must not pass the responsibility of issuing a new wage order to the next government.
“Please do not pass the buck to the next administration,” it said. “Cut down the bureaucratic procedures and endless hearings and just issue a wage order that will save our minimum wage earners and their families from continuing hunger and malnutrition.”
Meanwhile, the TUCP said the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DoLE) proposal to provide a P5,000 to P8,000 wage subsidy for three months or until the time a wage order is given is an attempt by the agency “to raise false hopes instead of fast-tracking the grant of wage increases to help our minimum wage earners.”
“DoLE is just playing our poor workers and their families.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
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