BACOLOD CITY -- A uniform national wage rate would be favorable to the regions since it will address the issue on the disparity in the minimum daily pay, said a labor leader in Negros Occidental on Tuesday.
Wennie Sancho, labor sector representative to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas, said there is only a small difference in the prices of basic goods and services in Metro Manila and in the other regions yet the gap between their wage rates is so high.
This results in lower purchasing power for other regions whose workers receive wages lower than those in Metro Manila, he added.
Under Wage Order No. 23, which already expired on March 16 this year, daily minimum wage in Region 6 ranges between PHP271.50 and PHP323.50.
In the National Capital Region, the minimum wage approved in September last year is between PHP475 and PHP512.
As of now, the RTWPB-6 is one of at least four boards set to issue a new wage order.
Moreover, Sancho, secretary-general of the General Alliance of Workers Association, welcomed the holding of the National Wage Board Conference in Manila on June 5.
Members of all 17 Wage Boards in the country will gather during the assembly.
Sancho said among the issues to be discussed is the wage increase.
“The Department of Labor and Employment has called for this conference to expedite the issuance of the order on wage hike, which is also the instruction of President Rodrigo Duterte,” he added.
Sancho said this development is advantageous to the workers in Western Visayas compared to those other regions.
The other wage boards have yet establish supervening conditions for a wage increase and would still need the approval of the National Wages and Productivity Commission to the push through with the pay hike. (PNA)
