SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME. General Alliance of Workers Associations secretary-general Wennie Sancho calls on lawmakers from Negros Occidental to support the proposed 14th month pay bill that would benefit thousands of workers in the province on Friday (July 5, 2019). Sancho said amid the high prices of basic goods and services, there should be a supplemental income in the form of 14th month pay for workers of private firms. (PNA Bacolod file photo)
BACOLOD CITY -- The General Alliance of Workers Associations (GAWA) based in Negros Occidental has welcomed the refiling of the bill seeking to grant 14th month pay for private sector workers.
GAWA secretary-general Wennie Sancho on Friday called on lawmakers, especially those from Negros Occidental, to support the proposed measure that would benefit thousands of workers in the province.
“This should be a national effort. Employees in the government have been enjoying many perks that can also be shared with private sector workers,” he said.
Sancho, who is also labor representative to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWBP) in Western Visayas, said that amid the high prices of basic goods and services, there should be a supplemental income in the form of 14th month pay for workers of private firms.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III has filed anew Senate Bill No. 10, otherwise known as “An Act Requiring Employers in the Private Sector to Pay 14th Month Pay”, ahead of the opening of the 18th Congress.
The bill seeks to give 14th month pay to “rank-and-file employees regardless of their employment status, designation, and irrespective of the method by which their wages are paid provided that they have worked at least one month during the calendar year”.
The proposed measure has been pending in the Senate since July 2016.
However, the business sector here has raised apprehensions on the bill that could “deter business growth”.
Frank Carbon, chief executive officer of Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the proposal to require private companies to pay their rank-and-file employees a 14th month pay will lead to laziness among the workers.
“It will not invite businesses to grow. What is needed maybe is incentive or productivity bonus, not a 14th month pay that will make workers just wait instead of working hard,” he added.
On Thursday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) also welcomed the refiling of the bill, but Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said they still have to study the proposed measure to consider the interest of both labor and management, as well as its impact on the country’s economic stability. (PNA)
