MANILA — Labor groups on Thursday protesetd outside the Manila Hotel, where the National Wages and Productivity Commission was set to meet to discuss a P60 wage increase for Metro Manila workers under Wage Order No. NCR 28.
The wage order for a lower increase comes as Wage Order No. NCR 27 remains suspended after big-ticket contractors Readycon Trading & Construction Corp. and R-II Builders Inc. questioned it before a Pasig court.
Groups urge employers to pay P85 minimum wage increase, DOLE to defend it
The labor groups said the petitioners had not posted the bond that the Pasig Regional Trial Court required when it issued the preliminary injunction so the labor department should implement Wage Order No. NCR 27.
"Ang nangyari, ang [Department of Labor and Employment], instead na 'yun ang gawin niya ang ginawa niya nagpasa siya ng bagong Wage Order 28 na lalong pinagulo," said Kilusang Mayo Uno chair Jerome Adonis.
(What happened was instead of DOLE doing that, they passed this new Wage Order 28 that just makes things more confusing.)
He said the new order only grants a P60 increase in the daily minimum wage, lower than the P85 in the previous order. Adonis said the P85 was already too small an increase.
Pasig court issues preliminary injunction vs NCR wage hike
Izzy Lee, ABS-CBN News
WAGE MEETING WITHOUT WORKERS
Labor leaders also expressed disappointment at what they said was a closed-door meeting on the new wage order, which was supposed to start at 1 p.m. but had yet to begin as of late Thursday afternoon.
"Bakit sila magmi-meeting ng patago at sikreto tungkol sa sahod ng manggagawa na wala 'yung mga manggagawa mismo?" said Rep. Eli San Fernando of the Kamanggagawa Party-list.
(Why are they holding a secret meeting on workers' wages without the workers themselves?)
Workers, rising costs cannot wait for litigation on wage hike — labor lawyer
He said there was no public consultation for Wage Order No. NCR 28 so there should be nothing for the NWPC to ratify.
"Kaya po tayo naririto para kuwesyunin 'yung Wage Order 28 dahil ang isip po ng DOLE, ito na 'yung pamalit dun sa P85 na naipanalo na po natin," said Carlos Oñate, spokesperson of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.
(We are here to question Wage Order 28 because the DOLE seems to think this will replace the P85 increase that we had already won.)