Celac Spokesperson Metudio Belarmino files their petition for a P360.50 wage increase at the RTWPB-7 office in this August 2019 photo. | Photo grabbed from the RTWPB-7 Facebook page
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Cebu Labor Coalition (Celac) is planning to seek reconsideration of the P18 increase in the minimum wage for Central Visayas workers which the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB-7) approved on Tuesday, November 26, 2019.
But first, Metudio “Boboy” Belarmino, Celac spokesperson, said that they will have to discuss the matter with their members.
Personally, Belarmino admitted that he was very dismayed with the outcome of the RPWPB-7 deliberation.
The P18 increase was “too low,” he said.
Read More: RTWPB-7 approves P18 hike for minimum wage earners in Cebu
Celac filed a petition for a P360.50 wage hike for Central Visayas workers in August.
The Associated Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) filed a separate petition for a P386 wage increase.
Belarmino said he knew all along that the amount that they were asking for will not be approved, but they still tried.
Read More: Cebu Chamber opposes ALU-TUCP petition for minimum wage hike
He said that the outcome of RTWPB-7’s Nov. 26 deliberations no longer came as a surprise. The board, he said, continued to disappoint the labor sector because of their lack of sympathy for workers.
Belarmino said that the possibility of getting a much bigger wage increase was already remote even if they file a petition for reconsideration, but they will still do so.
“Pormalidad naman lang na ang himoong pagpirma sa ahensiya sa wage order,” Belarmino said.
(The signing of the wage order was just for formality.) / dcb