More labor groups bat for workers’ pay hike

The Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) both said they support calls for the granting of wage hikes. (Photo: Partido Manggagawa (PM) blog)

MANILA — Several labor groups have joined regional wage boards in calling for an addition to the minimum salaries of workers amid the rise in prices of basic goods and commodities.

The Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) both said they support calls for the granting of wage hikes.

“In the short term, regional wage boards may address workers’ wages affected by inflation,” said PM Chairman Renato Magtubo in an interview Friday.

He also pushed for a review of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, saying it would help the public aside from providing salary adjustments.

“A TRAIN law review is necessary because its impact in the form of rising inflation has tremendously affected lives of low-income earners,” said Magtubo.

For his part, KMU Chairman Elmer Labog said “(t)he implementation of a wage hike is actually long overdue.”

He pointed out that the inflation that is prompted mainly by the TRAIN law has made a wage hike all the more necessary.

“The state of wages even before the TRAIN implementation was already insufficient to cope with the prices of goods and services. The TRAIN further aggravated this disparity and raised a howl even from the middle class of society,” Labog said.

On Thursday, the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) urged all regional wage boards to conduct emergency meetings and adjust prevailing wage rates.

In the past days, there has been an increase in the prices of fuel, electricity rates, grocery items, and other basic commodities.