The Association Labor Unions - Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) has announced that is in the process of reviewing which regions are suitable for a minimum wage hike for employees.
"Inatasan na ng aming TUCP president Raymond Mendoza na pag-aralan kung saang region ang pwedeng mag-file ng wage increase petition at saang region ang hindi maaari," said ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay in an interview with DZRH.
(Our TUCP president Raymond Mendoza has ordered the study of where we could file wage increase petitions.)
According to Tanjusay, the union is also considering the welfare of employers in their proposal by ensuring that they file wage hikes in regions that are not hugely affected by the pandemic.
"Sa aming obserbasyon may mga regions na talagang heavily affected ng pandemic economically at may mga regions naman na hindi naman ganun kalala," Tanjusay explained.
(In our observation, there are regions that are heavily affected by the pandemic economically and there are regions that are not hit as hard.)
"So ito 'yung balanse na tinitignan namin para naman hindi naman masabi ng mga negosyante na absolute o general 'yung aming pagfa-file ng wage increase petition," he added.
(So this is the balance that we are looking at so business owners cannot say that we have been absolute or general in filing a wage increase petition.)
He cited the ongoing increase in commodities as a reason for the need to balance the wage hikes, as well as the proposed P15 increase of minimum fare in jeepneys.
"May epekto rin 'yung hinihirit ng transport jeepneys natin na P15, so kung P15 na hinihiling nila. Definitely mapapabilis ang pag-file namin ng wage increase petition," Tanjusay said.
(The call of transport jeepneys for a P15 minimum fare also has an effect. It definitely sped up our filing for a wage increase petition.)
Meanwhile, the spokesperson added they also plan on including the government and its potential role in its planned wage increase.
"Doon naman sa mga regions na makikita namin, baka pwedeng magbigay naman ang gobyerno dahil hindi lang dapat employer o businesses ang sasagot ng mga problemang ito dahil mahirap na para sa mga businesses at employers," he said.
(For the regions that we will see, maybe the government can also extend aid so employers or businesses will not be the only ones shouldering the problem because this is also difficult for businesses and employers.)
The ALU-TUCP spokesperson did not mention a specific range for the minimum salary increase, but he said that P750 is not enough to help workers meet the needs of their families, especially amid the pandemic.
