The National Wage Coalition trooped to the House of Representatives to demand immediate committee approval of legislated wake hike
AS the House of Representatives’ Committee on Labor and Employment drags its feet on the legislated wage hike with another hearing on Wednesday, 08 May 2024, the National Wage Coalition, spearheaded by the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition (NAGKAISA!), and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), demands our lawmakers to be true representatives of the people by heeding their clamor for a long-overdue and much-deserved wage increase amid soaring prices and two decades of rising labor productivity.
After two exhaustive hearings where economists, academics, think tanks, civil societies, and workers themselves already debunked the fancied threats of massive price spikes, joblessness, and business closures and shed light on the imperative of raising workers’ wages, the National Wage Coalition demands the House Committee on Labor chaired by Rep. Fidel Nograles to prioritize the urgent approval of wage measures, such as the ₱150 legislated across-the-board wage recovery increase by TUCP, as the first significant step towards every Filipino worker’s right to a living wage, and the ₱750 legislated across-the-board wage hike by the Makabayan bloc.
35 years of token increases and starvation wages since 1989 is a testament to the dismal track record of the regional wage boards across the country, condemning workers to a life of malnutrition, deprivation, and poverty. This chronic failure and survival crisis require Congress to take the cudgels and stand in solidarity with the working class of this nation.
Instead of inadequate presidential directives for review and reform of regional minimum wage rates, the National Wage Coalition demands that President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. immediately certifies urgent the legislated wage hike to fast-track its approval in the House of Representatives, considering that it is already passed in the Senate. In the face of rising hunger and persistent poverty, any form of apathy to the resounding demand for a legislated wage hike is a tacit admittance by the State that millions of hardworking Filipinos do not deserve to bring nutritious food to their family’s table and to live decent lives. Meanwhile, workers continue to contribute larger and larger to the economy, with each worker contributing ₱1,165 per day according to data from the IBON Foundation.
To be truly the House of the People, the National Wage Coalition demands Congress to raise the wages of all workers towards their right to a living wage, through the legislated wage hike for private sector workers and a fair Salary Standardization Law to increase the minimum wage of public sector workers to ₱33,000. We call on the honorable representatives of the House of Representatives to co-author legislated wage hike measures and for the House Committee on Labor to immediately approve these measures and send them to the plenary for urgent deliberations and passage. For all the workers of this nation whose honest hard work creates the wealth of our nation, the National Wage Coalition forges ahead in our struggle to demand: DAGDAG SAHOD ISABATAS! ₱150 PATAAS!
