BACOLOD CITY – Minimum wage earners in Western Visayas are expected to receive a P15 to P30 daily pay hike effective on Nov. 27.
This was revealed by Wennie Sancho, labor representative to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Western Visayas, after the secretariat published the new wage order last Monday following its approval last Oct. 22. Sancho said the effectivity of the wage order is 15 days after the publication.
Members of the RTWPB Region 6 are set to meet in Iloilo City on Nov. 21. The management has 10 days after the publication to contest or appeal the order.
Under Wage Order No. 25, a P30 daily pay hike is provided for workers in non-agriculture, industrial, and commercial establishments employing more than 10 employees. From the current P350 plus cost-of-living allowance of P15, totaling P365 per day, the new rate would be P395.
Employees from establishments with less than 10 workers will get an additional of P15, making the new wage rate at P310 per day. For the agricultural sector, plantation workers will receive a P20 increase. From the current P295 per day, the new minimum wage rate under this sector is P315.
Sancho, also the secretary general of the General Alliance of Workers Associations, considered it as a welcome development. “We hope that this increase could somehow stabilize the purchasing power of the workers especially that we are approaching the Christmas season,” he said.
The new pay hike will also be included in the 13th month pay of the workers, he added. (Glazyl Masculino)
