Tacloban Chamber of Commerce bats for scrapping of legislated wage hike

Tacloban City (January 20) -- The Tacloban Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TFCCCI) bats for the scrapping of House Bill 345 and Senate Bill 2030 which mandate an across the board minimum wage increase of P125 and P100 per day, respectively.

The Chamber opines that should there be any wage increase, the same should be determined by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards of each region of the country and that Congress should push for more non-wage benefits for workers and enact measures to mitigate the effects of high cost of living, such as exempting the minimum wage earners from income taxes.

Mr. Henry Yaokasin said that the Chamber has sent a position paper to the Senate Committee on Labor on January 18 expressing the sentiment of the business community in the Region. He said that the Chamber represents the employer, business and management sector in Eastern Visayas Region which comprises the provinces in the islands of Leyte, Samar and Biliran, more particularly, Tacloban City, at the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board.

As such, Mr. Yaokasin said that the Chamber believes in tripartism with Government, labor and management in resolving wage and labor issues through the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity board.

The Chamber said that while it sympathizes with the plight of the labor sector for a significant wage adjustment, due to poor business climate in the country, particularly in Eastern Visayas Region, coupled with the sharp increase in operating costs, the Employers in the Region which are composed mostly of agriculture, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and family businesses, could hardly afford a salary increase of P125 as passed by the House of Representatives through House Bill No. 345 or a salary increase of P100 as proposed by the Senate under House Bill No. 2030.

The legislated wage increases will endanger many small and medium enterprises in the country particularly in Region 8. This would also worsen the unemployment rate due to massive retrenchment and displacement of workers. As a result, the country’s already moving up economy will be severely harmed.

Any wage increase will affect the cost of production and in order to meet increased labor cost, the business sector is will be compelled to increase prices of commodities which is inflationary and will cancel out the benefit of the wage increase.

Besides, it was only on July 4, 2006 when the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board of Region VIII, passed Wage Order RB VIII-13 increasing the minimum wage from P188 to P220 per day, the Chamber said. (PIA 8)