Labor groups welcome House’s P200 wage hike proposal; PBBM says proposal needs more study

With Congress set to go on recess next week to give way to the election campaign period, labor groups race against time to have the wage hike proposal for workers enacted into law.

Various labor groups welcomed the House of Representatives’ proposal for a P200/day wage hike nationwide, stating the proposed hike was “a much-needed and long-overdue relief for workers.”

“For too long, wages have been stagnant—stuck longer than EDSA traffic—while prices of basic goods like rice, gas, and transportation including SSS and PhilHealth contributions continue to climb like they’re in a race we never signed up for,” Nagkaisa Labor Coalition said.

The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) said that “while this is a step in the right direction, the FFW remains firm in its call for a true living wage mandated by the constitution—one that ensures workers can live with dignity, provide for their families, and keep up with rising costs.”

The House Committee on Labor, concluded its Jan. 30 hearing on the wage hike bill and endorsed the bill for approval of the Plenary on second reading.

‘TRUE WAGE JUSTICE’

“Wage hikes through legislation are just the beginning. These should be supplemented by stronger worker organizing and empowerment, ensuring that employees can collectively bargain with their employers at the plant level for even better pay and benefits,” Atty Sonny Matula, FFW president, said, adding that “a legislated increase provides much-needed relief, but true wage justice comes when workers have the power to negotiate directly with their employers.”

Ma. Victoria Bellosillo, president of the FFW Women’s Network and CPU Rank and File Employees Union in Iloilo City, stressed that the proposal for an across-the-board wage hike through the country is especially significant for provincial and rural workers, who have long faced wage discrimination.

“This is a welcome development for workers outside Metro Manila, but we must continue the fight—not just for higher wages, but for workers’ right to organize and collectively negotiate for better conditions,” Bellosillo emphasized.

Vilma Garcia, FFW Governing Board member and Union President of De La Salle Medical, Health and Science Institute Employees Union-FFW stated, “We need a substantial wage hike—unless we want our health workers to have their passports stamped more than their time cards at work.”

PROPOSAL NEEDS MORE STUDY

The wage bill is racing against time. Even if it gets passed on second reading, it would need three more session days before it gets considered for third and final reading per House rules. Congress is set to go on recess next week to give way to the campaign period.

A day after the House Committee on Labor announced their proposal for a P200 across-the-board wage hike, no less than Pres. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said during a media interview in Pasay City, that the proposal needs more study.

“We have to resolve the legal issues, we have to resolve the economic issues. So, it still deserves a great deal of study,” President Marcos said, further stressing that the tripartite board established by Congress determines the wage increases.

“We have a tripartite board that actually determines the increase in the wage. We have to study it further to see how that will work together. Because this is—the tripartite body was the creation of Congress,” the President said.

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