Aquino urged to stop introducing another wage freeze scheme

Aquino urged to stop introducing another wage freeze scheme
“Under the new wage system, companies get more freedom to tinker with workers’ wages in the guise of raising productivity levels.” – EILER
By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – In a country where the working people’s real minimum pay has flattened over the past decade (see chart from Ibon Phils.), a new wage system about to be introduced by the government is currently spooking labor advocates.

Given that the Philippines already has hundreds of minimum wage levels nationwide, not to mention that a fifth or more of inspected establishments are, on the average, reported as not paying the prescribed minimum wages, plus, there are exemptions granted for some establishments in paying the minimum wages, more wage levels seem to be still in the works.

In another looming wage system, another tier will be added to regional (and sometimes provincial) minimum wages, which also differentiate rates between agricultural and non-agricultural workers, plantation and non-plantation.

The Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER), a labor think tank, cautioned the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and business groups against pushing the two-tiered wage system, saying it could pull down the already meager incomes of Filipino workers instead of raising compensation levels.

Chart courtesy of Ibon Phils.

The Region IV-A wage board has recently granted a P2 to P90 ($2.13) wage increase with “productivity allowance,” a mode which EILER warns as a “transition to the new wage system that is primarily based on productivity.”.... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/05/04/aquino-urged-to-stop-introducing-another-wage-freeze-scheme/