The P40 minimum wage increase for private sector workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) will take effect on July 16 despite an appeal from labor groups for higher pay, the government said on Tuesday.
”Employers in NCR are expected to implement the new daily minimum wage on said date despite an appeal filed by a coalition of labor organizations,” the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said in a statement.
Approved on June 30, the new wage order provides an increase of P40, bringing the daily minimum wage in Metro Manila from P570 to P610 for the non-agriculture sector and from P533 to P573 for the agriculture sector, service, and retail establishments employing 15 or fewer workers, and manufacturing establishments regularly employing less than 10 workers.
Finding the new rate not enough, a coalition of labor organizations, including the Alliance of Nationalist and Genuine Labor Organization, the Labor Alliance for National Development, Gabay ng Unyon sa Telekomunikasyon at Serbisyo, and Pinagkaisang Lakas ng Manggagawa ng Manila Bay, appealed to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) on July 3.
They cited soaring inflation and argued that the basis of minimum wage determination should be the family living wage, which should amount to P1,161, and not the poverty threshold.
Under the rules, the NWPC must resolve the appeal within 60 calendar days from the filing date.
Petitions for minimum wage increases have also been filed in Regions III, IV-A, V, VI, and VII, the DOLE said.
Regional wage boards in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Western Visayas are currently evaluating the petitions, while public hearings will be conducted in Central Visayas this month and in August, it added.
