The Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board-Region 7 conducted a public hearing in Dumaguete City, the capital of Negros Oriental, on the petition for a wage hike by the labor sector.
The public hearing for the provinces of Negros Oriental and Siquijor, held at a local hotel, will determine whether there is, indeed, a need to increase the wages as proposed by the labor groups, ALU-TUCP and the PACIWU.
In the same activity, the Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce & Industry also presented its position paper opposing the wage increase, according to NOCCI President Edward Du.
Du reiterated that their main argument is that there is no reason for a wage adjustment here because Dumaguete is not expensive compared to Bacolod City or Cebu City, which are both highly-urbanized cities.
The labor sector, meanwhile, rallied for a wage increase citing the poverty threshold here where the present minimum wage is below the poverty level.
The National Economic Development Authority has set a standard where a family of an average size of five, with a monthly income of P10,000, is considered “poor”, said Du.
The daily wage here is P310.
Among those present during the wage board hearing were NEDA-Region 7 Director Efren Carreon who is also the concurrent NEDA director for the Negros Island Region, Trade & Industry Region 7 Director Asteria Caberte, Labor & Employment Region 7 Director Exequiel Sarcauga, and two representatives each from the management and the labor sectors.
The RTWPB in Region 7 conducted the public hearing on the proposed wage hike for Negros Oriental while RTWPB in Region 6 will do the same for Negros Occidental in the absence for a wage board in the NIR.
It is now up to the RTWPB-7 to decide on the wage adjustment for Negros Oriental, NOCCI president Du said. (PNA/JFP)
