Activists and labor groups in the Philippines on Tuesday called on the government to increase the country's minimum pay to help workers cope with a swelling food and fuel price pressure.
Ernesto Herrera, secretary-general of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), proposed an 80 pesos (1.95 U.S. dollar) pay increase which would boost the daily minimum wage of workers in Metro Manila to 442 pesos (10.78 dollar), local television network ABS-CBN News reported.
Another group, The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), on Tuesday urged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to compel Congress to prioritize a proposal which will raise workers' daily minimum wages up 125 pesos but has failed, for years, to win lawmakers' endorsement.
Herrera said even though the amount proposed by TUCP was relatively moderate, but, based on the experience, the actual proved amount is likely to be less. He said the last time TUCP presented a 100 pesos minimum wage increase proposal, the wage board approved only a pathetic 12 pesos increase.
Labor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap said it will go to poor communities in Metro Manila to drum up support for a massive street protest on Labor Day for the proposed wage hike, aiming to pressure the government to implement the 125 pesos wage increase to offset rising inflation.
The Philippines, one of the world's major consumers and importers of rice, is caught in the middle of a worsening global rice supply shortage. Prices of rice, the staple of 90 million Filipinos, are expected to soar as supply tightens in the coming months.
Meanwhile, a skyrocketing fuel price compounded the inflation concerns.
Inflation in March rose to 6.4 percent, the highest since August 2006, and is not expected to drop until the second half of the year.
The government in last week announced that government employees can expect a 10 percent pay hike from coming July. Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya said the pay hike, covering all national government employees, including uniformed personnel like soldiers and policemen, and casual and contractual employees, will cost the government around 24 billion pesos (about 585 million U.S. dollars) per year.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday ordered regional wage boards across the country to convene for private sector workers' pay rise.
Source:Xinhua
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