The wage hike would, to a certain extent, bridge the wide gap between the rich and the poor, and eventually boost the economy amid increased purchasing power of the workers, they noted.
The wage hike demand was aired jointly by the All Workers’ Unity, led by Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage).
“There is no debate that the current minimum wage is no longer sufficient and wage hike is really justified in both government and private sectors, covering regular, contractual, job order and other workers and this should be supported by all sectors,” said Anakpawis Rep. Fernando Hicap.
“The current levels of minimum wages set by the Aquino government through the regional wage boards (RWBs) are obviously too low to support a family of five to six.
He noted that in the private sector, the highest wage is at P481 per day for the National Capital Region (NCR) and the lowest is at P205 for the Region IV-B or the islands of Southern Tagalog, while in the public sector, salary grade 1 for NCR is at P9,000 per month or a little more than P400 a day, while 6th class local government units workers is at P6,750.
Anakpawis said a study of the Ibon Foundation set the family living wage level (FLW) at P1,086 per day for family of five to six, amid a survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority indicating that 6.1 million families earn less than P7,162 per month.
“As foreign monopolies dominate the business sector in the country, the Filipino people would benefit if the wages are increased as this will somehow lessen their profit that goes out of the country and remain in the local economy,” Hicap said.
He also asserted that wage hike “would effect an increase in the purchasing power of the people and lead to a more favorable market for small and medium enterprises.
Hicap also said that wage hike “is a democratic step to challenge the concentration of wealth in few rich families.”
“The 50 richest in the Philippines have a total net worth of $74.3 billion or about P3.2 trillion, who sourced their wealth from Filipino labor,” Hicap said.
He lamented Pres. Aquino’s boast over the growth rate of gross domestic product which, he noted, is under the control of rich foreign businesses and their local fronts.
Anakpawis said the P16,000 national minimum wage hike move is “in the national and democratic interest of the Filipino people, against the plunder and concentration of wealth by the foreign monopoly and rich few.”