Labor group supports P100 minimum wage hike for private sector workers

A government workers’ union on Sunday expressed its support for the passage of the proposed national minimum wage hike for private sector workers.

The Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK) further refuted claims that the said proposal will cause adverse impacts on public sector workers.

“We decry scare tactics and falsehoods being spread by certain groups claiming that the proposed legislated increase in the minimum wage for private sector workers will exclude the supermajority of workers and adversely impact government employees,” their statement read.

The labor group added that they also stand to gain from increasing the minimum wage for private sector workers.

“We have informal workers in the public sector, including job orders and contracts of service who are not recognized as government employees despite performing regular jobs,” they said, citing that there are currently over 830,000 job orders and contracts of service in government, many of whom are paid based on the prevailing regional minimum wage for private sector workers.

PSLINK said that passing into law the proposed increase in the wage for private sector workers will create a ripple effect on government workers, thus pressuring the government to adjust existing salary grades in the public sector and enact a new salary standardization law.

“Increasing the national minimum wage for private sector workers will compel the current administration to take immediate actions to finally address the issue of unfair compensation of all government workers, including our unpaid, informal workers such as Barangay Health Workers (BHWs),” they said.

“How can the government adjust the minimum wage for private sector workers while denying its own employees much needed salary hikes? How can the government adjust the minimum wage for private sector workers while disregarding the plight of thousands of BHWs, predominantly women, who are paid measly honorarium despite providing essential primary health care in their communities?”

They added: “Raising the national minimum wage for private sector employees will have a positive ripple effect on government workers. Rank and file government employees especially those receiving the lowest salary grades will largely benefit from the spillover effects.”

In February, the Senate approved on its third and final reading Senate Bill 2534, or “An Act Providing for a One Hundred Pesos Daily Minimum Wage Increase for Employees and Workers in the Private Sector.”

It garnered a unanimous decision after getting 20 affirmative votes, zero negative votes, and zero abstentions.

The current minimum wage in Metro Manila currently stands at P610 per day, while the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board last year issued wage orders for higher minimum wages for employees in some areas of the country, including Central Luzon, Central Visayas, and Northern Mindanao.