Workers press DOLE to act on stalled P85 wage hike

Labor groups on Sunday, 18 October, urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) not to delay its response to a pending petition before the Supreme Court (SC) concerning the suspended implementation of the P85 daily wage increase in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The NAGKAISA Labor Coalition made the call as its affiliate organizations have a pending petition before the SC questioning the lower courts' orders that stopped the implementation of the wage increase under Wage Order No. NCR-27.

NAGKAISA chairperson Sonny Matula said the SC had asked the respondents, including DOLE's Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-NCR (RTWPB-NCR) and the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), to file comments on the petition challenging the orders of the regional trial courts (RTCs) that stopped the implementation of Wage Order No. NCR-27.

“We urge the Labor Secretary and government’s lawyers to complete their submission without further delay,” Matula said.

“This is a public-interest case involving wages needed for food, transportation, rent, utilities, loans, and other family necessities,” the lawyer added.

Matula said the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), which represents the NWPC and RTWPB-NCR, asked the SC on September 22 for more time to file its comment, seeking a 30-day extension or until October 26.

“The employers have filed their Comment and the workers have submitted their Reply,” Matula said, noting that the petitioners filed their pleading on October 12.

Before the petitioners filed their pleading, the employers named as respondents — Readycon Trading and Construction Corp., R-II Builders Inc. and the Alliance of Philippine Fishing Federations Inc. — had already submitted their comments, he said.

The companies had secured orders from lower courts stopping the implementation of the wage increase in NCR.

As a result, a petition was filed before the SC challenging the lower courts' orders.

The petition was filed by KAMANGGAGAWA Party-list and NAGKAISA's affiliate groups, including the National Federation of Labor (NFL), Unified Filipino Service Workers (UFSW), SENTRO and Partido Manggagawa (PM).

Although a new wage order granting a P60 daily wage increase in NCR took effect on September 26, Matula stressed that NAGKAISA would continue pushing for the P85 daily wage increase.

“The remaining P25 and the workers’ claims for unpaid wage differentials should be addressed a soon as possible, not left unresolved through avoidable delay,” Matula said.