Labor group slams Pasig court order maintaining wage hike injunction

The NAGKAISA Labor Coalition criticized a Pasig trial court Wednesday for maintaining an injunction that halted the implementation of a P85 daily wage increase for workers in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The criticism followed a 20 October order by the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 152 denying a motion for reconsideration filed by the Office of the Solicitor General, which sought to lift the court’s August injunction.

“A court that has no jurisdiction has no authority to do anything except dismiss the case,” NAGKAISA chairperson Jose Sonny Matula said.

The Office of the Solicitor General, representing the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), appealed the 12 August injunction that granted petitions from two construction firms seeking to block the pay increase under Wage Order NCR-27, issued by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board.

The court originally set a P10 billion bond that the corporate petitioners were required to post for the injunction to take effect. While neither company had paid the initial sum, the court reduced the required bond to P5 billion in its 20 October ruling.

“It cannot issue, maintain, or modify an injunction, nor can it acquire jurisdiction by reducing the injunction bond,” Matula said.

Citing Republic Act 6727, or the Wage Rationalization Act, Matula argued that legal challenges to regional wage orders must be brought before the National Wages and Productivity Commission rather than regional trial courts, rendering the RTC rulings void.

“Even if the court reduces the bond to one peso, the injunction has no power since the RTC has no jurisdiction,” Matula added.

The court’s 20 October order also granted petitions by NAGKAISA-affiliated labor groups to intervene in the proceedings. However, labor leaders dismissed the decision as belated.

“Thanks, but no thanks. The intervention came too late,” NAGKAISA spokesperson Rene Magtubo said, noting that labor groups had already sought relief directly from the Supreme Court before the RTC permitted their participation.

“The granting of leave to intervene came too late to erase the harm caused by the injunction or to cure the court’s jurisdictional defect,” he added.

Affiliated unions — including the KAMANGGAGAWA Partylist, National Federation of Labor, Unified Filipino Service Workers, SENTRO and Partido Manggagawa — have a pending petition before the Supreme Court challenging the trial court’s authority over regional wage orders.