|
ANGELES CITY—President
Arroyo skipped the usual Labor Day festivities
Thursday, opting to conduct surprise visits on regional
wage boards tackling wage-hike petitions in Metro Manila
and
Central Luzon.
The
traditional Labor Day festivities were held at the World
Trade Center in Pasay City, and included the launching
of the GMA Jobs Center Kiosk and the awarding of
livelihood grants and PhilHealth cards to informal
sectors.
Addressing reporters at the Villanueva, De Leon and
Hipolito Law Offices in Angeles City, where the Central
Luzon wage board was meeting, the President said she was
there not to “exert undue pressure. . . but just to see
for myself how things are going. And during the drop-by,
we’re bringing food to give sustenance to those doing
overtime work.”
“Instead
of having the usual Labor Day ceremony, upon my request,
the wage boards are doing overtime work today, Labor
Day. It’s a no-work holiday for all, May 1, except for
them. For myself, this is what I want to stress—the
regional wage boards—that’s why I’m going to the two
rather than going to the other usual activities,” she
said.
She
declined comment on the progress of the wage boards so
far, saying, “I don’t want to preempt anything.”
The
President also announced she has signed an executive
order granting a 10-percent salary hike for state
workers “in time for Labor Day.”
Labor
Secretary Marianito Roque said in a radio interview
that, “Upon the instructions of President Arroyo, the
whole DOLE is at work on Labor Day, as well as the wage
boards for the speedy resolution of wage-hike petitions.
There will be a decision this month of May to give
relief to our workers.”
At the
Metro Manila regional wage board meeting, Board
Secretary Aida Andres reported in her presentation that
the ones to be hardest hit by a wage hike in Metro
Manila are small, medium and micro enterprises since a
huge majority of establishments in the metropolis are in
that category.
Andres
said that a P125 wage hike, if implemented in Metro
Manila, could lead to an estimated loss of more than
914,000 jobs if the across-the-board wage hike is P60.
During
the meeting, representatives of the Trade Union Congress
of the Philippines, which is seeking a P80 wage hike in
Metro Manila, urged the government to issue the
implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act
9481, which strengthens the workers’ constitutional
right to self-organization.
Roque
said that the government is fine-tuning the IRR of RA
9481. “We are just reviewing the implementing rules. We
would be issuing it as soon as possible so that workers
representing even less than 20 percent of their members
in a company can organize themselves.” |
