|
EVEN
before the regional wage boards could promulgate a new
wage order, some industries, particularly the exporters
now reeling both from the global economic slowdown and
peso appreciation, are already sending feelers that they
will seek exemptions from a new round of increase in
workers’ daily pay.
Sergio
Ortiz-Luis, president of the Philippine Exporters
Confederation Inc. (Philexport) and Employers
Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop), said they will
ask that indigenous exporters be exempted from another
wage hike, as they fear that this embattled sector might
be totally wiped out.
“Even
without a wage increase, the indigenous exporters are
already closing one by one because of the peso
appreciation. With another wage increase, we might lose
all of them,” Ortiz-Luis told the BusinessMirror.
Indigenous exporters depend heavily on local raw
materials and, therefore, do not benefit from reduced
importation cost due to the stronger peso. They are
mainly in the food, handicrafts, fashion and
fine-jewelry industries.
Philexport reported that about 75 of these companies
have already closed shop due to the impact of the strong
peso and the US economic recession.
But even
the big electronics and chip makers in the country are
also wary of another round of wage hike.
Ernie
Santiago, president of the Semiconductor and Electronics
Industries of the Philippines Inc. (Seipi), said that
because of the slowdown not just in the US but globally,
it would also be hard for them to carry another burden
of a wage increase.
“It’s a
difficult year for business, so a wage hike is also a
difficult proposition,” Santiago said.
His
group might follow the lead of the other industries and
seek an exemption from any new wage order to be
promulgated by tripartite regional wage boards.
Anyway,
Santiago said the industry is already generous in giving
merit increases annually based on their employees’
productivity.
Also,
Santiago said they support calls of different business
groups for the grant of nonwage benefits instead.
The
National Wages and Productivity Commission has already
started consultations and set public hearings for the
petitions for wage increase in different regions.
Ortiz-Luis said they are ready to accept the wage
boards’ decision on whatever number they will deem
necessary for the new round of wage increase.
This is
despite the fact that wages in the different regions in
the country already range from $2.83 to $8.53, among the
highest in the region.
Ecop
said Vietnam’s minimum wage ranges from $1.46 to $1.79;
Cambodia,
$1.75; Indonesia, $1.98 to $3.69; Beijing, China, $2.14
to $3.72; and Bangkok, $4.47 to $5.98. |
