CEBU CITY—The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) 7 has approved the integration of the P13 cost-of-living allowance (Cola) of workers in Central Visayas in the minimum wage.
Businessman Philip Tan, a member of the RTWPB, said the integration of the Cola is in the final stage and awaits the signature of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.
The minimum daily wage in Central Visayas for the nonagriculture-sector workers ranges from P295 to P340, as specified in a March 21, 2014, wage order.
Those who work in the agricultural sector should have a minimum wage of P275 to P322 a day.
Art Barrit, spokesman for the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), said the minimum daily wage of P340 is not enough to feed a family of five, as the worker still has to pay mandatory premiums for Home Development Mutual Fund, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and Social Security System contributions.
Barrit said that, because of the mandatory deductions, the average take-home pay of a worker ranges from P269 to P279 per day.
He said a family of five consumes about three kilos of rice at P40 per kilo. A minimum-wage earner can hardly pay for the household’s utility bills and the tuition of his children, he said.
“ALU-TUCP is planning to file another wage-increase petition before May 1, 2015,” Barrit said.