The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) welcomes the House of Representatives’ approval on second reading of the bill seeking a P200 wage hike for minimum wage workers in the country. At the same time, we are alarmed by, and condemn, the watering down of the bill previously approved by the House Labor Committee, which does not limit the wage hike to minimum wage earners.

House Bill No. 11376 or the “Wage Hike for Minimum Wage Workers Act,” if it becomes law, will give the poorest workers in the country an immediate relief from the increasing prices of basic goods and payments for services. It will move the minimum wage a little bit closer to the living wage, which the 1987 Philippine Constitution enshrines as a right of Filipino workers.

At the same time, the wage hike should be given to all private-sector workers across-the-board, beyond minimum wage earners. All Filipino workers have suffered from the reduction in the real value of their wages, especially amids the current cost of living crisis, and are guaranteed the right to a living wage.

Furthermore, only a small minority of workers have unions and are covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement that will enable them to press for wages significantly higher than the minimum wage. It is not too far-fetched to imagine employers raising workers’ wages a little beyond the minimum just to be exempted from the bill’s coverage once it becomes a law.

We therefore call on Congress to revert to the Labor Committee version of the bill and uphold an across-the-board minimum wage hike. We call on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to certify as urgent the House Labor Committee version of the bill mandating a P200 across-the-board wage hike.

At the same time, we voice our opposition to the statements made by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) on the wage hike bills. Employers’ groups in the country are rehashing old arguments against wage hikes in the face of new, extraordinary conditions of high prices.

The regional wage boards cannot be relied upon to provide a significant wage hike and move wages closer to the level of living wages. Research by independent think-tank Ibon Foundation shows that employers can afford a P200 wage hike. If only employers will allow a minor reduction in their profits, they do not need to lay off workers or pass on the burden of the wage hike to their consumers.

According to Ibon Foundation, a P200 across-the-board wage hike means a mere 11.8% reduction in total profits – 11.1% for large firms, 9.1% for medium firms, 12.9% for small firms and 15% for micro firms. It says that the government can and should support small firms if they are incapable of implementing the wage hike. For decades, labor costs have decreased as a proportion of production costs.