DOLE: Calabarzon workers to get P17/day pay hike

Workers in the Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon (Calabarzon) region will get a P17 hike in their basic salary as ordered by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Region 4-A.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said the wage order was issued last Dec. 20, and may bring to P337 the basic pay by January – the highest in the region.

“The wage board (RTWPB 4A), headed by DOLE Region 4-A Director Atty. Ricardo S. Martinez, Sr., prudently acted on the petition filed by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, by striking a balance on restoring the eroded purchasing power of the minimum wage earners, without impairing the momentum of recovery and competitiveness of business…," Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said on the DOLE website.

"The wage order in Calabarzon, the last for the year, brings to 14 the total number of wage orders issued nationwide this year," the DOLE said.

After its confirmation by the National Wages and Productivity Commission, Wage Order No. IVA-14 will be published in a newspaper of general circulation and will take effect 15 days after.

With the wage increase, the region’s workers in the non-agriculture sector will get a P337 minimum daily pay, while workers in agriculture-plantation will get P312 per day.

Agriculture-non-plantation workers will get a P292 daily wage, and those working in retail/service business that are not employing more than 10 workers will get P232 a day.

On the other hand, as part of the rationalization of the wage structure in Southern Luzon, the sugar industry mostly based in Batangas and Quezon, will get the higher rate applicable to agriculture-plantation of P266 per day, specifically those working in Nasugbu and Balayan towns.

“The Board also took into consideration the need to provide a relief to exporters greatly affected by the global financial crisis by way of allowing them to apply for deferment of six months the implementation of the new wage adjustment," Baldoz said.

She added that newly registered, as well as financially distressed, establishments can also avail of the exemption provision upon application and as determined by the Board.

Wage Order No. IVA-14 also allows the crediting of wage increases granted by employers three months prior to the effectivity of the wage order in compliance with the wage order for unorganized establishments.

Provisions in collective bargaining agreements shall prevail for organized establishments.

Earlier, the National Capital Region, the Cordillera Administrative Region, Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and Regions 3, 4-B, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 have issued wage orders in their respective areas.

Metro Manila has the highest daily minimum wage for non-agriculture at P404 and ARMM has the lowest at P222. LBG, GMANews.TV

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