Noy hit over hands-off attitude on wage hike

KMU to ECOP: wage freeze has long plagued us even if you do not openly wish for it

Malacañang, the regional wage boards (RWBs), and ECOP in a well-coordinated orchestra, have again played a requiem to the wage hike call of workers: ECOP calls for a wage hike moratorium, Aquino says hands-off to such call and refers the issue to the RWBs, and the RWBs grant another round of measly, insulting wage adjustments in selected regions.

KMU Chairperson Elmer “Bong” Labog said “ECOP and big businesses should stop mouthing their plea for a wage hike moratorium, because we all know that  wages have never really increased and have actually lagged behind actual costs of living. Their wish has been granted long ago, and always.”

Labog also hit ECOP for using the excuse of providing more employment as the reason to why they cannot afford any wage hike.

“They have retrenched hundreds of thousands of workers already for the past two years at this time of the global financial crisis, and wages have never increased during that time, nor did it increase long before. And now that they’re claiming that they’re only starting to recover from the crisis, mass retrenchments, contractualization, and other schemes to twist employment continue to remain rampant.

“Wage hikes and sufficient and secure employment have always been denied to us, at the expense of preserving the profits of the businesses,” Labog said.

KMU also criticized the new Aquino administration for just toeing the arguments of ECOP.

“President Aquino cannot just remain hands off on the wage issue and let the wage boards decide. The wage boards, created via her mother’s wage rationalization act, have proven, always and again, to only grant very meager wage increases.

“Such attitude is no different from her predecessor Gloria Arroyo, so where’s the much hyped ‘pagbabago’ here?

“The wage hike has been one of the important people’s demands that he has evaded during the campaign period, no mention in his inaugural address, nor in his SONA. And after the long silence, all his press secretary can say is he can only let the wage boards decide? All that moves and statements give substantial basis for you to show an anti-wage hike an anti-worker stance this early, PNoy,” Labog warned. #