Workers under the Kilusang Mayo Uno held a picket today at the NCR regional wage board hearing to call for the abolition of wage boards.

“Wage boards should be abolished for they serve to deceive and divide the workers in the demand for a legislated wage hike,” said Elmer Labog, KMU Chairperson.

No meaningful increase

“Since the wage boards were established last 1989, only P12 was the average adjustment given by the NCR wage board for example, and even smaller in other regions.

“Also, since 2001, COLA adjustments were the only form of increases granted by the wage boards.” Labog also said that 28.37 million workers would be automatically exempted from the 33.7 million labor force if all the wage boards will give increases, which promise to cover only minimum wage earners.

In Western Visayas, for example, the wage board there already revealed that 80 percent of workers will be exempted if ever they would approve an increase.

No forgiveness

“The Arroyo government also deliberately allows the capitalists to disobey wage board orders. The NWPC (National Wage and Productivity Commission) already admitted that they discover many cases of non-compliance to wage orders, but no case or investigation was pursued.”

KMU maintained that only a P125 legislated across-the-board wage hike is meaningful to the workers. The inflation even deflated the P125 to only P64 at the present based on year 2000 prices.

No one pleased

Labog also criticized Arroyo’s hype over the wage boards. “Arroyo thinks she can please us with her surprise visits and other hype moves to build up the image of the wage boards? She tries hard to impart on the people that the wage boards are the only means for them to get a wage increase.

“The necessary bills to enact the P125 wage hike are already pending at the House and Senate. Arroyo should certify these as urgent bills. She only needs to sign, much easier than traveling for surprise visits,” Labog said.

Meanwhile, KMU is already investigating on the reported filing of its local chapter in Tacloban of a P125 petition to the wage board there.

“KMU maintains that workers cannot expect meaningful wage hikes from the wage boards, and that these are just instruments to evade a legislated across-the-board increase.”