ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews /1 May) – Here’s good news for workers in the Zamboanga Peninsula as they celebrate the 111th Labor Day celebration today: the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) has approved a P13 wage increase effective “in the middle of the day” of Labor Day.
Jose Suan, president of the Philippine Integrated Industries Labor Union (PIILU) who sits as one of the labor sector representatives in the RTWPB, said the decision was arrived at following the series of consultations the board conducted in the different parts of the region.
Suan said the board held the consultations even though there was no petition for a wage increase filed by the labor sector.
The RTWPB is composed of Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Director Sisinio Cano, chairman; National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Regional Director Arturo Valerio and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Regional Director Nazrullah Manzur, vice chairmen; Suan and Rey Anthony Trio, labor sector representatives; and Edgar Lim and Roberto Valerio, employer sector representatives.
With the new wage hike, Suan said the non-agricultural sector workers will receive P267 daily. For those in the agricultural sector, workers in the plantation and agricultural enterprise will receive P242 while those in non-plantation and non-agricultural enterprise will get P222.
