P20 Ecola: An insult to NCR workers

"It is an insult to the workers who are now reeling from skyrocketing cost of living," Josua Mata, Secretary General of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), said in reaction to the P20 emergency cost of living allowance granted by the National Capital Region-Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board (NCR-RTWPB) yesterday.

The Wage Order No. NCR-10 granted a P20 Emergency Cost of Living Allowance (ECOLA) amidst the series of price increases in consumer goods and services including the fare rate increase brought about by the spiraling cost of oil prices.

"It is severely inadequate for the few workers who would actually benefit from it, and totally useless for the vast majority of the working people who would be exempted from it," Mr. Mata added.

It should be recalled that last June 12, 2004, the minimum fares for jeepneys and buses increased by P1.50 and P2.00 respectively. This alone is equivalent to 45% increase in the transport fare of workers and yet the P20 ECOLA awarded by the Wage Board is equivalent to only about 7.1% of the NCR's minimum wage given in 2001 which was P280 (P250 for basic pay and P30 for ECOLA).

Worse, the ECOLA will not be applied across-the-board and will only affect a very small portion of the working as the Wage Order would exempt: 1) Distressed establishments; 2) Establishments facing potential losses; 3) Retail/Service establishments employing not more than ten (10) workers; and 4) Establishments whose total assets including those arising from loans but exclusive of the land on which the particular business entity’s office, plant and equipment are situated, are not more than P 3 million.

Finally, the Wage Order does not take into consideration the succeeding inflation or increase in prices expected as the global oil prices continues. And under the law, any new adjustment can only take effect one year after the granting of Wage Order 10.

Labor representatives in the NCR-RTWPB said that the Wage Order is scheduled to be published on 25 June 2004 and shall take effect on 10 July 2004.

"This proves that the RTWPBs are inutile as it continues to fail to live up to its mandate of providing workers with ‘a decent standard of living", Mata said. "It is about time that we abolish the RTWPB and replace it with a new wage determination system."

The APL has been pushing for the replacement of the RTWPB with a national commission that can set the national minimum wage and Industry Wage Boards which can determine industry minimum wages.