General Alliance of Workers Association (GAWA) Secretary-General Wennie Sancho yesterday said their organization will file another petition for wage increase.

In his Labor Day statement, Sancho said the Regional Wage Board recently approved salary increases for household workers last April 23, wherein all “kasambahays.” or domestic helpers,” can receive a monthly salary of P4,000 a month, up from the previous P3,500.

Sancho said new petition will be filed next month before the expiration of Wage Order No. 24, which sets a daily minimum wage of P365 for the commercial and industrial sector.

The labor official noted, as of December 2018, while nominal daily wages in the Western Visayas are set at P365, the “real wage” is currently at P301.65.

“We need about P63.35 per day to restore the purchasing power that workers lost,” Sancho asserted.

Last year, after Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-Region VI approved an increase in the daily minimum wage for workers in the Western Visayas through Wage Order No. 24, which granted private sector workers in the region a wage increase between P13.50 amd P41.50, including a cost of living allowance, Sancho said the wage adjustment was still “far below the mandated living wage” and does not satisfy the needs of workers in the region.

After the order’s implementation last July, the GAWA official said it needed to be reviewed in order for a new wage order to be issued./DGB, WDJ