By MAE SINGUAY

The General Alliance of Workers Association (GAWA) in Negros Occidental is calling for a P50 per day emergency relief allowance (ERA) for workers in Western Visayas.

GAWA Secretary General Wennie Sancho said an increase in the minimum wage is necessary, considering the failure of the Congress to approve the P200 legislated wage hike.

“With the unprecedented increase in the prices of petroleum products, prices of basic necessities, goods and services have skyrocketed, the workers and their families have been struggling to budget their salaries to keep them going,” Sancho said.

Sancho said the wage hike or ERA to be granted should not be less than P50 per day, which will serve as “an immediate economic relief.”

“The P50 hike should be integrated into the existing salaries of the workers,” he explained.

Sancho said more than 193,000 in Western Visayas will directly benefit from the wage increase or ERA.

More than 300,000 workers earning above the minimum wage are indirectly impacted by the economic relief.

Sancho cited the minimum wage for workers in Western Visayas ranges from P450 to P500 per day.

He said the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in the region should move with urgency to alleviate the financial strain due to the high cost of living brought about by the extraordinary increases in the prices of petroleum products “to shield the purchasing power of the workers from further deterioration.”

“Analysts warn that the Iran-Israel conflict may impact remittances from Middle East-based overseas Filipino workers,” Sancho said.

He said the extraordinary increases in the prices of petroleum products and basic goods and services constitute “supervening conditions” that would justify the issuance of the wage order even without a petition from labor or within the one-year bar period.

“It is imperative that an increase of P50 shall be granted as early as possible as a manifestation of concern and recognition to the workers as ‘primary social economic force’ whose toiling hands create the wealth of the nation and keeps the industry moving forward,” he said.

Sancho encouraged the wage board to heed the call of the working class, especially the workers in the private sector in these trying and difficult times.

He urged the wage board to conduct a “muto proprio” review of the existing wage order and issue a new wage order for the workers.

The Department of Labor and Employment and the National Wages and Productivity Commission are working together to address wage issues involving workers in the private sector./MS, WDJ