ere we go again,
the government going through the yearly rigmarole of seeking ways to improve the
workers’ lot as May 1 approaches. This time around improving the take-home pay
becomes even more compelling as poor families brace for the disappearance (if it
has not already disappeared) of P18.25 a kilo government rice from the markets.
Part list representatives identified with the Left have
renewed calls for a legislated wage increase of P125. This, of course, is
nothing new, and not because the Left is simply out to embarrass Gloria Arroyo’s
administration. Leftist lawmakers have the poor as their natural constituency.
Even if we have no truck with their ideology, we sympathize with their pro-poor
orientation. It is simply an obscenity seeing people going hungry, not getting
medical attention or not getting a good education despite the unimagined riches
societies are capable of producing in the 21st century.
But we don’t see the P125 legislated pay hike bill getting
anywhere soon because of fears of returning wage-fixing to the hands of
politicians with an eye to the gallery.
The wage boards have been instructed to work for another
round of pay increases. So there is a reasonable chance an increase would be
coming despite the ban on making adjustments within a year after the last one.
The price hikes in rice and other food items are expected to be cited as
"supervening" circumstances that make for an exception.
A pay increase pegged to the inflation rate plus some modest
amount is likely the best that could be expected, for the reality is most
employers cannot afford a sharp increase in wage costs despite the glowing
economic statistics the government is crowing about.
The companies which are benefitting from Gloria’s "economic
boom," needless to say, are not barred from raising pay levels on their own.
What we cannot understand is why Gloria is parsimonious in using her moral
suasion in asking better-off companies to raise wages.
Her call is for these companies to grant non-wage increases
in the form of rice subsidies, transport shuttles and the like. If these
companies can afford it, why don’t they just raise wages? Giving rice and free
transport involves additional work and other hidden costs. The argument that
salary increases also involve higher SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG contributions
doesn’t wash. The additional contributions would likely be cancelled out by the
hidden cost of non-wage benefits.
Straight pay increases is the straightforward way of spreading the benefits
of higher profits. Let’s keep things simple. By doing it this way, more
employers hopefully would see where their moral duty, if not self-interest in
keeping their working force happy, lies.
