Nearly P4 Billion in Wages Potentially Withheld Amid Minimum Wage Hike Halt

The NAGKAISA labor coalition stated that nearly P4 billion (approximately $68 million) in wages may have been withheld since the first tranche of the Metro Manila minimum wage increase was halted. The group urged the government to defend the implementation of the wage hike. The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) held a public hearing on minimum wage determination on Wednesday. During the hearing, NAGKAISA called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), and the RTWPB-NCR to support labor groups in their Supreme Court petitions challenging the Pasig Regional Trial Court’s (RTC) restraint on the wage order. The Pasig RTC issued a preliminary injunction on August 13, blocking the first P60 tranche of the P85 wage increase, which was supposed to take effect on July 25. The court set a P10-billion bond, which petitioners have yet to post. On August 16, they asked the court to reduce the bond or allow alternative arrangements, including a property bond, installment payments, or a surety bond. NAGKAISA Chairperson and Federation of Free Workers (FFW) President Jose Sonny G. Matula said the P60 increase for 1.1 million workers would have amounted to P2.244 billion from July 25 to September 2. The group estimated that another P1.734 billion could have gone to 1.7 million workers whose pay may be affected by wage distortion, based on an assumed average increase of P30. Combined, the estimates amount to P3.978 billion, or nearly P4 billion, the coalition said. “P60 may seem small when you look at it on a payslip. But multiply it by millions of workers and by the days they have been made to wait — it amounts to billions lost,” Mr. Matula said in Filipino. NAGKAISA and FFW urged DoLE to issue clear guidance to employers, warning that uncertainty could result in disputes over wage differentials, arrears, and wage distortion. The coalition stated that employers failing to pay the mandated increase could face retroactive wage liabilities and double indemnity under Republic Act No. 8188 if Wage Order No. NCR-27 is ultimately upheld and found enforceable. Mr. Matula also challenged the wage boards to defend the wage orders they issue. “If you can consult, deliberate and issue a Wage Order, you should also be able to defend it. Do not be bold in issuing it but timid in defending it.”