State workers’ pay hike pushed
Joyce Pangco Pañares
Manila Standard
About a million employees of the government can look forward to a bigger take-home pay but private sector workers are not as lucky as the Labor Department has ruled out another wage increase for them within the year.
The Executive department has proposed to Congress the third phase of salary increase for state workers amounting to P20 billion.
According to Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr., the proposal for the third round of salary increase, also known as the Salary Standardization Law 3, will be submitted to the House of Representatives on July 28 after the President delivers her State-of-the-Nation Address.
“We are ready with our resolution and the funding would be incorporated in the 2009 budget. This will cover all employees although the increases would be different per salary level,” Andaya said.
Private workers will have to wait for another year before their pay is raised, according to Malacañang.
“It is definitely reasonable to say that the present condition does not warrant an increase [for private sector],” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said, noting that there is a one-year prohibition period from the pay hike as approved by the regional wage boards.
The recent wage hike for the private sector was actually still within the one-year prohibition period since the minimum wage was increased August last year but regional wage boards can order adjustments anytime on the grounds of “supervening conditions” such as an extraordinary rise in food prices.
It was the National Wages and Productivity Commission which affirmed the existence of supervening condition that prompted the wage boards to increase salaries.
Labor Secretary Marianito Roque urged trade unions to show proofs and convince the Cabinet and the private employers about the need to raise wages some more.
The last two salary hikes implemented by the Arroyo administration saw the basic pay of government workers increasing by 10 percent each time.
The second pay hike, which will take effect this month, covers 898,849 national government employees and costs P9.216 billion until the end of the year.
A similar increase in the basic pay of an estimated 277,905 soldiers, policemen, firemen, jail guards, and Coast Guard personnel will cost an additional P2.84 billion for the same period this year.
Unlike last year when the extra pay was lumped in with their subsistence allowance, this year’s pay hike for uniformed personnel will be pegged on their basic pay.
Andaya explained that once the pay hike takes effect this month, a Teacher I, which occupies Grade 10 in the 33-grade government pay scale, will get a basic salary ranging from P12, 026 to P14,297 a month.
A first lieutenant in the Army and his counterpart in the National Police, on the other hand, will have his basic pay increased to P18,343 a month.
with Arlie Calalo
