Wage hike may not solve workers’ woes

By Herbert Vego

WE don’t need a survey to know that most Filipino wage earners need better income to cope with increasing prices of prime commodities. Even we who consider ourselves “middle class” do not earn enough to buy all our needs and wants.

It may be logical that Senators Bam Aquino and Risa Hontiveros have filed a bill calling for an increase of ₱200 in daily minimum wage. But can our private employers afford it?

At present, Filipino employees in Metro Manila earn a minimum wage of ₱695 per day for the non-agriculture sector and ₱658 per day for agriculture, retail, and small manufacturing entities.

Here in Western Visayas, it’s ₱513 for non-agriculture/industrial/commercial establishments with more than 10 workers, ₱485 for those with 10 or fewer workers, and ₱480 for the agriculture, retail, and small manufacturing sectors.

The wage rates are set by the Regional Wage and Productivity Boards based on factors like inflation and cost of living.

The big question is whether our employers can afford an addition of ₱200 to the present wage rates.

My friend Casiano Mayor, who owns a restaurant in Bacolod City, told me about his inability to serve good food without raising prices. If he were to hire waiters outside his family circle, his business would not survive. This is a predicament common to hard-up entrepreneurs.

Adding insult to injury, the proposed ₱200 minimum wage increase may not make up for the loss of buying power of the peso because of its declining value vis-à-vis the US dollar.

Yesterday’s financial news hit me like a distress signal. The exchange rate of the US dollar against the Philippine peso had hit ₱58.30 – more or less with the passing of each day. Bad timing, I said to myself, since I was trying to buy dollars for a visit to my relatives in New York.

Inflation is a predicament that hurts us Filipino breadwinners, except probably the dollar earners abroad who send home allotment to their loved ones here.  But, of course, in the long run their dependents here would also have to shell out more pesos to buy local goods.

Some of us who grimace over the unending rise in prices of food and other basic commodities might have already applied for cash loans from non-bank lenders online.

Otherwise, we respond by practicing “minimalism”. To make both ends meet, we buy less of our basic needs – say, a half-kilo of meat instead of the previous one kilo.

Even the greedy merchants who impose higher prices for bigger profit eventually see the erosion of their gains whenever they buy their own needs at higher prices, too. Sooner or later, whatever money they have saved in the bank loses value because the interest rates are too negligible.

If it’s any consolation, a devalued peso has more value than no peso at all. So, why not try cost-cutting?

Unfortunately, cost-cutting hardly compensates. While we can cut and slash expenses to the bone, the fact remains that we could get sick and worry over the higher cost of hospitalization and medicine.

The only way to keep pace with inflation is to earn more, which is an elusive dream for the average Filipino wage earner; or go into a small business from which to prosper. Can you do it?

Here’s an inspiration quotation from the late American industrialist Henry Ford, who said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”

-oOo-

MORE POWER ADVISORY

FOR a safer Iloilo City, MORE Electric and Power Corp.  (MORE Power) has been replacing old posts and wires with new ones.  The new insulated wires with higher capacity are meant to ensure maximum safety of power consumers.

Since this would entail short brownouts in working areas, please keep yourselves updated with announcements of such brownouts on MORE Power’s Facebook page.