Labor group slams further delay in P85 NCR wage hike

MANILA, Philippines — Labor coalition Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro) criticized the continued suspension of the ₱85 minimum wage increase in Metro Manila, saying workers should not bear the burden of keeping businesses viable.

In separate statements on Aug. 16 and 17, Sentro questioned the reasoning behind the preliminary injunction issued by Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 152, which halted the implementation of NCR Wage Order No. 27 pending the resolution of a petition filed by two construction companies.

Sentro said the ruling gave greater weight to the economic concerns raised by the companies than to the financial difficulties faced by workers amid rising living costs.

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“Workers’ wages must not be held hostage by court injunctions, employer objections, or a broken wage-setting system. Workers should not be asked to remain poor to make businesses viable,” Sentro Secretary General Josua Mata said.

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READ: Labor groups press court to lift TRO on P85 Metro Manila wage hike

What the court ordered

The Pasig RTC on Aug. 13 granted the petition of Readycon Trading and Construction Corp. and R-II Builders Inc. for a writ of preliminary injunction against Wage Order No. NCR-27, requiring the companies to post a P10-billion bond. The injunction extended the suspension after the court’s temporary restraining order, issued on July 30, expired on Aug. 13.

The wage order provides for an P85 daily increase in two tranches: P60 starting July 25 and another P25 on Jan. 20, 2027.

The companies had questioned whether their capacity to pay was properly considered in determining the increase.

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In its order, the court said it was “cognizant of the burden that this order would cause the millions of workers in the National Capital Region” and “not indifferent to the plight of the workforce, particularly the minimum wage earners.”

READ: Pasig RTC extends suspension of NCR wage hike

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It nevertheless said the case raised questions about how businesses’ right to reasonable returns on investment and growth should be weighed against workers’ interests in wage fixing, including what it called a “novel issue regarding the binding nature of Article 124 of the Labor Code.”

Article 124 requires wage boards to consider, among other factors, the “fair return of the capital invested and capacity to pay of employers.”

READ: P85 wage hike further delayed by Pasig court order

Court reasoning questioned

Sentro said Readycon had argued that the wage increase would result in additional costs and losses but had not claimed that the P85 increase would force it to lay off workers.

The group also questioned the court’s reliance on testimony from the NCR Wage Board head that potential employee terminations could be “less than 1%,” saying this general observation about possible employment effects did not establish that either petitioner would actually be forced to terminate workers because of the wage increase.

Sentro further pointed to the court’s observation that construction employers could pass the additional cost of prescribed wage increases on to their principals or clients.

The labor group characterized the potential harm to the companies as speculative, while saying the effect on workers of delaying the increase was immediate.

“Every peso withheld from workers is a peso they cannot spend on food, electricity, transportation, education, healthcare and other basic needs. These are not hypothetical losses. They are the daily reality of millions of workers whose purchasing power has been eroded by inflation and the rising cost of living,” Sentro said.

The group also disputed the notion that higher minimum wages necessarily result in job losses, saying previous wage increases had not automatically produced mass layoffs.

Wage boards face criticism

Sentro said workers should not “romanticize” the regional wage boards, citing what it described as their decades-long failure to fulfill their statutory mandate.

The group said the law requires wage boards to consider the demand for living wages, wage adjustments in relation to the consumer price index, the cost of living and increases in it, and the needs of workers and their families.

It pointed to the country’s wage situation as evidence of the system’s shortcomings, saying minimum wage rates in every region remain below the poverty threshold for a family of five.

SENTRO, however, said the failure of wage boards should not be a reason to suspend the wage increases they grant.

“The answer to the wage boards’ failure is better wage determination and living wages—not poorer workers,” the group said.

Call for new wage system

Sentro called on Congress to pass a national, immediate and enforceable wage increase, saying workers should not have to wait through another wage-setting process, wage order and court challenge before receiving meaningful wage relief.

It also proposed a three-tier system:

• One national minimum wage determined through a tripartite process at the national level;
• Industry wage boards for sectors capable of paying substantially higher wages, particularly those with stronger productivity and profitability; and
• Collective bargaining as the primary means of negotiating wages above the statutory floor.

“The problem is not simply how we calculate the minimum wage. It is who gets to decide what workers should earn—and whose interests that decision ultimately serves,” Sentro said.

DOLE also challenges suspension

The latest developments came as Labor Secretary Francis N. Tolentino filed a motion for reconsideration before the Pasig Regional Trial Court on Monday, seeking the lifting of the injunction against the implementation of NCR Wage Order No. 27.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it was pursuing the legal remedy to allow the P85 wage increase for Metro Manila minimum wage earners to be implemented in accordance with the tripartite wage-setting process.

In an earlier statement issued Aug. 14, Tolentino said DOLE would use every lawful remedy available to defend the wage increase after the Pasig RTC issued the preliminary injunction.

“The ruling of Pasig RTC Branch 152 does not merely suspend a wage increase-it takes food off the table of more than a million Metro Manila workers and their families,” Tolentino said.

He also said, “At a time when every peso matters, this ruling denies our workers the relief they have earned and urgently need.”

“We strongly express concern over this setback for social justice. We will exhaust every lawful remedy to overturn this ruling and defend the rights and welfare of our workers,” Tolentino said.

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Earlier, a lawmaker and labor leaders also asked the Supreme Court to review the Pasig RTC’s TRO, citing Article 126 of the Wage Rationalization Act, which states that no preliminary or permanent injunction or TRO may be issued against proceedings before the National Wages and Productivity Commission or regional boards. /mr