Recently, church people and officials from various organizations in the Philippines worked together to advocate for an increase in the country's minimum wage. They want people to be able to deal with the steadily increasing costs of necessities in their nation.
Church and Organization's Petition on Minimum Wage
In a statement released on Friday, Apr. 28, the Church People-Workers Solidarity (CWS) voiced its support for the wage increase appeals recently submitted by a variety of labor organizations as well as the proposed wage increase measures currently pending in Congress, Inquirer.net reported.
Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, in charge of CWS, stated that the administration needs to support workers' demands for a national wage hike if it genuinely desires to assist millions of low-wage workers along with their households in dealing with rising expenses.
As per CBCP News, Bishop Alimanaza mentioned that amid the current economic climate, the CWS heavily emphasizes a living wage's durability, urgency, and justness.
Workers have an adequate right to vital items that satisfy basic demands for food, clothes, shelter, medical care, financial security, education, and rest because of their dignity.
Moreover, due to the increasing cost of living and the inadequate wage, workers are forced to put in more than 12 hours of work each day to bring in additional money to support their families. "CWS also supports initiatives by progressive labor groups to demand for wage increase," Bishop Alminaza added.
According to Business World, the wage board for Metro Manila unanimously voted to raise the minimum wage by P33 in June of 2022. Salary appeals can only be considered for action by wage boards one year following a region's most recent wage order.
The organization is known as Unity for Wage Increase Now! (UWIN) has submitted a petition requesting that the minimum pay rate for non-agricultural workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) be raised from P570 to P1,100.
UWIN asserted that there is an immediate and robust justification for reevaluating the salaries now being paid in NCR and for putting the targeted level of a living wage into practice.
The petition was initiated in the hopes that one day laborers in the area would be able to earn pay sufficient for a living and would be able to appreciate the results of their effort, as outlined in the Constitution of the Philippines.
Inflation Rate in the Philippines
The Department of Finance stated that the overall inflation rate, which depicts the broadening of pricing pressures, increased to 8.0 percent in March 2023 from 7.8 percent in the preceding month and 2.2 percent in the same period a year ago. Selected volatile food and energy products were excluded from the calculation of core inflation, which led to the increase.
Even though the inflation rate for food and gas, electricity, and other fuels decreased in March, these categories continue to have the most prevalent contribution, leading to 3.29 percentage points (ppt) and 0.79 ppt, respectively, for the month.
In addition, the inflation rate for households in the bottom 30 percent of the income distribution improved. After reaching a high of 9.7 percent in February 2023, it dropped to 8.8 percent in March 2023.
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