Free parking, debt moratorium: Workers seek non-wage perks amid soaring inflation

MANILA – A labor group on Thursday urged the government to consider non-wage benefits for workers as the prices of goods and services continue to soar in the Philippines.

• Inflation quickens to 8.7 pct in January as housing, water, power costs rise

Atty. Sonny Matula, chairman of the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition, said several non-wage benefits would help laborers survive these seemingly hard times.

“Halimbawa doon sa mga export processing zone, may mga binabayaran yung mga manggagawa na mga parking fee na P40 sa mga motorsiklo, P60 sa mga may sasakyan. Kung mabawas yan eh parang dagdag na sahod rin yan sa mga manggagawa,” he said.

(For example, workers in expert processing zone pay a P40 parking fee for motorcycles and P60 for cars. Maybe we can remove that so they can save on money.)

“Yung mga babayaran, pwede ba mag-moratorium muna sa mga babayaran, halimbawa sa utang sa pabahay? May mga penalty din po yan na binabayaran yung mga manggagawa. O i-hold muna natin yung pagbabayad--isa yan sa mga magagawa ng gobyerno na kagyat para bumaba yung gastos na pang-araw-araw ng mga manggagawa,” he added.

(And for loans, maybe we can impose a moratorium on, say, housing loan payments? Some laborers pay penalties for those loans. Maybe we can pause payments--that's one thing government can do so workers have less expenses.)

Matula stressed, however, that their group continues to call for a minimum wage hike for workers across the country.

“Sa palagay namin ay angkop lamang na ito ay tugunan ng Regional Wage and Productivity Board, at pabilisan na po yung kanilang review. Kami po ay umaasa doon sa sinabi ni (Labor) Secretary Benny Laguesma na ire-review ng wage board ang mga wage sa buong Pilipinas at sa Metro Manila,” he noted.

(We think the Regional Wage and Productivity Boards can speed up their review. We are counting on Labor Secretary Benny Laguesma's statement that labor wage hikes are being reviewed across the country.)

For his part, Laguesma assured the laborers that wage hike discussions are moving forward.

“Batid naman po niyo na umuusad na po yung proseso na kung saan ang iba-iba pong ating Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board ay nagkakaroon na po ng mga konsultasyon na tinitingnan po ang pagbabalanse may kinalaman sa panibago na namang kahilingan o clamor na magdagdag ng pasahod,” the official said.

(You know that discussions and consultations are moving forward in various Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards now that workers are seeking salary increases anew.)

Laguesma said they are trying to balance business interests with the workers’ needs.

“Napakahirap po ng pagbabalanse kung atin pong isasaalang-alang na ang karamihan po ng ating mga business firm o establishment ay nandoon po sa kategorya ng micro and small enterprises na patuloy naman pong nakakaranas pa rin nung scarring effect o yun pong pinsala ng pandemic na hanggang ngayon po ay umiikot,” he said.

(It's hard to balance business interest with that of workers, especially when you realize that most of our businesses are micro and small enterprises that are still feeling the scarring effect of the pandemic.)

--TeleRadyo, 9 February 2023