THE Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) of Region 1 has increased the basic wage of workers and employees in the private sector in the whole of Ilocos by P3 to P15 per day.

This was contained in Wage Order No. RB 1-12 approved on November 19, 2007 after due public hearings conducted in Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte by RTWPB in Region 1 headed by Department of Employment and Regional Director Henry John Jalbuena as chairman.

Under the Wage Order, workers in the agriculture plantation and non-plantation sectors in the Ilocos Region, which is predominantly-agriculture-based, will receive the highest increase of P15 per day.

On the other hand, workers in the Secondary (Level 3) hospitals, other non-agriculture and micro-establishments will receive increases of P3, P5, and P10 per day, respectively.

DOLE Regional Director Jalbuena, RTWPB chair, said labor through the Pepsi Co workers in Rosario, La Union, petitioned for P18 daily wage increase but this was opposed by representatives of the management in the different public hearings that were conducted.

The Pepsico workers wage petition was adopted in all other provinces in the region.

Jalbueno, in a press conference in Dagupan City, said the wage adjustments were determined using the Board’s Wage Determination Model based on the International Labor Organization Framework for wage fixing that considered four major criteria.

These are: the needs of workers and their families, capacity of employers to pay, comparability of wages and incomes on similarly situated and more developed regions; and requirements of social and economic development.

In deciding the varying amounts of wage increases, the Board also took into consideration the levels of growth and development of the different industry sectors using economic indicators, such as their contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GRDP) employment generation and labor productivity.

The new wage order will be submitted to the National Wages and Productivity Commission for Review and shall take effect 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation. (PNA)