UST LABOR groups joined a protest outside the Manila Hotel on Thursday, Sept. 10, opposing the newly approved P60 minimum wage increase in Metro Manila and calling for the full P85 increase granted under an earlier wage order.
The National Wage Coalition and other labor groups held the protest as the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) National Wages and Productivity Commission met at the hotel to discuss the P60 wage increase under Wage Order No. NCR-28.
The groups called for the revocation of NCR-28 and the implementation of the P85 increase under NCR-27, which was halted by a court order.
The Metro Manila wage board approved NCR-28 through a 4-3 vote on Sept. 7. The order, which raises the daily minimum wage by P60 to P755 from P695, has been forwarded to the National Wages and Productivity Commission for review.
Under NCR-27, workers were supposed to receive a P60 increase starting July 25 and another P25 on Jan. 20, 2027, raising the minimum wage for nonagricultural workers to P780 from P695.
READ: Coalition of UST labor unions seeks P85 wage hike despite court injunction
Donnel Siazon, president of the Ugnayan ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng UST Hospital, said the P25 difference could significantly affect workers’ monthly take-home pay.
“Malaki ‘yung impact ng difference ng P25,” Siazon said, noting that the reduction translates to a P400 to P500 reduction in a worker’s monthly earnings.
Siazon said the impact could extend to tenured workers who might be entitled to wage distortion adjustments following a minimum wage increase.
Siazon warned that the wage issue could affect some 1,200 workers at the UST Hospital.
Rene Luis Tadle, vice president of the UST Faculty Union (USTFU), also rejected Wage Order NCR-28, saying the P60 increase fell short of the P85 adjustment originally granted under NCR-27.
“This is not a small amount for workers,” he said, noting that private educational institutions also employ minimum-wage earners.
Tadle said the reduction would directly affect workers’ families, livelihoods, and dignity.
In a Sept. 9 statement, USTFU said the single P60 increase would deprive workers of the additional P25 that was supposed to take effect in January.
“Labor policy must consistently uphold the principle of non-diminution of benefits; rights already secured ought never to be scaled back by administrative decree,” the statement read.
The union also said the issuance of NCR-28, while legal proceedings involving NCR-27 remained pending, undermined due process.
The implementation of NCR-27 was blocked by a court case filed by two construction firms. The Pasig Regional Trial Court issued a preliminary injunction against the wage hike’s implementation on July 30.
The Council of Teachers and Staff of Colleges and Universities of the Philippines, a coalition led by Tadle, also opposed NCR-28, calling the P60 increase unacceptable amid rising tuition and the cost of basic necessities.
“A benefit already granted to workers should not be withdrawn, reduced, or extinguished simply through the issuance of a new wage order,” the group said in its Sept. 9 statement.
The council said the P85 increase must be implemented rather than replaced by a new regional wage order. Yuahn Zachary B. Guilas with reports from Alexandra S. Demaisip
