Sent from my BlackBerry® powered by Sun Cellular
From: "EILER Inc." <eiler.inc@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2012 23:29:43 -0700
Subject: RELEASE: DOLE Sec. Baldoz urged to release study on minimum wage violators
NEWS RELEASE
17 October 2012
DOLE Sec. Baldoz urged to release study on minimum wage violators
A labor NGO has urged Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to release the department's report on companies which do not comply with the minimum wage, as it also criticized the new salary system for private sector workers that condones such violations.
The Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (Eiler) said DOLE cites the existence of "millions of vulnerable workers" who are unprotected by the minimum wage as the main basis for implementing the Two-Tiered Wage System, yet has failed to present a study backing up this claim.
"In the interest of transparency, Labor Secretary Baldoz should release the full results of DOLE's inspection regarding compliance with the minimum wage law. Otherwise, she is only confirming workers's suspicion that the new wage system is just the result of the government agency's collusion with big business," Eiler executive director Anna Leah Escresa said.
"Failure to release such report only traps workers in underpayment of wages and condones the greed of various firms in the country," she added, citing a study showing that some 15 percent of surveyed companies in the Philippines are violating the minimum wage law as per DOLE press release.
Eiler noted that in August 2010, DOLE promised to identify firms which do not comply with the mandated minimum wage.
Escresa explained that on top of the firms' non-compliance, the labor department has unfortunately rolled out the Two-Tiered Wage System (2TWS) that actually condones rampant underpayment of wages in the country.
"By setting a floor wage that is way lower than the mandated minimum wage, DOLE through the 2TWS is letting greedy violators off the hook. Suddenly, the criminal deeds of companies become legalized," Escresa said.
The labor think-tank cited the case of Region IV-A, where the P337 minimum wage is cut by 25 percent to P255 as the new floor wage.
"Apart from clearing greedy companies from underpayment of wages, the 2TWS directly imposes a cut on workers' wages and pulls down bargaining capacities of unionized workers. Companies will definitely use the lower wage standards to shortchange unions," Escresa emphasized. "This anti-worker wage scheme must be immediately junked"
Reference: Anna Leah Escresa, EILER executive director, 0929-259-9232
Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER)
www.eiler.ph
15 Anonas St., Unit D-24 Cellar Mansions
Barangay Quirino 3-A, Project 3, Quezon City,
Philippines 1102
Tel. No. (+632) 4339287 (telefax);
SEC. Reg. No. A200100111
No comments:
Post a Comment
Site visitors can use the comment form to send their email messages to anyone at DZRH. As your messages will go to a single secure email address, please INDICATE TO WHOM your message is for. Thank you.