QUEZON CITY – Government employees from various offices, public school teachers and state health workers today announced they will hold a big rally on Thursday April 7 to bring their demand for a Php 6,000 increase in the minimum pay of all government employees at the doorstep of Malacañang. At the National Capital Region, thousands of protesters will march from UST España to Mendiola while their counterparts in the regions across the country would also hold simultaneous rallies, noise barrages and noontime actions.
At a Press Conference, Mau Aguilar, Judiciary Employees Association (JUDEA) and WAGE FIGHT! Spokesperson said the state employees can no longer cope with the rising cost of living and a substantial salary increase is imperative to provide the 1.4 million employees an immediate relief. “President Aquino’s statement that the a wage increase is possible only if the inflation rate would hit 5% smacks of callousness. The prices of just about everything have gone up – oil, jeepney and bus fares, toll fees, rice, sugar, bread. Our take home pay cannot take us home anymore”.
Aguilar added employees from the public sector only receive a minimum monthly salary of Php7,510.00, sans mandatory deductions such as taxes, GSIS, PAG-IBIG and Philhealth premiums and contributions, an amount that is way below the government’s estimated cost of living (Php28,710 per month). Even with the full implementation of Salary Standardization Law 3, the law passed in 2009 which provides for a meager and staggered adjustment until 2012, the minimum pay will still only amount to Php9,000.
“The Php6,000 increase in the minimum pay demand would bring our salaries closer to the cost of living” Aguilar stressed. WAGE FIGHT! is seeking the passage of House Bill 3746 sponsored by ANAKPAWIS Representative Rafael Mariano which embodies their Php6,000 demand and is supporting HB 375 which seeks to grant a P125 increase for the private sector.
WAGE FIGHT! is composed of JUDEA, Sandiganbayan Employees Assoc., KKK-MMDA, KASAMAKA-QC, Phil. Heart Center Employees Assoc., QC Public School Teachers Assoc., CUE-National Housing Authority, Department of Labor and Employment Employees Union, Dept. of Trade and Industry Employees Union, Nat’l. Food Authority Employees Assoc., Water System Employees Response, SWEAP-Dept. of Social Welfare and Dev’t., SENADO-Senate, Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Alliance of Health Workers and COURAGE. #
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