The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said it is not against petitions on minimum wage hike, but stated that it may raise prices of goods and affect the informal sector.
In the Laging Handa briefing on Saturday (Mar. 12), ECOP President Sergio Ortiz-Luis said increasing the minimum wage hike will only benefit the formal sector which accounts for 16% of the country’s workforce.
“Ang 84% nandoon sa informal sector kapag naggalaw ka ng minimum wage, hindi sila apektado.. ‘Yung sa 16% (formal sector workers), hindi pa lahat ‘yon ay minimum wage earner,” he said.
“Kapag nagtaas ka, mga kumpanya na apektado… magtataas ng presyo ‘yan. Kapag nagtaas ng presyo, everybody’s affected, even the informal sector na wala namang panghuhugutan,” he added.
The ECOP chief said 90% of enterprises in the country are considered micro, about 8% are small, 1% are under the medium category, and less than 1% are large.
Around 65% of employers are in micro-enterprises, several which have decided to close their operations during the pandemic.
“Ang 84% nga, ‘yan ay hindi hagip ng minimum wage ‘yan. ‘Yan ay biktima ng minimum wage increase dahil wala silang panghuhugutan kapag tumataas ang presyo,” he said. – Report from Cleizl Pardilla
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