The Association of Minimum Wage Earners and Advocates (AMWEA-PTGWO) appealed the measly P15 wage increase granted by the NCR Wage Board.

Margarita Grefaldio, President of the AMWEA-PTGWO, stated that while the group is thankful for the immediate grant by the Wage Board, the amount of the increase is difficult to accept.

The petition before the National Wages and Productivity Commission of the AMWEA, organized under the wing of the Philippine Trade and General Workers Organization (PTGWO), the biggest federation of labor unions in the country today, reiterated the basis for the P146.80 prayer for minimum wage increase. It is the difference between the living wage of P1,200.00 for a family of 6 and the present minimum wage of P466.00, which is P734, divided into 5 equal awards.

“Living wage is the amount of family income needed to provide for the family’s food and nonfood expenditures with sufficient allowance for savings and investments for social security. By granting a mere P15 increase, the gap between the minimum wage and the family living wage would not be narrowed.”, lamented Grefaldio.

AMWEA is the first and only labor group that argued that living wage by the wage boards is mandatory as this is guaranteed by the Constitution. The AMWEA counts minimum wage earners, which comprise around 90% of the working class, as its members.