THE LABOR union of UST Hospital workers has condemned a court decision to halt the P85 minimum wage hike for Metro Manila workers, saying it burdens workers who are feeling the brunt of economic pressures.
Earlier this month, the Metro Manila wage board approved an P85 pay hike to be implemented in two tranches.
The first tranche, which raised wages by P60, took effect on July 25 while the additional P25 upward adjustment was slated for January next year.
However, the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 152 issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) halting the wage hike last July 31.
The suspension stemmed from a petition filed by construction firms Readycon Trading and Construction Corp. and R-11 Builders Inc., which argued that the pay hike would raise their labor costs.
During a rally along Lacson Avenue on Friday, July 31, the Ugnayan ng mga Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng University of Santo Tomas Hospital (UNM-USTH) said the TRO would have a huge impact on workers.
“We are going through a series of crises right now… If that were granted to us, it would at least help us in some way. But if this is taken back from us, it would amount to the oppression of the workers,” UNM-USTH President Donell Siazon told The Flame.
“[A]t first, we were happy when this wage order was issued… We were hoping to receive it this coming payday,” Siazon added.
Siazon noted that the UST Hospital had already adjusted its payroll before the court’s intervention.
“To be fair with the [UST] management, the adjustment has already been made; it’s already reflected in our payroll. We were hoping to receive it this coming payday… But if this is taken back, both parties will be affected, even management,” Siazon said.
Overreach?
Kamanggagawa partylist Rep. Elijah San Fernando said his group plans to file legal interventions challenging the court decision, arguing that the Pasig court overstepped its jurisdiction.
“As far as the workers recall, this is the first instance of a court intervening in a matter it should have no business with. The parties that should be dealing with this are the NWPC [National Wages and Productivity Commission], the Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court—not the RTC or lower courts,” San Fernando told The Flame.
The lawmaker claimed that the TRO was a result of pressures from the Marcos administration, saying business groups and a think tank had called for the suspension of the wage order before the court made the decision.
“Indifferent to the workers, indifferent to workers’ wages, and in fact, cowardly toward oligarchs and big business owners,” San Fernando added.
The representative warnedthat the suspension could set a precedent for wage orders in other regions, allowing businesses to seek similar injunctions whenever new provincial wage hikes are issued.
“When a wage order is issued in the provinces and business owners don’t like it, does that mean they’ll just run to court and secure a TRO? So, that’s the problem,” he said.
The suspended NCR wage increase would have raised the minimum wage of Metro Manila workers to P780 by Jan. 20, 2027.
The labor department has vowed to respond to the TRO and has clarified that workers who have received their wage adjustments are not required to return the additional amount. F – Nitya Aku and Dave Justine Desilos
