A labor group has renewed its call for President Rodrigo Duterte to approve a monthly food voucher worth P500 for some 4 million minimum wage earners nationwide to help them cope with the extraordinary increases in the prices of goods and services. The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) said the average daily minimum wage of P232 nationwide remained woefully inadequate, despite recent increases in the floor pay. Poorly paidALU-TUCP said the average minimum wage of P232 daily was too inadequate for millions of poorly paid entry-level and contractual workers in agriculture, services and the manufacturing sector. ALU-TUCP submitted to Mr. Duterte in April 2017 a proposal for the government to grant each minimum wage earner a food voucher of P500 monthly, a nontransferable subsidy, to help cushion the impact of inflation. The ALU-TUCP spokesperson said the government should provide a lifeline through a food voucher to help minimum wage workers mired in poverty.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer November 11, 2018 23:15 UTC