A P6,000 increase in the minimum wage of state employees is being pushed by the members of the Confederation for Unity Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees, its national president, Ferdinand Gaite, said yesterday.

Gaite was in Bacolod City for a series of forums hosted by their party-list group on issues concerning government workers.

He said that the lowest paid government worker receives about P9,000 gross pay and is still subject to deductions and other mandatory contributions like Government Service Insurance System and PhilHealth fees, where the worker is left with a minimal amount that is insufficient to meet the demands of his/her family.

The P6,000 will uplift their conditions of living and increase their purchasing power, Gaite also said.

He said they support the Senate Bill 2928 authored by Senator Ramon Revilla, Jr. that provides the increase in the minimum pay of employees and workers in the public sector nationwide and the House Bill 3746 authored by progressive partylist led by Bayan Muna, Anak Pawis, Gabriela, ACT Teachers, and Kabataan that also lobbied for the wage hike.

Rep. Lani Mercado-Revilla (Cative, 2nd district) also authored HB 5149 increasing the salary of government workers by P6,000, Gaite added.

With the increases in the prices of basic commodities, government employees also suffer and that wage hike will at least ease their burden, he also said.

COURAGE, a group that is seeking accreditation with the Commission on Election to become an official party-list for the 2013 elections, is also opposed to the privatization and corporatization of government-owned facilities, he said.*LTG

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