The Kilusang Mayo Uno Negros yesterday called on Negrense solons to vote for the passage of House Bill 357 or the P125 wage hike bill.

Northern Samar Rep. Emil Ong, chair of the House labor committee, has said that House Bill 375 will be approved at the committee level in May and will be sent to the plenary for deliberations, Ronald Ian Evidente, KMU Negros spokesperson, said in a press statement yesterday.

“It is a good signal for the passage of a legislated wage hike. If the President is Noynoying in his office, our District representatives must prove that they are doing their job especially in uplifting the deteriorating plight of the workers,” Evidente said.

He said KMU will seek an audience with Rep. Julio Ledesma (1st District), Rep. Alfredo Marañon III (2nd District), Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (3th District), Jeffrey Ferrer (4th District) and Rep. Anthony Golez (Bacolod lone district) to explain and lobby for the approval of an across- the-board wage increase nationwide.

KMU said labor will not stop the protest movement until they get the wage relief because Negrense workers and farmworkers have been suffering from hunger and poverty for so.*

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Meanwhile, members of the Bagong Alyansayng Makabayan-Negros staged a protest at the Department of Labor and Employment office in Bacolod City yesterday demanding an immediate wage increase to cope with the price fluctuation in basic commodities and fare hikes.