This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2008-02-04 |
SANDOVAL-GUTIERREZ, J. |
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| It has not escaped our attention that requiring petitioner to pay all the members of respondent PIMASUFA a wage increase of 18.5%, over and above the negotiated wage increases provided under the 1987 CBA, is highly unfair and oppressive to the former. Obviously, it was not the intention of R.A. No. 6640 to grant an across-the-board increase in pay to all the employees of petitioner. Section 2 of R.A. No. 6640 mandates only the following increases in the private sector: (1) P10.00 per day for the employees in the private sector, whether agricultural or non-agricultural, who are receiving the statutory minimum wage rates; (2) P11.00 per day for non-agricultural workers and employees outside Metro Manila; and (3) P10.00 per day for those already receiving the minimum wage up to P100.00. To be sure, only those receiving wages P100.00 and below are entitled to the P10.00 wage increase. The apparent intention of the law is only to upgrade the salaries or wages of the employees specified therein.[10] As the numerical illustration shows, almost all of the members of respondent PIMASUFA have been receiving wage rates above P100.00 and, therefore, not entitled to the P10.00 increase. Only three (3) of them are receiving wage rates below P100.00, thus, entitled to such increase. Now, to direct petitioner to grant an across-the-board increase to all of them, regardless of the amount of wages they are already receiving, would be harsh and unfair to the former. As we ruled in Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company Employees Union ALU-TUCP v. NLRC:[11] | |||||