The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) has responded to the August 4, 2010 letter of the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Labor Communications Office.

The letter zeroed in on ECOP’s purported comments on DOLE’s news release, “Workers to employers: Comply with the minimum wage law” where a news item in the July 31 issue of the Philippine Star attributed ECOP as espousing “for a deferment for any wage increase this year, citing the slowdown in global demand.”

In his reply letter, ECOP President Edgardo G. Lacson stated that since its inception, ECOP has always acknowledged, respected and supported the absolute authority and processes of the regional tripartite wages and productivity boards (RTWPBs) in minimum wage settings, nationwide.

Whilst on some occasion, ECOP may not agree to the level of wage increases contained in the wage orders, it has always been our position to comply with the order, once established, Lacson pointed out.

Thus, upon receipt of Wage Order Number NCR-15, with effect 15 days after publication, ECOP has immediately informed all its affected members to comply with the order. We are cognizant of the irrefutable fact that the Wage Order carries with it the full force of the law that is final, executory and unappealable in any judicial court, including the Supreme Court, with subsequent penalties for non-compliance, Lacson emphasized.

Lacson noted that all public statements of ECOP related to the new wage order have always been in support of the order and never included a call for moratorium.
Moving forward, Lacson cited ECOP’s appeal to all stakeholders to refocus efforts toward generating employment for the 10 million jobless and underemployed workers instead of annually setting minimum wage that mainly benefits a few workers in the formal sector but ignores the plight of the 84% or 30 million workers in the informal sector who are not covered by any wage order.

Lacson expressed the hope that in the future and in the true spirit of tripartism and partnership, any misimpression casued by printed public statements attributable to ECOP could easily be cleared by DOLE’s Labor Communications Office by a simple phone call.
In addition, Lacson reiterated ECOP’s commitment in joining DOLE and all stakeholders towards economic upliftment of our workers and remaining as a stable partner in the goal of nation-building.