CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-3 (RTWPB-3) will conduct a series of public consultations to discuss the adjustment of wage rates for minimum wage earners in Central Luzon.

RTWPB 3 OIC-Board Secretary Kenneth D. Liza said the move aims to hear the views of all stakeholders on the need for an adjustment in the prevailing minimum wage in the region.

Liza said the first public consultation is to be conducted in the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga on August 6.

For Bulacan, the event will be held from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Malolos Resort Club Royale, Malolos City.

For Pampanga, it will be conducted from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Ephatha Development Center, SACOP Grounds, Barangay Maimpis, City of San Fernando.

“We would like to invite our stakeholders, both management and workers representatives to attend the said public consultations,” Liza said.

He encouraged the participants to bring and prepare in advance position papers to reflect their views and issues at hand about wages.

Liza said the schedule of public consultation in other provinces is to be announced later.

The last time the RTWPB issued a wage order in the region was on Aug. 1, 2018.

Under Wage Order RB III-21, minimum earners in Central Luzon in the non-agriculture category and establishment with total assets of PHP30 million are to receive PHP400 basic pay per day.

On the other hand, employees working in the non-agriculture category and establishments with assets of less than PHP30 million have PHP393 basic pay per day.

This wage rate applies for minimum wage earners in the provinces of Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, Zambales, Bataan, and Nueva Ecija.

For the province of Aurora, the daily minimum wage is PHP349.

Under the agriculture category, the daily wage rate for plantation and non-plantation workers in Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales, is PHP370 and PHP354, respectively.

Workers in the plantation and non-plantation categories in Aurora, on the other hand, are receiving daily wage rate of PHP334 and PHP322, respectively.

Meanwhile, for the retail or service category with 16 or more workers, minimum wage is PHP389 and for companies with less than 16 workers, it’s PHP375 for both six provinces; and PHP284 in Aurora. (PNA)