Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Labor groups hold a protest on August 3, 2026 against the temporary restraining order issued against Wage Order No. NCR-27. Photo from Kilusang Mayo Uno Facebook page

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — The injunction that two construction firms secured in July against an P85 wage increase has cost minimum wage workers in Metro Manila P1,560 each, labor groups said.</p><p>Taken together, the sector has been deprived of P1.7 billion in wages that should have been paid under Wage Order No. NCR-27. </p><p>Labor groups, including the Federation of Free Workers and the NAGKAISA Labor Coalition, have questioned the temporary restraining order and the later preliminary injunction issued by the Pasig Regional Trial Court at the RTC level and at the Supreme Court.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/8/10/workers-rising-costs-cannot-wait-for-litigation-on-wage-hike-labor-lawyer-2317"><strong>Workers, rising costs cannot wait for litigation on wage hike — labor lawyer<br/></strong></a></div><p>In a statement, Atty. Sonny Matula — FFW president and chair of NAGKAISA — said that each minimum wage worker has been deprived P60 a day in the month since the TRO was issued.</p><p>&quot;Multiply mo pa iyan sa 1.1 million manggagawa. Hindi na abstract legal question ang delay. Mahigit P1.7 billion na ang pinag-uusapan natin dito,&quot; he said.</p><p>(Multiply what by 1.1 million workers and the delay is no longer an abstract legal question. We are talking about more than P1.7 billion here.)</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/8/12/labor-groups-file-petition-at-sc-vs-pasig-court-s-tro-on-p85-wage-hike-1233"><strong>Labor groups file petition at SC vs. Pasig court’s TRO on P85 wage hike<br/></strong></a></div><p>“Hindi puwedeng ang solusyon sa reklamo ng dalawang kumpanya ay paghintayin ang 1.1 milyong manggagawa,&quot; Matula said, adding workers&#x27; incomes have become &quot;collateral damage&quot; of the petition that Readycon and R-II Builders filed.</p><p>(The solution to the issues raised by two companies is not in having 1.1 million workers wait.)</p><div><strong>PROPER VENUE</strong></div><p>FFW and NAGKAISA! said in a statement that they are not denying that Readycon Trading and Construction Corp., R-II Builders, Inc. and other employers have the right to oppose wage orders. </p><p>They have repeatedly said, however, that the venue for that is the National Wages and Productivity Commission. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/8/6/labor-groups-ask-to-intervene-in-navotas-case-challenging-ncr-wage-hike-1611"><strong>Labor groups ask to intervene in Navotas case challenging NCR wage hike<br/></strong></a></div><p>Groups have stressed that Article 126 of the Labor Code prohibits injunctions against proceedings before regional wage boards and the NWPC.  </p><p>Labor groups are asking the Supreme Court &quot;to draw the jurisdictional line clearly, once and for all&quot; between regular courts and specialized bodies like the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards and the NWPC.</p>

<p>The injunction that two construction firms secured in July against an P85 wage increase has cost minimum wage workers in Metro Manila P1,560 each, labor groups said.</p>

The injunction that two construction firms secured in July against an P85 wage increase has cost minimum wage workers in Metro Manila P1,560 each, labor groups said.

Delayed increase has cost NCR's 1.1M minimum wage earners P1,560 each — groups

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Delayed increase has cost NCR's 1.1M minimum wage earners P1,560 each — groups

Jonathan de Santos,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 25, 2026 03:09 PM PHT

Read More:

Federation of Free Workers

Nagkaisa Labor Coalition

Sonny Matula

Readycon Trading and Construction

R-II Builders

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