Govt goes slow on work-hour, wage cuts

The Fitial administration remains determined to implement a work-hour or wage reduction scheme but it is taking its time to do so.

Press secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said “the cut won’t happen immediately.”

And the reduction would either be hourly or salary percentage. This means that some employees’ work time would not be reduced at all—only their compensation.

“There are two considerations. One is hourly. The other one is compensation reduction,” Reyes said.

Further, the reduction program would not affect some government employees.

Most likely to be exempted are the “essential personnel”—teachers, police, nurses and doctors, among others.

The administration earlier announced that it is planning to cut work-hours by eight hours a week or 16 hours per pay period. Lately, it announced that work-hours would only be reduced by four hours a week.

Right now, Reyes said the administration is not done “reviewing” the proposed plan.

“They are going through the process. They will issue a notice [when it’s time]. The employees would receive due notification ahead of time so nobody would be surprised,” he said.

He said the reduction would happen a month after the employees receive the notification.

Meantime, House minority bloc member Stanley Torres questioned the administration’s main intent behind the wage reduction.

“They’re cutting government employees’ salary so they can give CUC $24 million for fuel. Why burden the government employees? It’s not fair to take money only from government employees’ paychecks to subsidize CUC,” said Torres.

Further, the congressman also said that the governor could not simply implement a wage reduction without legislative approval.

He said any wage reduction is reflected in the annual budget of the government, which the Legislature appropriates.

He also criticized the administration’s plan to notify employees 30 days—and not 60 days—in advance for any wage reduction.

In related news, Torres questioned the administration’s recent hiring of Rufo Mafnas, who will be receiving $45,000 for a two-month consultancy work for CUC.

The administration, which has emergency control of CUC, has hired Mafnas “to close CUC books for fiscal year 2005 and update CUC financial records.”

Mafnas is a former CUC comptroller.

Torres said the administration could just have tapped the current CUC comptroller.

“I thought they’re trying to save funds? Why this hiring?” asked the lawmaker.