The series of oil price hikes constitute a "supervening condition" for the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board to increase the minimum wages of the workers in Western Visayas immediately, Weenie Sancho, labor representative on the RTWPB, said yesterday.

The RTWPB 6 is set to hold a hearing on pending wage hike petitions in Iloilo on March 19, Labor Regional Director Ponciano Ligutom said.

The RTWPB will then meet in Aklan on March 26 to come up with its ruling, he added.

Sancho said labor is pushing for a P97 daily wage hike. The RTWPB could decide to grant a wage hike or an Emergency Cost of Living Allowance, he said.

The series of oil price increases has eroded labor’s purchasing power as it has triggered unabated hikes in the prices of basic goods and services, he added.

It is unfortunate that the focus of the government is on the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona that involves only one man, while the issue of wage increase is more important as it involves the plight of millions of workers, Sancho said.

If government ignores our call for a wage increase a nationwide labor strike is in the offing, he added.*CPG

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