Panama Canal Expansion Strike Enters Fifth Day
The strike by the workers of the Consortium Unidos por el Canal who are building the new third set of locks as part of the project to expand the Panama Canal enters its fifth day. The strike is costing the company about $2 million dollars per day. Yesterday, representatives for the striking workers held a marathon meeting with the company, with mediation by the Ministry of Labor and Workforce Development and with the presence of a member of the Panama Canal Authority as an observer, but no consensus was reached. The Minister of Labor, Alma Cortez, said the losses must be borne by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), but this position has to be supported by legal authorities. There were ACP officials present at the talks, but they did not participate.
Little progress: In the two days of talks held by the parties they have only discussed three of the 27 items on the list of demands. The points discussed and refer to a demand for a wage increase, the installation of a "micro-commission" related to the disputes between labor and management, and the creation of a regulation to disclose the mechanism for the payment of overtime to the workers. Jorge Federico Lee, a lawyer for the company GUPC, said the pay raise issue should be taken as a priority item of analysis. He also said the 24 remaining points on the list of demands put forward by the workers will be taken to the committee of the Panamanian Chamber of Construction (CAPAC) and SUNTRACS.
Sanctions: According to Minister Cortes, due to the errors committed by GUPC, such as the payments for working on Sundays and for overtime, among others, the company will be sanctioned with fines from $500 to $1,000 for each worker affected.
Saul Mendez, Secretary of the Sole Union of Construction and Allied Workers (SUNTRACS), said the strike will continue. The construction workers union approved protests and demonstrations in other provinces around the country in support of the strike. (Siglo)
Editor's Comment: The longer this strike goes on, the more attention it's going to be getting from the international community. The wages to be paid to the construction workers are established in the contract signed between the GUPC and the government. The men who are working on this project are already getting paid more than most other construction workers in the country. GUPC has a payroll of about 6,000 workers. By law they can have as many as 15% foreigners - or 900 foreign workers - working on this project. Right now they only have about 225 or so foreigners on the books, total. I bet they will start bringing in more foreign workers ASAP - from Honduras - as a stop-gap measure.
