Panama City, March 17 (EFE)-. Unions in Panama protested this Thursday to demand that the government freeze the prices of fuel, medicine and food, triggered as a result of the war between Ukraine and Russia, and a general increase in the minimum wage, which they have been demanding for years.
“The war cannot be an excuse to increase the cost of living, they already did it with the pandemic,” one of the coordinators of the National Front for the Defense of Economic and Social Rights of Panama (Frenadeso), Jorge Guzmán, told Efe. .
Around three hundred trade unionists demonstrated in the heart of Panama City with the flags of their groups while singing chants once morest the government of President Laurentino Cortizo.
“We demand that the increase in gasoline be consistent with the standard of living and not according to the desire for profits of the business sector,” added Guzmán.
Panama, a net importer of fuels, is experiencing the highest rise in gasoline in the last eight years, with prices exceeding the dollar per liter.
According to the unions’ claim, this also leads to an increase in the prices of food and medicine.
“It cannot be that prices are at free supply and demand and that the population is in the hands of merchants,” the general secretary of the National Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (Conusi), Marcos Andrade, told Efe.
GENERAL INCREASE IN THE MINIMUM WAGE
© Provided by Agencia EFE
“We are going to propose once more a general increase in wages for all workers, and that the cost of the basic basket be lowered,” added Andrade.
Last November, the Government of Panama increased the minimum wage between 1.5% and 13% only in sectors that managed to recover from the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, following months of debate.
The economic activities with salary adjustment were agriculture, hunting, livestock and forestry (1.5%); mining and quarrying (1%); activities of social, financial and private health services (2%); construction (1%); supply of electricity, gas and water (2%), and banana plantations (13%).
The sectors whose wage level remained unchanged are hospitality, restaurants, retail and wholesale trade, the hardest hit by the pandemic.
The government’s decision was rejected by the unions, who described the salary adjustment as a “mockery”, since they demanded a general increase and not according to sectors.
In Panama there are regarding 40 minimum wages, depending on the economic activity and the region of the country, whose levels by law must be adjusted every two years, ideally following a consensus of employers and unions at a table, something that has never happened, for what the Government ends up making the decision.
Now, the trade unionists claim to return to debate that consensual increase for all activities.
“We want the (National, Parliament) Assembly to reconsider the project that generally increases wages, today more than ever it is necessary because life has become more expensive,” union leader Genaro López told Efe.
© Provided by Agencia EFE
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