Latest news with #ChiquitaBrands
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Strikes, roadblocks bring Panama to near standstill
ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay, June 3 (UPI) -- Panama is facing one of its most intense social crises since the return to democracy in 1989, with nearly 40 days of nationwide protests, strikes and roadblocks sparked by a controversial pension reform law approved by President José Raúl Mulino's administration. The protests escalated April 23, when the national teachers' union launched an indefinite strike. Construction workers and banana industry laborers soon joined, expanding the demonstrations nationwide. Mulino has taken a hard stance, referring to some unions as "mafias" and insisting he will not repeal the pension law, which he says is necessary to preserve the system's financial sustainability. On Monday, Mulino sent a delegation of seven cabinet ministers to Bocas del Toro province, the center of the protests, and offered to draft a bill restoring labor benefits for banana workers, provided the roadblocks are lifted. "The minute they permanently lift the strikes, that law goes to the Assembly," he said. The proposal had little effect. Banana workers and other protest groups responded by intensifying demonstrations. Protesters are demanding the repeal of the law, which raises the retirement age, increases worker contributions and separates new individual accounts from the collective pension fund. They also oppose a security cooperation agreement with the United States that allows the use of former military bases in Panama and the possible reopening of the Cobre Panamá copper mine -- shut in 2023 after being declared unconstitutional. Such a potential reopening has reignited environmental and social protests. U.S.-based Chiquita Brands has emerged at the center of the crisis. The company announced it would shut its banana operations in Changuinola, a key production hub in the Caribbean province of Bocas del Toro near the Costa Rica border. A few days ago, after a full work stoppage by employees protesting the new pension law, Chiquita Panama and Ilara Holding fired 4,900 workers for job abandonment and said the company had lost more than $75 million, with irreversible damage to banana production. Panama's Labor Minister Jackeline Muñoz said the company plans to lay off its remaining workers this week. "They are filing a request to terminate more than 1,600 workers. There won't be a single employee left on the company's payroll," she said. In 2024, Panama's Social Security Fund, which operates under a solidarity-based model, reported a deficit of nearly $900 million, placing a significant burden on the system. The situation has worsened due to a decline in active contributors, as new workers are entering a mixed system with individual retirement accounts.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Strikes, roadblocks bring Panama to near standstill
ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay, June 3 (UPI) -- Panama is facing one of its most intense social crises since the return to democracy in 1989, with nearly 40 days of nationwide protests, strikes and roadblocks sparked by a controversial pension reform law approved by President José Raúl Mulino's administration. The protests escalated April 23, when the national teachers' union launched an indefinite strike. Construction workers and banana industry laborers soon joined, expanding the demonstrations nationwide. Mulino has taken a hard stance, referring to some unions as "mafias" and insisting he will not repeal the pension law, which he says is necessary to preserve the system's financial sustainability. On Monday, Mulino sent a delegation of seven cabinet ministers to Bocas del Toro province, the center of the protests, and offered to draft a bill restoring labor benefits for banana workers, provided the roadblocks are lifted. "The minute they permanently lift the strikes, that law goes to the Assembly," he said. The proposal had little effect. Banana workers and other protest groups responded by intensifying demonstrations. Protesters are demanding the repeal of the law, which raises the retirement age, increases worker contributions and separates new individual accounts from the collective pension fund. They also oppose a security cooperation agreement with the United States that allows the use of former military bases in Panama and the possible reopening of the Cobre Panamá copper mine -- shut in 2023 after being declared unconstitutional. Such a potential reopening has reignited environmental and social protests. U.S.-based Chiquita Brands has emerged at the center of the crisis. The company announced it would shut its banana operations in Changuinola, a key production hub in the Caribbean province of Bocas del Toro near the Costa Rica border. A few days ago, after a full work stoppage by employees protesting the new pension law, Chiquita Panama and Ilara Holding fired 4,900 workers for job abandonment and said the company had lost more than $75 million, with irreversible damage to banana production. Panama's Labor Minister Jackeline Muñoz said the company plans to lay off its remaining workers this week. "They are filing a request to terminate more than 1,600 workers. There won't be a single employee left on the company's payroll," she said. In 2024, Panama's Social Security Fund, which operates under a solidarity-based model, reported a deficit of nearly $900 million, placing a significant burden on the system. The situation has worsened due to a decline in active contributors, as new workers are entering a mixed system with individual retirement accounts. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
UPI
a day ago
- Business
- UPI
Strikes, roadblocks bring Panama to near standstill
ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay, June 3 (UPI) -- Panama is facing one of its most intense social crises since the return to democracy in 1989, with nearly 40 days of nationwide protests, strikes and roadblocks sparked by a controversial pension reform law approved by President José Raúl Mulino's administration. The protests escalated April 23, when the national teachers' union launched an indefinite strike. Construction workers and banana industry laborers soon joined, expanding the demonstrations nationwide. Mulino has taken a hard stance, referring to some unions as "mafias" and insisting he will not repeal the pension law, which he says is necessary to preserve the system's financial sustainability. On Monday, Mulino sent a delegation of seven cabinet ministers to Bocas del Toro province, the center of the protests, and offered to draft a bill restoring labor benefits for banana workers, provided the roadblocks are lifted. "The minute they permanently lift the strikes, that law goes to the Assembly," he said. The proposal had little effect. Banana workers and other protest groups responded by intensifying demonstrations. Protesters are demanding the repeal of the law, which raises the retirement age, increases worker contributions and separates new individual accounts from the collective pension fund. They also oppose a security cooperation agreement with the United States that allows the use of former military bases in Panama and the possible reopening of the Cobre Panamá copper mine -- shut in 2023 after being declared unconstitutional. Such a potential reopening has reignited environmental and social protests. U.S.-based Chiquita Brands has emerged at the center of the crisis. The company announced it would shut its banana operations in Changuinola, a key production hub in the Caribbean province of Bocas del Toro near the Costa Rica border. A few days ago, after a full work stoppage by employees protesting the new pension law, Chiquita Panama and Ilara Holding fired 4,900 workers for job abandonment and said the company had lost more than $75 million, with irreversible damage to banana production. Panama's Labor Minister Jackeline Muñoz said the company plans to lay off its remaining workers this week. "They are filing a request to terminate more than 1,600 workers. There won't be a single employee left on the company's payroll," she said. In 2024, Panama's Social Security Fund, which operates under a solidarity-based model, reported a deficit of nearly $900 million, placing a significant burden on the system. The situation has worsened due to a decline in active contributors, as new workers are entering a mixed system with individual retirement accounts.
The Sun
a day ago
- Business
- The Sun
Chiquita to sack all striking Panama banana workers: government
PANAMA CITY: A subsidiary of US banana giant Chiquita Brands plans to lay off all of its workers in Panama, the government said Monday, after a month-long strike that has ground its production to a halt. Chiquita already announced in May that it was sacking several thousand daily laborers out of its roughly 7,000 workers in the Central America nation. Company representatives informed the government that this week they will be seeking to lay off the remaining employees, Labor Minister Jackeline Munoz told reporters. 'We are being presented with a request to authorize the dismissal of 1,600 workers, leaving not a single employee in the country's (Panama) workforce,' Munoz said. Workers at the plant in the Caribbean province of Bocas del Toro, which relies heavily on tourism and banana production, went on strike on April 28 to protest pension reforms. The strike has led to more than $75 million in losses as well as road closures and product shortages in Bocas del Toro. A Panamanian court declared the workers' strike 'illegal.' After negotiating with unions, President Jose Raul Mulino's government agreed to draft a bill to restore labor benefits to banana plantation employees, but only if they removed roadblocks. The unions refused to do so until the new regulations are approved. Mulino has faced more than a month of protests against pension reform and other issues. On Monday, police fired tear gas at demonstrators who blocked traffic with logs and rocks on several sections of the Pan-American Highway.
Time of India
7 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Panama Declares State of Emergency as Chiquita Brands Layoffs Follow Massive Worker Strike, ETHRWorld
Advt Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis. Download ETHRWorld App Get Realtime updates Save your favourite articles Scan to download App Panama City: The Panamanian government on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in one province after US banana giant Chiquita Brands laid off about 5,000 workers following a strike that had ground its production to a went on strike a month ago in the province of Bocas del Toro, blocking roads and halting school instruction to protest a pension reform approved by workers have also been striking for the past month over the pension "state of emergency" declaration allows the government to speed past bureaucratic hurdles to address economic or social crises quickly. Bocas del Toro lives off tourism and banana which employed more than 7,000 workers, laid off about 5,000 of them last week for what they called unjustified abandonment of company claims the strike has cost it $75 million in losses and caused irreversible damage to the production of Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino warned Friday that more jobs are on the line if the strikes continue.
