A Panamanian subsidiary of US banana giant Chiquita Brands announced mass layoffs on Thursday, May 22, after a nearly month-long strike that has ground its production to a halt. Chiquita Panama said it was laying off "all" daily laborers for abandoning their duties in an "unjustified" manner. Daily laborers do not have permanent contracts and are hired only at harvest time.
Chiquita did not say how many people would be affected, but Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino had warned that 4,900 out of 7,000 jobs at Chiquita Panama were on the line if the strike continued.
Workers at the plant in the Caribbean province of Bocas del Toro, which lives off tourism and banana production, went on strike on April 28 to protest pension reforms approved by Congress. The workers blocked roads in the province, disrupting classes and causing fuel shortages, according to local media.
"We don't know how to explain to them (the unions) the enormous damage their intransigence is causing," the right-wing Mulino told his regular weekly press conference on Thursday.
Construction workers have also been striking for the past four weeks over the pension reforms.
Chiquita Panama said the strike has cost it "at least $75 million" in losses and caused "irreversible damage" due to the workers' "total abandonment" of the banana plantations.
A labor court declared the strike illegal. A government delegation is holding negotiations with trade unions representing the workers, who are demanding the restoration of previous, more advantageous pension and healthcare regulations.