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.
