BRIEFS: Labor

Public workers threaten to protest

The Federación Nacional de Servidores Públicos (Fenasep) warned yesterday at a press conference that there could be a “big march” to demand the 13th month payments it says are owed to 200,000 employees. In Panama, workers receive an extra month of pay each year as an employment benefit.

Alfredo Berrocal, Fenasep's secretary general, said union members are owed a total of $88 million for benefits that were not paid between 1989 and 1991.

The union is also pushing its support of a bill that seeks to adjust wages according to the prices of food and other commodities. “The issue of indexing has been demonized, but the spirit of this proposal is that the state will ensure that food does not rise in price,” said Berrocal. Another issue is the dismissal of public employees, which Berrocal said is becoming more serious in light of the present political climate.

There were around 185,000 public employees at the end of 2007.