The indefinite walkout has already cost Chiquita Panama more than US$10mn
A strike by banana workers at Chiquita Panama has been declared illegal by a Panamanian court.
As reported by Banana Link, on 19 May, a judge of the Fifth Section of the Judicial Branch in Changuinola, Bocas del Toro ruled that the walkout by members of the Union of Workers in the Banana, Agricultural and Related Companies Industry (SITRAIBANA) does not meet “any of the requirements of a legal strike”.
He ordered workers at Chiquita Panama to comply with Article 507 of the Labour Code, which establishes a legal framework for resolving strikes declared illegal, including the obligation to return to work and the consequences of not doing so.
SITRAIBANA started the indefinite walkout more than three weeks ago in protest over reforms to the national pension system and continues despite the company’s threats to close plantations with the loss of thousands of jobs, government intervention to prevent job losses, and the courts declaring the action illegal.
Last week Chiquita announced that losses due to the strike already exceeded US$10mn. The company has been forced to suspend part of its banana production on at least three farms in the province of Bocas del Toro due to the stoppage, leaving it unable to export 900,000 boxes of bananas as of 12 May.
The company has called on all its employees to return to work to protect the fruit and ensure its proper harvest, packaging, and export, and to develop a contingency plan to prevent further damage to farms and the loss of more jobs in the region.
Panamanian president José Raúl Mulino said the government is commitment to preventing the permanent closure of Chiquita Panama’s operations in the province of Bocas and del Toro with the potential loss of 7,300 job. On 18 May, government ministers met with SITRAIBANA to discuss proposals to this end. The president stating that if no progress is made and the company decides to leave the country, the protesters and leaders “will be out of work in just a few days.”
Francisco Smith, the union’s general secretary, confirmed that the union has provided an official response to the government proposals discussed at this meeting, which he said “they should now take to the Cabinet,” as the next step in the negotiation process. Meanwhile he affirmed that the indefinite strike in the banana sector of Bocas del Toro will continue.
