Panama City, August 24 - 26. 2010

Introduction

The Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI) is a global union that groups together 300 trade unions representing  an active membership of more than 13 million workers in 135 countries, which has been closely following the recent violations of Union Freedom, Collective Bargaining and the Right to Strike in the Republic of Panama, which have caused expressions of disappointment by the social movement, the unions and the population at large, both nationally and internationally.

Such events have tragically resulted in at least 5 casualties and hundreds of wounded; 56 persons were blinded of one or both eyes.

During such events, more than 100 people were detained in Changuinola, Province of Bocas del Toro, Panama City and Colón in early July; and there are no official figures in spite of the reliable evidence, stories, testimonies, TV and newspaper images. 

The mission was led by Albert Yuson, BWI General Secretary and also included Carlos Salguero, BWI Regional Representative; Fiona Murie BWI Occupational Safety and Health Director; Gerardo Martinez, Vice-President of BWI; Oscar Valverde, ILO Observer; Fernando Serrano from FECOMA, Comisiones Obreras, Spain; Jean Voets, International Affairs Secretary of ACV BIE, Belgium; Genaro López, General Secretary of SUNTRACS Panama; Pablo Arosemena from CTRP, Panama and IUF representatives Gerardo Iglesias, Regional Secretary and  Bernabel Matos. Also, Raúl Requena, UNI Regional Secretary and  Alberto Barrow, UNI Regional Director.

The purpose of the  Mission was to verify, on the ground, together with Panamanian unions, the union situation after the demonstrations of July, directly express solidarity to the union movement and discuss with labor, judicial, governmental and corporate authorities the concern of the international union movement for the union situation in Panama.

The Mission also supported the organizing efforts at the Panama Canal expansion works, particularly at GUPC consortium. 

After a full three-day agenda, the Mission managed to visit the expansion works at the Atlantic part of the Canal and held meetings with companies of the GUPC consortium (Impregilio, Jean de Nul, CUSA and Sacyr). Meetings were held also with the General Secretary of the Ombudsman's Office, the National Assembly President, the Assistant Manager of the Panama Canal Authority, with the President and Justices of the Supreme Court and with the Panamanian social movement. A meeting, confirmed by the office of the Labor and Social Development Minister, scheduled for 26 August at 10 am was not held because the  Minister did not show up without justification.  All Mission members considered this situation was a snub which is not in line with serious diplomatic practices.

The Mission then met with delegates of the Panamanian unions CONUSI, CTRP,  Convergencia Sindical, all of them representatives of the civil society and sister unions.

At Changuinola, the Mission met with the union of banana workers SITRAIBANA, most of which members work for the TNC Chiquita Brands.

The Mission also exchanged views with different social players about laws 14 and 30 and other legal provisions, which have resulted in the disappointment of the population, and  reached the following conclusions:

Conclusions

1      The Mission asked the member companies of the GUPC, an immediate solution to the demands of workers in the expansion of the canal, including:  access of union representatives to the construction sites, recognition of the right to join a union, right to organize workers, to collective bargaining and direct discount of union dues, as well as the reinstatement of 44 workers laid off as a result of their union work at the expansion work site.

2     The Mission alerted on the hostility climate and action by labor, police and corporate authorities imposed on workers and their representatives both in the aggressive events of Changuinola, Province of Bocas del Toro, Panama City and Colón and in the arbitrary arrests and illegal criminal prosecution of their leaders, and requested the termination of these proceedings, all of which contravene the ILO resolutions on Union Rights and civil liberties.

3      After analyzing the recently approved Law 14 and Law 30, our Mission discussed with government authorities and agencies the anti union form and content of these provisions,  and warned of the difficult environment of confrontation and unrest they may cause on the population and the workers, urging such authorities to derogate such provisions. The above facts and the impact of such laws are a clear violation of ILO Convention 87 on Union Freedom and Convention 98 on the Right to Collective Bargaining.

4     The Mission also pointed out the concern of the union movement and the international community about the recent operation of democratic entities in Panama, evidencing a lack of correlation with the democratic values and principles contained in the national Constitution.

5     Likewise, the Mission pointed out the direct link between the technical and financial assistance of international organizations, when granting credits, and the requirements of sound and transparent labor relations in the borrowing countries, which is not happening in Panama, more specifically at the construction site of the canal expansion.

6     The Mission also alerted about the damage caused by such events on the international image of the country, which does not contribute to improve the trade relations of Panama with other countries and economic blocs, which is a substantial part of the government agenda.

7     In spite of the existence of a Dialogue Table of the government, unions, civil society organizations and the social movement, such dialogue has not been enough to pave the way and reach a real solution, in fact, due to the persistence of conflict causing facts, it has caused delays instead of a real dialogue.

8      The Mission supports the claims presented by CONATO, CONUSI and SUNTRACS to the ILO, endorsed also by BWI and looks forward to a prompt and fair solution. We will make sure that this case is considered at the ILO in November and that all the necessary steps are taken by our representatives and liaisons in the Geneva offices. We will also make sure that our affected members of Panama are duly represented at the Meeting of the Executive Body and at the Union Freedom Committee; and 

9        The Mission has created a follow-up and monitoring committee on the situation of Panama, giving support to our Panamanian brothers and sisters at this difficult time and will try to enable an international union solidarity campaign.