Panama - 2011

Population: 3,500,000
Capital: Panama
Law 30 weakening trade rights gave rise to a number of protests, during which several people were killed and scores were injured. Many trade unionists were arrested or forced underground. The deputy general secretary of the national construction workers’ union SUNTRACS (Sindicato Único Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Construcción y Similares) was arrested and went on hunger strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike .
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Background

A climate of instability, social and political violence prevailed throughout 2010 in Panama. The country’s relative stability and supposed democratic credentials were seriously affected by the government’s violent conduct. The new legislation approved in 2010 includes the Imprisonment Act, popularly referred to by Panamanians as the “Jailhouse” Law, which criminalises social protest and under which those exercising the right to demonstrate can be jailed. Even the Ombudsman urged the government to reflect on the consequences of the bill.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 3,500,000
Capital: Panama

reported violations- 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Trade union rights in law

There are a number of problematic areas in the law despite basic trade union rights being recognised. Freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework is guaranteed in law. However, public sector workers do not have the right to form unions but only “associations”, and the minimum membership requirements for creating both associations and unions are excessive. There can only be one association per institution, and only one branch per province. While trade union protection is guaranteed to union leaders, it is only extended to 11 union members. Furthermore, while both private and public sector workers may engage in collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
, new enterprises are not compelled to conclude collective agreements during the first two years of operation.

The right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is recognised in the Constitution, but a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike must be agreed upon by an absolute majority of the workers in an enterprise. Strikes can only be organised in relation to certain specific issues, and federations, confederations and national centres may not call a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . In the public services, the law provides for extensive minimum service minimum service The operations needed in a public or private establishment during a strike, normally to avoid compromising the life or basic needs of the population or causing irreversible damages.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework and also stipulates that compulsory arbitration arbitration A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.

See conciliation, mediation can be imposed. For services that are deemed essential, the government can requisition requisition To issue back-to-work orders. at least 50% of the employees. Finally, strikes are prohibited for employees governed by the Panama Canal Authority, in EPZ export processing zone A special industrial area in a country where imported materials are processed before being re-exported. Designed to attract mostly foreign investors by offering incentives such as exemptions from certain trade barriers, taxes, business regulations, and/or labour laws. s and in new enterprises.

Additional information regarding the legislation
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 3,500,000
Capital: Panama

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

In practice

First collective agreement with DHL in Latin America: In May, the airline staff union SIELAS (Empleados de Líneas Aéreas y Similares de la República de Panamá) managed to seal the negotiation of the collective agreement between SIELAS and DHL Aéreo Expreso S.A, which constitutes a major trade union breakthrough, this being the first collective agreement secured with DHL in the region.
Barriers to collective bargaining: The government continues to promote the negotiation of collective pacts with non-unionised workers instead of collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
agreements.
Union appeals to ILO: The leadership of the national construction workers’ union SUNTRACS (Sindicato Único Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Construcción y Similares) lodged a complaint against the government of Panama over the fundamental human and trade union rights violations suffered by SUNTRACS members and other citizens. The complaint details various trade union rights violations, ranging from acts of interference and fundamental human rights violations to physical assaults and persecution. These continual practices point to the fact that the acts of repression are not isolated incidents but a systematic strategy deployed by agents of the state.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 3,500,000
Capital: Panama

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Violations

Trade unions protest against Law 30, securing its repeal:

On 12 June, Law 30 was passed then sanctioned by the president on the 16th of the month. It was popularly branded the “Chorizo” Law, being an attempt to stuff into one case the reform of six laws and three national codes without consulting any sector of society. In terms of amendments to the labour legislation, Articles 12 and 20 of the law were aimed at suppressing the check-off check-off A system where union dues and fees are automatically deducted by the employer from the workers’ paychecks and then remitted to the respective union. system (automatic deduction of union dues from salaries) and the payment of dues by workers covered by collective agreements, rights that have been enshrined in the Labour Law since 1971.

It also attempted to undermine the exercise of the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , authorising non-striking workers, managers and trusted staff to work during a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , rather than requiring the total closure of operations, as previously provided for by law. In addition, under Law 30, the National Council of Organised Workers, CONATO, would have been replaced by a trade union structure dependent on the State Executive.

The trade union battle, which mobilised the entire country against the law, forced the government to table a dialogue that ultimately led to the legislation being carved up into eight separate laws, the content of which was negotiated and agreed on with civil society and trade union organisations. One of these laws was Law 68 of 2010, which repeals all the labour provisions of Law 30 and re-establishes the rights originally enshrined in the Labour Law; it also stipulates that only the management and trusted employees can enter the company during a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and that production must be halted.

Repression and killings during strike against Law 30 in Bocas del Toro:

In August, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed concern at the serious acts of violence perpetrated during a protest held on 8 July in Changuinola, Bocas del Toro. Banana plantation workers in the province of Bocas del Toro called a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike starting on 2 July to protest against the approval of Law 30 on 12 June, sanctioned by the President on 16 June.

On 8 July, the security forces violently crushed a demonstration organised as part of the protest against aspects of the law concerning trade union rights and the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , killing at least six people, injuring around 700 and arresting hundreds more. The violence was targeted at the banana and construction workers from the Panama Canal in Colón. Trade union leaders from the construction union SUNTRACS and the National Council of Organised Workers (CONATO) were also arrested. Warrants for the arrest of trade union leaders were issued; some were illegally detained and later released after paying a fine. The persecution forced several trade union leaders underground. At the end of the year, 17 SUNTRACS leaders were still facing legal proceedings; eight are members of the current Executive Committee, and include Genaro López, Jaime Caballero, Marcos Andrade and Marcos Guzmán.

Deputy general secretary of SUNTRACS arrested: On 11 July, Jaime Caballero, deputy general secretary of SUNTRACS and a member of the National Executive of the National Front to Defend Social Security (FRENADESSO), was arrested in Ancón during the police repression in Bocas del Toro, and taken to the prison of the Judicial Investigation Department (DIJ), where he was jailed alongside common prisoners. After being detained for several days, Caballero started a hunger strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . He was transferred in a military plane from Chiriquí to Panama City where he was denied access to a lawyer. On 15 July, he was released after the Supreme Court of Justice issued a ruling to the Assistant Prosecutor’s Office.
Right to unionise violated at religious schools: Several workers were dismissed from religious schools during 2010 for having joined a union.
Civil servants’ rights violated: There was little change in the situation already denounced by the civil servants’ federation FENASEP (Federación Nacional de Servidores Públicos), as the government presses ahead with the imposition of laws and measures clearly aimed at weakening the legislation on the rights and freedoms of public workers. The laws passed have deformed the civil service career and eliminated tripartism tripartism The principle of involvement of and interaction between three parties having equal status, namely the social partners and the government.

See social dialogue, International Labour Organization by not allowing FENASEP to take part in dialogue. The minimum number of workers required to form a union in the public sector has been put back up to 50.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 3,500,000
Capital: Panama

reported violations - 2011

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
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