According to the agreement signed in Bari, Italy, during recent sessions of the IFJ Executive Committee, and disseminated by groups on social media, several unions in the isthmus are waging a tough battle against an Executive branch that has used the courts to criminalize the right to strike and to social protest.

The text of the motion points out that, as part of its government strategy, two union leaders from the construction sector (Jaime Caballero and Genaro Lopez) are being held in detention.

They also point out that one of these leaders (Erasmo Cerrud) is taking refuge in the Nicaraguan embassy and another (Saul Mendez) is in exile, in addition to more than 180 union leaders facing legal proceedings and more than 1,500 workers dismissed during the recent strike against the social security reform, which violates the rights of contributors.

The FIP, founded in 1926, recalls that the Panamanian labor movement filed several complaints with the International Labour Organization (ILO) for violations of labor standards and the obstruction of collective bargaining and petition processes.

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