The Union of Drivers and Drivers of Collective and Selective Passenger Transport (Sintracodep) announced an indefinite strike, in the provision of the transport service, starting this Monday, July 18, 2022; they denounce alleged violations of the collective agreement process and lack of agreements with the authorities.
According to the workers, 70% of the personnel will go on strike and only 30% would remain operating, for which they urged the MiBus company and authorities to take actions to avoid the paralysis of metropolitan transport.
Faced with the complaints of the workers, the MiBus company assured that they are still in the negotiation of the collective agreement, which according to the Labor Code contemplates 4 stages: 15 days of negotiation, 1O days of first extension, 1O days of second extension Y 20 days to declare a strike in case the parties do not reach an agreement and currently they are in this last period; however, MiBus states that it has not received a formal notification of the strike declaration.
The company highlights that the specifications presented by SINTRACODEP contemplate 97 clauses, of which 7 are still to be negotiated Y of which 5 of these are of an economic nature. The part related to the salary increase could be the most difficult since the union claim is not in accordance with the economic reality of the company or the economic reality of the country.
“Transporte Massivo de Panamá SA remains fully willing to continue negotiating within the framework of what the law establishes in these cases, having as one of the main objectives reaching agreements that represent, not only a benefit for the workers, but also allow the sustainability of the company, in such a way that it is possible to continue maintaining jobs and service to users”, MiBus specified in a statement.
