The National Industrial Union of Flour and Allied Workers (SITHA) of Panama and the Mexican transnational Bimbo, reached an agreement this Friday that includes a 4% salary increase, which put an end to the strike that paralyzed the company since last March 9.
“Thank God we were able to close the conflict because we had already been fighting with this transnational for many days,” he told Efe. Secretary General of SITHA, Rafael Salazar.
The union leader specified that a salary increase of 4% per year was agreed within the framework of the new collective agreement that will govern until 2025, as well as adjustments in the table of commissions for sellers, among others, for the benefit of more than 690 workers.
“We managed to prevent a drop in wages (…) Bimbo made a proposal for a 5-cent increase and we wanted 10 cents,” he said.
The strike kept Bimbo’s seven facilities in Panama, a production plant and six distribution agencies paralyzed, and work is expected to resume this Friday afternoon, Salazar added.
For its part, Bimbo announced in a statement that it “restarts its operations and reaffirms its commitment to the country and its collaborators.”
“We inform that we will be resuming 100% productive work and operations, after reaching an agreement with SITHA on March 18 on the points of the Collective Agreement that will govern for the next three years,” the company said.
Bimbo assured that it has maintained “as a priority” in all these years of operation in the country respect for the rights of its collaborators, “a principle that has prevailed in each collective bargaining”, as well as its conviction that constructive and reasoned dialogue It is a pillar for the management of healthy labor relations.
“With this agreement, we resume our activity throughout the country, we appreciate the trust in the brand and its products, as well as the support of our customers, suppliers and consumers during this normalization process of the usual operations of production, sale, distribution and administrative services, in the next few days,” added Bimbo.
The transnational did not give figures for losses due to the stoppage of activities, nor did Salazar.
“The losses are not clear, there were 9 days in which no bread was produced or sold,” said the union leader.
