The announcement of the plan for “reorganization, redesign and validation of the functioning of state institutions and programs” made by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, which is nothing more than layoffs in the State, has generated stress and panic in the ministries.
“The broom” threatens both those loyal to the regime and those who have kept a “low profile” by not sharing its actions. “There is panic and anxiety among workers and it is at all levels of the state apparatus,” says an Ortega supporter who, despite his political creed, is not very optimistic. “We are all screwed, traitors and comrades of the good ones, no one is safe,” he admits.
Next week, government spokesperson Rosario Murillo is expected to comment on the progress of the restructuring plan in her regime’s media during her usual appearance. This Thursday, there was high stress in state agencies, since the first layoffs are expected this Friday or in the first days of next week.
“We started the week by continuing our work of reorganization and promotion of efficiency, quality, professionalism and compliance for the benefit of Nicaraguan families,” said Murillo. He explained that the restructuring is being carried out in “all the institutions of our State, government and mayoralties.”
Concern reigns
Inés is 46 years old. She works in one of the State ministries. She is a single mother of two children. The eldest, Pablo, 16, is about to graduate and wants to go to university to study Systems Engineering. Meanwhile, the youngest, Laura, 14, is in her third year of secondary school. The mother says that since the restructuring was announced, “panic and anxiety” has skyrocketed in her office. “It is not easy to be out of work with children waiting at home,” she complains.
“It has caused me an incredible amount of stress because my children will not be able to go to university if I lose my job. With what I earn, I can support the house, two children and my parents who are already elderly and depend on me. Without a job, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she asks.
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Alejandra, 53, another state employee, is worried about her dismissal as well as her severance pay. “They don’t just give it to you and you have debts,” she adds. This woman is the mother of five children, three of whom are about to finish university. “The problem is that there is no work for them,” she complains. “My husband is a teacher and without this income, we will have a hard time. Now I am about to retire, and I am affected by being dismissed now,” she complains.
“We are screwed. 21 years of work at the Ministry of Health, Minsa, are not for nothing. They are going to pay a pittance in severance pay, because here nobody said anything when they stole from us workers by cutting the years of severance pay recognized and now nobody says anything either. Where are the Sandinista unions? We are totally defenseless, this was not the Sandinismo for which we fought so hard,” criticized José, another 51-year-old state employee.
State layoffs “in a country without jobs”»
Don José cannot hide his anger. At a very young age he joined the armed struggle against Somoza and despite the time, he never stopped being a member of the Sandinista Front, not even with the events that occurred in 2018. At the Minsa, he works as a physiotherapist technician.
“Imagine me looking for work. Who is going to hire me with my hands crippled from working with hot and cold water? I was hoping to enjoy my retirement, but now all those plans are up in the air. This is bad,” says the father of three children.
“There are no jobs. That is the problem in Nicaragua,” adds Esperanza, 27. She has no children, but with her salary from the Ministry of Education, she ensures the care of her retired father, who suffers from a chronic illness. Her mother died a few years ago. “There is a lot of anxiety about that,” she says. “I cannot leave the country with a 70-year-old man, and if I do, who will take care of him?” she asks.
What about the liquidations?
Esperanza, like thousands of state workers, is concerned about the reform that annulled acquired rights in the severance pay of state workers. “We won’t even get enough for the bus fare. How will anyone get ahead without that fund? There are people who have a life in offices and they will be paid a pittance, it’s not fair,” she denounced.
The Law on the calculation of compensation for seniority against state employees, approved in November of last year, represents a hard blow for workers who will now face these dismissals.
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The law established that state workers would only be entitled to compensation for seniority after three years of service. If they worked between three and 10 years, they will be entitled to one month’s salary; if they worked between 10 and 15 years, two months’ salary; if they worked between 15 and 20 years, three months’ salary; and only those with 20 years or more will receive the five salaries as previously stated in the law.
When the measure was approved, the unions remained silent and muttered that the measure was against “those traitorous workers who wanted to resign” and leave the regime in the same direction. “This remains to be seen, because not only that, there are people who have been waiting for their severance pay for two or three years, which they are not given as a political punishment,” said a former state employee who now makes a living from her own work.
