The workers were fired while on strike for better pay and working conditions, though the employer claimed it was an illegal work stoppage.
A union denounced a Panama Canal contractor’s decision to dismiss 10 workers and its apparent refusal to participate in talks to resolve a labor dispute.
A spokesperson for the Grupo Unidos por el Canal consortium, which was awarded a $3.1 billion contract to build a third set of locks for the international waterway, confirmed the dismissals and … added that the consortium acknowledges its lack of compliance with Panamanian labor law in some instances – violations that workers have denounced – and is working to resolve those issues.
The strikers began protesting Saturday to press for a salary hike, a solution to a lack of transportation for workers and more sanitary working conditions, among other demands.