Miners on alert for possible contract suspension

Industrial Union of Workers in Mining and Mining and Related Developments (STM Union) i Union of Mineworkers of Panama (Utramipa) They remain vigilant and demand a just and orderly transition in which the rights of the workers of the Cobre Panamá project are respected.

Union STM was reacting to a statement from Wednesday, November 29, in which the company Minera Panamá Subsidiary of First Quantum Mineral LTD, claimed to have “notified” the Ministry of Labor of the suspension of the labor contract in the Panama Copper project.

“In the absence of an immediate solution and due to force majeure, today we officially notified the Ministry of Labor of the suspension of contract effects for approximately 7,000 Minera Panamá and MICPA employees,” details of a document shared by STME, affiliated with Convergencia Sindical (CS).

“This temporary measure affects all our direct and indirect collaborators (contractors, suppliers) and of course each of the 40 thousand Panamanian families that depend on the mining activity that exists in our country”, details.

Given this fact, STM Union clarifies that the suspension of the employment contract is not a unilateral decision by the company, but requires the approval of the Ministry of Labor or the Labor Court, as the case may be.

The proper procedure for suspending the effects of an employment contract, as set forth in Articles 199, 201, and 202 of the Labor Code, requires an investigation of the cause, notice to the union, and the holding of a hearing. , within three days, says the STME Union.

STM adds that in Panama Mining CompanyThe procedure for harmonizing specifications for violations of labor legislation is currently open.

“In view of this fact, we remember that article 441 of the Labor Law establishes that “…From the moment of submission of the list of demands in the prescribed form, until the expiration of the deadline for announcing the strike, during this or during the arbitration, any termination or suspension of the effects of the labor contract, must be previously approved by the appropriate labor judge, in accordance with the procedure provided for trade union violations…”, quotes STM.

This criterion was clearly expressed by the Ministry of Labor in February of this year, when the company tried to suspend the effects of the contract, he adds.

STME expects a quick and coherent response from the Ministry of Labor, regarding the company’s announcement, to prevent the spread of incorrect information from generating even more uncertainty among Minera Panamá workers.

STM request People’s governmentconcrete and urgent steps to define, with the effective participation of workers’ representatives, a closure plan that guarantees human and labor rights and takes measures to mitigate the impact on the environment during the mine closure process and enables the effective re-conversion of mine workers.

The Panama-Utramipa Mineworkers Union also rejected the request to suspend the contract and asked the authorities to respect workers’ rights. “The suspension does not terminate the contracts, but the company would stop paying salaries,” he said.

Utramipa recalled the request to suspend 4,051 contracts that happened in February 2023. “In February, Mitradel flatly rejected the request and now the same thing must happen,” says Utramipa.

Minera Panama SA, stated that he is the Panamanian copper mine workforce It has more than 7,300 employees, 67% of whom come from the interior, and the mine is estimated to have contributed to the creation of more than 40,000 jobs, direct and indirect, across the country.