Panama Experts Call for Unified and Fair Minimum Wage

Experts, union leaders, and social movement activists unanimously demanded the implementation of a single and fair minimum wage and decent work to successfully combat the severe inequality prevailing in Panama. This proposal was put forward during a forum organized at the University of Panama by the Independent Labor Organizations (OIR), focused on claiming labor justice in a country burdened by public debt that will reach nearly $60 billion by 2025. The serious challenge in employment was analyzed by a panel including economic advisor and professor Ana Patiño, Nelva Reyes from the 2023 Minimum Wage Commission, former Minister of Labor Luis Alberto Carles (2014-2019), union leader Eduardo Gil, who was part of the Minimum Wage Commission (2015, 2019, and 2023), and Alexis Pineda from the Minimum Wage Commission (2025). Patiño described the 8.0% wage increase announced by the government for 2026 as fictitious and clarified that in Panama, where inequality persists, there are over 30 economic activities with differentiated minimum wages, varying by region, company, occupation, or trade. She clarified that the average minimum wage of $638 per month is below total household spending and forces workers to allocate their income to subsistence, with no capacity for savings, preventing investment in health, education, and housing. She argued that the disparity between capital and compensation in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) causes workers to participate less in economic growth. Indeed, official data confirm a regressive income distribution and decreased social mobility. Former Minister Carles acknowledged that when wages grow below accumulated annual inflation, it affects workers' purchasing power, whose quality of life has declined despite the accumulated GDP growth in 2025 being estimated between 4.0% and 4.36%. Carles insisted on shifting the balance in favor of productive forces and small businesses and called for replacing the inadequate minimum wage calculation system (by regions) with an equity model that promotes collective well-being and human and technological development. In this sense, he stated it is inconsistent with reality that a recently graduated technician receives different minimum wages when moving from one province to another, even if they perform the same functions for which they were hired by employers. In response, Eduardo Gil, general secretary of the National Confederation of Independent Labor Unity (CONUSI), highlighted that Panama indeed lacks a scientific methodology to determine the minimum wage and that over the years a meager criterion has been imposed in tripartite tables, which has hit the working class and left a social debt that must be redeemed and remedied. Gil warned that workers must organize through safeguarding their struggle principles and rejecting the regressive labor reform model implemented in Argentina by President Javier Milei, which is emerging as a destructive recipe for rights, laws, and social conquests in Latin American and Caribbean countries. Nelva Reyes, leader of the General Autonomous Confederation of Workers (CGTP), stated that Panamanian workers have received only 'crumbs' from a growing economy, as revealed by economic figures and official reports lacking updates. In response to this situation, she advocated for developing strong labor awareness and mobilization mechanisms in favor of a dignified minimum wage that resolves disparities and historical backlogs and ensures effective labor justice.