Banana workers in Panama are recovering their jobs after a union crisis that led to the halt of the industry, the main source of employment in the Bocas del Toro province. 'We really had a bad time, there was nothing to hold on to,' says José Artola, whom friends call 'Loncho', while working on farm 15, where banana plants were abandoned last year. Artola is one of the 2,300 workers who have returned to their jobs since late 2025, when the transnational company Chiquita resumed the business it had abandoned in the middle of that same year after reporting $75 million in losses and laying off 5,500 employees during a strike. 'Now, even if it's three or four days a week, there is work, we can bring something home,' says Anaica Batista, a packer worker on farm 15. The crisis affected more than 5,500 workers who were left without income. The reactivation of the industry is gradual. First, farm work began with the cleaning and growth process of the banana areas, so that later the packing areas could start their operations. Not everyone faced the crisis in the same way: some were able to survive thanks to savings, while others were not so lucky. The transnational company Chiquita is now producing small quantities of bananas to test the behavior of the fruit and its packing plants. All this production is destined for the local market. The company plans to invest $30 million to reactivate about 5,000 hectares of banana plantations.
