Panamanian workers' unions filed a complaint with the Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) for violations of union rights in Panama. Leaders of the National Confederation of Independent Trade Union Unity (CONUSI) and the National Union of Construction Workers and Similar (SUNTRACS) signed the document in search of justice and an end to abuses.
The complaint aims to broaden the facts related to the violation of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on freedom of association, specifically due to the illegal closures of SUNTRACS' bank accounts at Caja de Ahorro and the National Bank of Panama (BNP), both state-owned.
The report sent to the ILO details the human rights violations of more than 500 construction workers that occurred in February 3025 in Panama. It mentions mass arrests, cruel treatment, and manipulation of justice to criminally prosecute 83 workers detained at their workplace.
The trade union organizations hold the President of the Republic, José Raúl Mulino, responsible for the repression against the workers. For his part, Mulino has accused SUNTRACS members of being "criminals" and belonging to a kind of "mafia."
CONUSI and SUNTRACS respond to these accusations by stating that the real "mafia" is in the ruling party, which tries to divert funds from the Social Security Fund (CSS) to private banks and private pension insurers. The complaint over labor abuses in Panama is in the hands of the ILO.
