Panama: Government crackdown on trade union for defending teachers' rights
It will soon be two months since members of the MPU, union affiliated to Education International, began an indefinite strike and protests in defence of teachers’ right to a decent pension. Far from showing any willingness to negotiate, the national government has responded with repression and is continuing its brutal crackdown on teachers.
Education International Latin America (EILA) has condemned these attacks on the people of Panama and has called on the government to guarantee “respect for the human, labour and social rights of all people, and an end to the repression of those fighting for fairer living conditions”.
At the centre of the conflict is Law 462 that amends Law 51 on the social security system. According to the MPU, Law 462 paves the way for the privatisation of social security and weakens the country’s pension system.
Various sectors hit
Law 462 does not only affect the teaching profession but all working people in Panama. This is why workers from the banana industry and seven Indigenous communities stood alongside teachers to resist the reform. According to the MPU, the repression has been brutal and indiscriminate.
The government has refused to negotiate with the workers en bloc and chose to seek a separate solution with the banana sector, with which it reached an agreement on 11 June. Meanwhile, the government has announced further repressive measures against the teachers, parents, and members of civil society who continue to oppose Law 462. In an official statement, Panama’s President José Raúl Molino said that the national border service and the national police have clear orders to intervene.
Repression and intimidation
The MPU has denounced the brutality of the repressive action against the teachers, banana workers, Indigenous communities and other people supporting the strike. The measures the government has deployed as part of its crackdown include persecution in the communities themselves, the use of tear gas, beatings, arbitrary arrests, and the withholding of wages. Many people have reportedly suffered injuries of varying severity. The MPU and Education International are calling for solidarity to ensure that the situation in Panama does not go unnoticed and that pressure is brought to bear on the government.
