Photo credit: STICP
Less than 48 hours after declaring a strike over repeated violations of the collective agreement, the Union of Workers of the Brewing Industry of Panama (STICP) have recently won an important deal with Cervecería Nacional, a subsidiary of the global brewing giant, AB InBev. The strike began on June 16 after more than 90 % of workers voted in favour.
“On June 16, 2023, we met with Cervecería Nacional, but nothing came of it. The Ministry of Labour then reconvened the parties for the next day. We negotiated all day, and, in the evening, we reached an agreement that we consider satisfactory,” stated Jaime Acevedo, STICP General Secretary.
The agreement includes:
- Hiring of at least 45 permanent positions that had been outsourced
- Staffing of helpers on trucks to reduce the incidence of injury among workers
- Non-retaliation pledge by the company for workers’ participation in the strike as well as a pledge to abandon the policy of unilateral and arbitrary job elimination
Jaime Acevedo, STICP General Secretary stated, “We recovered a large number of jobs that had been eliminated and stopped this unchecked advance by the company. All in all, we consider the balance of the strike to be positive. This was the result of the unity and firmness of the vast majority of workers. Thanks to IUF Latin America region and the other unions in the beverage sector for always standing with us.”
