PANAMA - The question of whether or not the Panama Canal’s $5.5 billion expansion would see further speed bumps in its progression has been answered.
Rumors circulated of a possible strike when 6,000 construction workers demanded an eight percent raise in wages. After negotiations between the main contractor for the Third Set of Locks Project, Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), and the National Union of Workers of Construction and Similar Industries (SUNTRACS), a mutual agreement has been reached, the Maritime Executive reports.
Though protests to the expansion didn’t ensue until August 8th, Maritime reports that the Panamanian government and the GUPC have been in negotiations since June for both sanitary improvements and transportation for workers. The workers, who currently earn between $2.90 and $3.37 per hour depending on skill, claimed that the Panamanian Construction Association contract lists that they were due a raise on the first of July.
The details of the negotiated terms have not yet been announced, however any strike call will be superceded, the ACP stated in an announcement, adding that it hopes this marks a continued harmonious relationship between all parties involved.
The strike call was to be in the construction of new locks works for both the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the canal, which should now be completed on schedule, according to the report.
Already having been stopped twice in 2014, unless worker demands were met the project would have seen labor action beginning yesterday, August 12th.
Currently about 90 percent complete, the project is expected to be completed in April of 2016.
