Banana giant Chiquita Brands has fired its workers in Panama who have been out on strike for more than three weeks as part of nationwide protests against reforms to the social security system.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino had said earlier Thursday that the strike was illegal and included some 5,000 workers.

“Unfortunately, following the unjustified abandonment of work at our plantations and operations centers since April 28 and continuing today, (the company) has proceeded with the termination of all of our daily workers,” the company said in a statement. It said the company had suffered losses of at least $75 million.

Protests marches and occasional roadblocks have stretched from one end of the country to the other as teachers, construction workers and other unions expressed their rejection to changes the government said were necessary to keep the social security system solvent.

  • shplane@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    8 hours ago

    My goal of buying fair trade isn’t to get the best coffee beans, it’s to support a company that provides a living wage to their workers. The article just focuses on how it impacts the owners of the farms and quality of coffee but doesn’t mention laborers at all.

    • Jimmycakes@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      4 minutes ago

      Yeah but you’re not. They literally make pennies more on their end while gouging the end customer in western countries. The whole system exists to enrich the middle man.