WHILE thousands of members of the Construction and Allied Workers  Union (SUNTRACS) took to the streets across the country on Tuesday, April 17  their leaders huddled in a Panama hotel to continue negotiations with The Panamanian Construction Chamber  (Capac) that have dragged on for six months.

With a national strike set to begin  at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, they are endeavoring to reach a collective agreement, which would be in force between 2018 and 2021.

The meeting began at 10:40 a.m. and included representatives of the Ministry of Labor and Development (Mitradel).

So far, there are 11  outstanding clauses of the 155 that were up for negotiation, all of an economic nature – an increase in basic salary, special conditions and salary adjustments in mega-jobs).

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