Hundreds of workers from the construction industry and the Panama Canal who marched to the presidential palace  on Thursday, March 5  demanding  better  pay and working conditions were received by President Lorentino Cortizo

The march, led by the Single Union of Construction Workers and Similar (Suntracs) was  joined by members of the Non-Professional Union of the Panama Canal show their dissatisfaction with the unemployment that afflicts the country

Both organizations shouted slogans and distributed leaflets to denounce that Panama is one of the "most unequal countries in the world" where unemployment "continues to grow and there is no economic recovery despite (one) greater indebtedness."

The Cortizo Administration, whose five-year term began in July 2019, issued in the last months of last year  $3.billion in global bonds to obtain resources  for pending payments with suppliers and officials and pre-empt debt due in 2020 reports  Efe news agency,

These issues were the main cause of the increase in the level of debt, which already exceeded the desirable limit of 40% of GDP and is outlined towards 45%, economists have told Efe

Security
The marchers  also demonstrated against corruption and impunity and denounced the rising tide of homicides, femicides, and robberies in the country. Canal workers  complained about the lack of security in their work, which according to spokespersons has caused accidents at work that have often been fatal

They also complained against what they claim are the alleged privatization plans and the high salaries of executives of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) .

The workers were received by President Cortizo and by the Minister of Labor and Development, Doris Zapata.