Minera Panamá announced Monday, December 4, that it began a voluntary retirement program for its workers.

The company signed an agreement with the majority union, the Union of Mining Workers of Panama (Utramipa), to open a special voluntary retirement program "for employees who wish to request it."

According to the company, the mutual agreement includes the payment of the money that is legally owed to them.

It also clarified that it reserves the right to accept workers' requests by mutual agreement since some of the jobs will still be necessary "for the care and conservation phase (non-operational) of the mine."

“Until there is a clearly established defined determination how many employees will finally be able to continue working in the company in care and conservation tasks,” Minera Panamá emphasized. According to the company, the decision was made following the publication of the Supreme Court ruling on the unconstitutionality of Law No.406.

 It recalled that the ruling prevents the operations of Cobre Panamá, "the situation of the collaborators has changed and new questions have arisen, which require clarification from the Government."Minera  Panamá insisted to the authorities that these issues, “along with others that are key to the environmental safety and protection of the site, remain unanswered” by the Government of Panama.

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