Union representative: too early to think about reopening Minera Panama
Carlos González, union representative of Minera Panamá, said on Wednesday that starting to reopen the mine as suggested by another union would be too soon, noting that currently about 200 workers are registered to have coronaviruses and 3 have died.
"It is definitely very hasty to start reopening the mine without seeing the current scenarios, until now we do not really know, neither the Panamanian people, nor the workers who are in quarantine, know what is happening in the project. We warn that apart from the number of workers that exist in their homes, there are around 200 infected mine workers, apart from that around 500 workers remain in quarantine and unfortunately 3 deceased, so this scenario I think does not allow to think about a reopening of the project”, said González.
He added that the positive cases of COVID-19 of the mining company are accumulated in the province of Colón, so they have sent a letter to the Ministry of Health (Minsa) recommending that an analysis of the Cobre Panama project be made in daily reports, including cases registered in Río Hato and Antón.
He added that it is vital that the company guarantees the jobs to workers. After this it was pointed out that if they do not reopen there is a risk that those jobs will be lost.
"You cannot find a way to blackmail the government, so to say, that the job positions are in danger. The job positions must be guaranteed in the first instance, second that the protocols that are applied so that the workers return the work areas have to be discussed in the security committee for the prevention of COVID-19, which dictates Decree 78, that security committee has not been held", he said.
He added that the health of workers currently affected by the coronavirus must be guaranteed, as well as their jobs, in addition to the fact that the company must compensate the families of workers who have died from the virus.
"What we propose is that before the project is reopened, it must be guaranteed that the areas are safe, the economic and labor solvency of the workers must be guaranteed, since the labor issue of the workers is not discussed, if the employment contracts that are defined are going to be maintained, that is why we have also sent a series of proposals to alleviate the economic and labor solvency of workers while discussing the health and safety issue for the prevention of COVID-19 and the protocols for to be able to reopen the mine and it will reopen according to our recommendation, part by part”, he pointed out.
He added that the positive cases of COVID-19 of the mining company are accumulated in the province of Colón, so they have sent a letter to the Ministry of Health (Minsa) recommending that an analysis of the Cobre Panama project be made in daily reports, including cases registered in Río Hato and Antón.
He added that it is vital that the company guarantees the jobs to workers. After this it was pointed out that if they do not reopen there is a risk that those jobs will be lost.
"You cannot find a way to blackmail the government, so to say, that the job positions are in danger. The job positions must be guaranteed in the first instance, second that the protocols that are applied so that the workers return the work areas have to be discussed in the security committee for the prevention of COVID-19, which dictates Decree 78, that security committee has not been held", he said.
He added that the health of workers currently affected by the coronavirus must be guaranteed, as well as their jobs, in addition to the fact that the company must compensate the families of workers who have died from the virus.
"What we propose is that before the project is reopened, it must be guaranteed that the areas are safe, the economic and labor solvency of the workers must be guaranteed, since the labor issue of the workers is not discussed, if the employment contracts that are defined are going to be maintained, that is why we have also sent a series of proposals to alleviate the economic and labor solvency of workers while discussing the health and safety issue for the prevention of COVID-19 and the protocols for to be able to reopen the mine and it will reopen according to our recommendation, part by part”, he pointed out.