2015 ITUC Global Rights Index - Panama

2015 ITUC Global Rights Index Rating: 3

On 25 July 2014, the Labour Minister withdrew the charges against nine trade union leaders. The charges had been brought by the previous Labour Minister in 2012 for alleged misappropriation of funds granted by the state for trade union capacity building. As of March 2015, the legal proceedings have been halted but the restrictive and precautionary measures placed on the union leaders remain in force.

On 22 December 2014, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) decided to appeal the decision by the Panama Canal Labour Relations Board to recognise the Unión de Capitanes and Oficiales de Cubierta (UCOC) as a trade union organisation. The ACP appealed to the Supreme Court to immediately suspend the trade union's recognition, and to confiscate and freeze all of its assets. This action was taken in the context of a collective bargaining process initiated by the union. In 2008, the Supreme Court had denied the trade union's registration, obliging it to negotiate as an independent entity through one of the existing unions.

The Panama Canal workers are demanding better working conditions but cannot exercise the right to strike given that the Constitutional Court denied them this right in 2010, leaving them with virtually no trade union and labour rights in practice.

In the Colon free trade zone, there has been a marked increase in the practices of hiring through employment agencies and subcontracting, which prevent workers from organising due to the lack of job security or their status as self-employed workers.

The ITUC Global Rights Index Ratings:

1 // Irregular violation of rights
Collective labour rights are generally guaranteed. Workers can freely associate and defend their rights collectively with the government and/or companies and can improve their working conditions through collective bargaining. Violations against workers are not absent but do not occur on a regular basis.

2 // Repeated violation of rights
Countries with a rating of 2 have slightly weaker collective labour rights than those with the rating 1. Certain rights have come under repeated attacks by governments and/or companies and have undermined the struggle for better working conditions.

3 // Regular violation of rights
Governments and/or companies are regularly interfering in collective labour rights or are failing to fully guarantee important aspects of these rights. There are deficiencies in laws and/or certain practices which make frequent violations possible.

4 // Systematic violation of rights
Workers in countries with the rating 4 have reported systematic violations. The government and/or companies are engaged in serious efforts to crush the collective voice of workers putting fundamental rights under threat.

5 // No guarantee of rights
Countries with the rating of 5 are the worst countries in the world to work in. While the legislation may spell out certain rights workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices.

5+ // No guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law
Workers in countries with the rating 5+ have equally limited rights as countries with the rating 5. However, in countries with the rating 5+ this is linked to dysfunctional institutions as a result of internal conflict and/or military occupation. In such cases, the country is assigned the rating of 5+ by default.