Unions prepare more protests against salary cuts

Unions representatives from the National Salary Council will meet on Thursday at 9 a.m. to discuss actions they hope to take to prevent the approval of a bill aimed at regulating extra salary benefits in the public sector.

Union leaders are awaiting a response from government officials to a letter delivered last Friday, when they decided not to attend negotiations with the government. Instead, they began a protest outside Casa Presidencial.

Gilberto Cascante, president of the National Association of Educators, said they called for the meeting in reaction to statements made by Labor Minister Olman Segura, who said this week that the bill would be sent to the Legislative Assembly this quarter. Castante said they “would block any attempt of approval.”

A new call for a general strike is at the top of the agenda for Thursday’s meeting, “as the possibility of negotiating the text of the draft bill is ruled out,” stated the union leader.

Teachers, public workers and union leaders marched last Friday to Casa Presidencial and delivered a document opposing the government’s draft bill, known as the “Public Sector Salary Bill,” arguing it would cut nearly 40 percent of their salaries.