Moderators Moderator_03 Posted March 31, 2023 Moderators Share Posted March 31, 2023 Quote Striking firefighters will only attend calls if life is endangered Posted 30/03/2023 Panama firefighters tired of broken promises, announced a nationwide work stoppage on Thursday, March 30, after the directors of the institution failed to comply with agreements made over salary adjustments for promotions that were promised in June 2022. The red shirts announced that will only attend fires or emergencies where lives are in danger. From the early hours of the morning, fire trucks from different stations in the capital arrived at the main headquarters of the Fire Department on Avenida Cuba to attend the protest call. With banners in hand and the sirens of their tankers sounding, the units demanded that the institution complies with the agreement. Major Cruz Gómez indicated that yesterday they held a meeting with the directors, but they could not reach an agreement for the salary adjustments for promotion. The problem is that the two million dollar item that was promised to meet the agreement has not yet been assigned. Goméz pointed out that the then Minister of Government, Janaina Tewaney, together with the directors of the Fire Department signed the agreement last June, committing the permanent units to make salary adjustments as long as they complied with the certifications required in the agreement. Since then, more than 900 firefighters have met all the requirements and the adjustments have not yet been made effective. "The director made the general orders for salary adjustments and now it turns out that the money is not there because it was cut by the MEF and nobody had informed us of anything. Until Monday, we believed that the money had been allocated because that was what they told us at the institution," he said. He added that, during the last three months, the union worked tirelessly together with the administration so that the promotions were given, achieving that all the permanent units complied with everything that was required of them and now the government dishonors its word and fails to fulfill its promise. That is why, a nationwide strike is declared and only fires and emergencies will be attended where lives are imminently in danger.” In addition to the permanent firefighters, paramedics, security offices and all stations nationwide are also participating in the strike. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/striking-firefighters-will-only-attend-calls-if-life-is-endangered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted April 1, 2023 Author Moderators Share Posted April 1, 2023 Quote Firefighters meet with government on second day of strike Posted 31/03/2023 The union of Panama Firefighters entered the second day of a countrywide strike on Friday, demanding that the government comply with previous agreements on salary adjustments and promotions. The protest action is carried out at the national level and the leadership reported that it will only respond to emergencies such as structural fires, accidents where people are trapped, or the presence of Africanized bees that put people's lives at risk. On Friday morning a meeting began at the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy and Finance between the leadership of the firefighters and government representatives. As of noon, an understanding had not yet been reached between the parties. In the capital city, the firefighters carried out a caravan and mobilized the fire trucks through some roads of the capital city such as Calle 50 and Via España. They also passed through the vicinity of the MEF, near the National Sanctuary. The Executive informed that in parallel to the conversations, work is being done on internal audits and the review of the files of promoted firefighters. Likewise, recommendations will be made for an administrative modernization of the entire Institution. "Until now, it has been possible to establish the real level of the internal administrative problem in the institution, the way in which the promotions were given, the effective availability of economic resources to deal with these rank promotions, and likewise, it has been possible to confirm that the structure of positions in the entity has not been altered”, is reflected in a statement from the Ministry of Government. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/firefighters-meet-with-government-on-second-day-of-strike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted June 1, 2023 Author Moderators Share Posted June 1, 2023 Quote Firefighters continue protests after tardy response Posted 31/05/2023 Protest actions by firefighters of the Panama Fire Department continued through Wednesday and continue and with them, the pressure measures will increase, after not being convinced of the statements made by the government regarding the signing of the decree that makes promotions and other requests effective. According to Cruz Gómez, leader of the firefighters, in the report that was presented to them, there is no type of sure commitment to what is being requested, which is the signing of the decree by President Laurentino Cortizo and the schedule where it was clear that the firefighters would get paid, at what time and when. Cruz Gómez said: "Since politics entered the Fire Department, it has not allowed it to advance" He warned that security offices throughout the country will remain closed until the document is signed, the schedule is delivered, and the specifications for the purchase of personal protective equipment are clarified. The continuation of the measures was approved by the bases, which held a meeting on Tuesday night. Last week, the officials of the Panama Fire Department began the protest actions with the intention of complying with what was agreed with authorities at the beginning of the year, after a first stoppage of functions in search of justified promotions. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/firefighters-continue-protests-after-tardy-response Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted August 16, 2023 Author Moderators Share Posted August 16, 2023 Quote Firefighters announce Wednesday strike Posted 14/08/2023 Panama Firefighters (Bomberos) announced Monday that they will strike on Wednesday, August 16. The measure is to demand that the authorities comply with the payment that corresponds to the units that were promoted. The Secretary General of the fire department, Cruz Gómez, told Telemetro Reporta that the payments of people promoted throughout the country have not been made. He clarified that before making the decision to go on strike they had several meetings. According to Gómez, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) has not attended these meetings. He points out that he does not know why the entity has not come forward. The secretary explains that the firefighters announced the upcoming protests as a measure of pressure, with this, they seek to obtain some response from the entities responsible for making the payment corresponding to the promotions of the red shirts. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/firefighters-announce-wednesday-strike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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