South Korean companies win orders to strike at Panama Metro...a police presence

Tensions are growing as unions have gone on strike at the Panama construction site of a consortium of Korean companies, and local police have been deployed.

According to the Panama Labor Ministry and the Panama Construction Union, more than 3,000 field workers at the Panama Metro Line 3 project went on strike indefinitely, demanding improvements in wage conditions, including overtime pay, and additional safety equipment.

Local authorities have called for an end to the strike, attempting to mediate to continue the field of labor-management talks, but the union has refused, saying the "government is in a position to suppress workers."

"We are repeatedly calling for unions and management to return to the dialogue table and reach an agreement that could end the conflict," Panama's labor ministry said in an explanatory release.

"We are working to complete the public project of promoting mobility for the people of western Panama," he added.

Authorities are preparing for an emergency by deploying police forces to major business sites.

The construction of Panama Metro Line 3 is a large-scale national project in Panama that has won orders from Hyundai Engineering & Construction, POSCO Engineering & Construction, and Hyundai Engineering Consortium, with a project cost of $2.8 billion and about 4 trillion won.

The project, which started construction in 2021, was considered the largest infrastructure construction in Panama based on the cost of the project at the time of the order.