According to Melquiades Mojica, president of the College of Agricultural Engineers, the Minister of Agricultural Development, Augusto Valderrama, has only increased by 1,5% the proposed wage increase, an adjustment that would only be for those with lower incomes.

The union, he said, is requesting an adjustment of 19,8%, based on the increase in the prices of the basic food basket, but the Executive approved only 6,5%.

According to the leader, on the day of the march, inspections and approvals will be paralyzed in the different ports and points in the country through which food cargo enters and leaves Panama.

Agricultural science workers are in charge of checking that food and supplies entering Panama, whether raw materials or industrialized products, comply with local regulations.

At the beginning of this month, with the start of this strike, supported by more than four thousand authorities distributed in different institutions, the entry of food into the country was strongly affected, creating in a short time a delay of at least 15 days in the handling of food products.

The workers demand that the Government comply with the salary adjustment that by law they must receive every five years and which was established in the Law number 11 of April 12, 1982, and that the employees who do not have permanent contracts should remain in their positions.

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