The initiative presented by the Government last November 6 is rejected by trade union organizations and several trade unions which point out that it is aimed at privatizing the only public entity which attends retirees, raising the retirement age and diverting resources to banks and pension administrators.

Although in the first debate several deputies opposed raising the retirement age by three years and ratified that the State must increase the annual contribution to the CSS funds, the unions insist that the law be withdrawn, since it does not contemplate their proposals for changes. The president of the Legislative, Dana Castañeda, received union leaders in a courtesy audience, but without knowing the results of these talks.

Last Wednesday, after violent confrontations between members of the construction workers union and the police, about 500 workers were arrested.

This union denounced other abuses by the Government, which used riot units and tear gas in the vicinity of the Hospital del Niño in the central Balboa Avenue, in this capital city. jrr/jav/jcm/ga