Militant labor group celebrates its 10th birthday

economy

It started out with a discussion of serious business

Militant labor group marks an anniversary
photos by José F. Ponce

Yes, a PRD-aligned goon squad with backing from the police threw them out of the office when under the rotation system then in place it was CONUSI's turn to chair the government-recognized National Council of Organized Workers (CONATO), and then the company unions that dominated the rump of that organization expelled them. Still, ask Panamanians on the street to name any labor leader, and by far the most mentioned name is Genaro López, the secretary general of the SUNTRACS construction workers' union that's the heart of CONUSI (which is the Spanish acronym for the National Confederation of Independent Labor Union Unity).

On November 21 CONUSI gathered at the Hotel Soloy to celebrate their 10th anniversary, to greet friends from near and far, to honor the memory of fallen labor activists, to soberly evaluate the challenges of the present moment and to party down with some participatory Panamanian music and dance traditions.

Genaro López addressed the gathering

Then came the singing and dancing

Genaro dances with the congo queen

The number two man in SUNTRACS, Saúl Méndez, also danced

... as did Bolivian Ambassador Edgar Solís Morales

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