Puerto Rico is the canary in the cage, used in coal mines to warn
workers when toxic gases are building up.
The message from Puerto Rico is a warning that the desecration and
plunder being heaped upon that hapless country, is a foretaste of what
is waiting for our 50 states.
There is a reason why the plight of Puerto Rico is not a feature
story. It is simply a test to see if the Corporations can pull it
off. So far they are on track to mount an all out attack on the
working class people, headed by the Trump Machine.
Carl Jarvis
On 2/19/17, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://themilitant.com/2017/8108/810852.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 81/No. 8 February 27, 2017
Thousands in Puerto Rico protest anti-labor measures
BY SETH GALINSKY
“The economic situation was already pretty difficult before the
government’s most recent measures,” Ivan Vargas, a worker at Puerto
Rico’s Water and Sewage Authority, said in a phone interview from
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Feb. 13.
Vargas was one of thousands of workers who marched in San Juan Feb. 9 to
protest the government’s anti-labor moves outside the annual meeting of
the Association of Industrialists of Puerto Rico, which was attended by
representatives of the island’s colonial government and Washington’s
Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico.
“Many of my co-workers are temporary workers. Some of them are only
getting the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and minimum benefits,”
Vargas said. “Little by little, they are quitting and heading to the
United States.”
One of the largest contingents at the march was from the Authentic
Independent Union at the water authority. More than two dozen unions
joined the action.
Since taking office in January, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló has pushed through
laws and executive orders to meet the demands of the bipartisan
Financial Oversight Board, appointed by then President Barack Obama to
ensure payment to wealthy bondholders of some $70 billion owed by the
U.S. colony’s government agencies.
Under the Labor Transformation and Flexibilization Law adopted in
January, employers are allowed to increase the probation period for new
workers from 90 days to either nine or 12 months. The law cuts the
Christmas bonus by 50 percent for those with less than one year
seniority, raises the minimum number of hours needed to qualify for
vacations and sick pay from 115 to 130 hours a month, and allows bosses
to force employees to work on Sundays without paying overtime.
To sweeten the attack on labor, the law increases paternity leave from
five to 15 days for some workers. Rosselló claims the law will save the
government $100 million a year.
Rosselló also signed a law to allow the government to privatize
additional public services, and instructed all government agencies to
cut expenses by 10 percent.
This is on top of measures by previous governments that laid off
thousands of workers, cut pensions and increased taxes on working people.
“The labor reform is disastrous for working people,” said José Rodríguez
Vélez, president of the Union Solidarity Movement (MSS), by phone from
San Juan. The MSS organizes workers at the Coca Cola and Pepsi bottling
plants and at La India brewery. “What the government is trying to do is
create divisions in the working class.”
“Before the new law, workers received time and a half after eight hours
in a day, now they don’t get it until they’ve worked 40 hours a week,”
Pedro Irene Maymí, president of the Authentic Independent Union, told
the Militant from San Juan. One measure states that all government
agencies are under “one sole employer.” This means “they can move
workers from one agency to another. Workers will lose their seniority
rights,” Maymí said.
“The government claims the law will create more jobs,” he added. “That’s
just a pretext to eliminate the benefits and protections that workers
have.”
Junta threatens to use ‘many tools’
The fiscal board, also called the junta, has been pushing Rosselló to
make deeper cuts. In a Feb. 2 letter, Financial Oversight Board Chair
José Carrión warned the governor that the junta has “many tools it can
deploy” if it doesn’t get what it wants. Among its powers: criminal
charges against anyone who doesn’t cooperate.
One of the junta’s demands is a 10 percent cut in pensions to save $200
million. Pensions on the island average $1,100 a month, but more than
38,000 retired government workers only get $500.
The Puerto Rican economy has contracted 18 percent since a recession
began in 2006. The latest figures show an even further decline over the
last year, including an 8.9 percent drop in workers employed in
manufacturing, a 13.6 percent drop in cement sales, and a 3.1 percent
drop in the number of hours worked.
More protests are planned. Students at the University of Puerto Rico are
holding assemblies on campuses across the island to organize against
proposed cuts in the university budget and steep increases in tuition.
Unions are organizing protests for March 8, International Women’s Day,
and for May Day.
Many workers are buoyed by the return of independence fighter Oscar
López Rivera to Puerto Rico, although he remains under house arrest.
López will make his first public appearance on May 17 when his commuted
sentence ends.
“I heard about his return during the demonstration,” water worker Vargas
said. “I’ve read a lot about him. He was imprisoned for his beliefs. But
not all my co-workers agree.”
“I tell them what I think. And that he is being freed because of
pressure not just here but internationally. There’s no going back.”
Related articles:
Oscar López back in Puerto Rico! Faces restrictions until May 17
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