Waked family firings reach 329

WHILE  PANAMA’S  Labor  Ministry is predicting that 65% of jobs in the Waked family conglomerate can be saved,  the number of fired employees in Riviera stores jumped to 329 on Wednesday, June 2, from 149 on Monday.

Ministry Secretary General Samuel Rivera said Rivera said that the dismissed workers were either on probation or had less than two years with the company. Minister Luis Ernesto Carlos announced that 27 of the fired  workers have found new jobs.

There are 3,500 jobs with the companies connected to the family businesses that have been included on the Clinton list for activities related to money laundering and drug trafficking.

Through a statement, workers asked the government to “respect our integrity and our jobs.” They also claimed that some of the La Riviera workers who lost their jobs had worked for the company for much longer the two years.

“We want to make it clear that we are not asking the government to give us something for nothing, we only ask for justice in this situation,” the employees said