The legislative building on Hidalgo has been closed for two days, with personnel blocking the path to the stairs, elevator and office doors. An occupation of the session hall Wednesday kept legislators from their work.
As things stood at press time, from Friday at 9 a.m. both the Macrobus and Tren Ligero will not be running, as transport unions join the strike of state congress employees – both full and part-time – who are owed 49 million pesos in unpaid wages.
Union leader Juan Pelayo Ruelas called an urgent meeting of more than 30 unions on Thursday, where it was agreed to take this “drastic” action to find a solution to the problem.
Pelayo Ruelas recognized that local people will be affected, but stressed the action was necessary. “We apologize to citizens, because the legislators did not have the ability to settle what they owed the workers,” he said.
It had been reported that regular buses would join the strike but this was subsequently ruled out by Juan Carlos Villarreal Salazar, president of the Jalisco United Front of Transport Concessionaires.
With state authorities having indicated that there is no money to pay the congress workers, the dispute looks set to continue. Negotiations with banks for a loan have proved unsuccessful, while a failed attempt to mortgage the legislative building, reportedly worth 70 million pesos, was even launched.
The annual budget of the State Congress, which also includes the 40 legislators’ salaries, is 559 million pesos (41 million dollars).