Dozens of unionized employees of the Chapala government staged a demonstration inside City Hall Wednesday, May 9 to demand compliance with worker rights and benefits to which they are entitled.
They were there to reiterate grievances previously aired during their May 1 Labor Day march along Chapala’s main drag.
Responding to the throng of protestors gathered outside his office doors, acting Mayor Oscar España promptly opened the inner sanctum to discuss an eight-point written petition presented by the group’s union representatives.
After a 90-minute confab involving Secretary General Miguel Angel Mendoza and Treasurer Roberto Molina, agreements were reached on key issues.
City authorities promised to pay vacation premiums for 2017, owed to the workers since March of this year, by May 16. They also pledged to facilitate pending reimbursements for medical expenses paid out-of-pocket by employees, more agile processing of pension and retirement benefits, correction of errors in the workers’ employment records regarding length of service, and the drafting of definitive guidelines for conditions of employment.
In addition, España ordered the immediate reinstatement of Jesús Montejano, the union spokesman for employees of the SIMAPA water service agency who claimed he was unjustly dismissed from his job for allegedly participating in the campaign of a candidate for one of the sitting government’s rival political parties.
Union leaders threatened to call for worker walk-outs if they do not see significant progress in solving the problems brought to the table. Chapala currently has approximately 1,200 employees on its payroll.