Chile's public workforce on strike over labor dispute

From Justin Zipser

About 450,000 public workers of Chile went on strike yet again on Monday in a move that has further crippled the country's economic and cultural landscape, CNN.com reports. The strike, which also occurred over two days during last week, has been in effect due to a wage dispute between the public workers and Chile's government. The workers are seeking a 14.5 percent wage increase, while the government is looking more in the ballpark of about 6.5 percent. The disparity between the desired amounts is obviously a cause for concern, and no end date for the strike has been set as of yet. Most of Chile's major cities were scenes for demonstrations for the striking workers.

The strike has affected the aforementioned cities because without the workforce, "garbage is piling up on streets, tax and fee collection has stopped and public health and education are practically paralyzed. Even weddings and autopsies are not being performed." However, several different forces of the Chile government are stepping in to make sure that imports and exports are not affected by the strike, including the armed forces, port and maritime authorities, and agricultural/livestock services.

The government, however, is taking precautions to make sure that the strike does not totally cripple the country. As far as the tax and fee collection goes, they have set up some emergency contacts via the internet or telephone for such services to be serviceable, albeit in a semi-functioning fashion. Also, there is some hope within the government that the strike is close to ending. President Michelle Bachelet met with her treasury minister early Monday, and according to officials, negotiators have made a new offer to the striking workforce in hopes of getting these people back to work. Chile is an important facet to southern South America by virtue of its high GDP-per-capita, development, and freedom-- getting the workforce back on track should obviously be of the utmost importance for government officials, and hopefully both sides get something they want from the inevitable ultimatum.