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Honduran Govt Workers on Strike
More than 35,000 Honduran civil
servants started an indefinite
strike Wednesday demanding a
17-dollar monthly increase,
which was authorized by the
government in 2001 only for
private sector workers.
According to National Private
Servants Coordinating Committee
spokesman, Hilario Espinoza,
they are simply urging President
Manuel Zelaya to keep promises
made during his campaign.
About 20 strikes are staged in
Honduras every year by public
servants, mainly teachers,
nurses, and doctors due to their
low salaries.
According to the National
Statistics Institute, six out of
every ten Hondurans live in
poverty, with four of them in
abject poverty, statistics that
make Honduras Central America's
second poorest country and Latin
American's third poorest.
The strike has spread to all
government departments and all
28 public hospitals in the
country, which are currently
treating only emergency and
intensive care cases, Espinoza
said.
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