Bolivia's largest union calls indefinite strike

Email: online@newsofbahrain.com

Sucre: Bolivia is facing a major labor uprising as the country’s largest trade union, the Bolivian Workers' Center (COB), declared an indefinite general strike on May 1. 

The announcement, made during a rally of over 1,000 people in El Alto, comes as the Andean nation grapples with its most severe economic crisis in forty years.

The union's demands are extensive, including a 20% minimum wage hike, pension increases, the repeal of recent tax reforms affecting small traders, and salary reductions for high-ranking government officials. 

These calls follow a week of intense demonstrations from various sectors, including transport workers, miners, and Indigenous groups.

Tensions are high following the December removal of long-term fuel subsidies, which triggered a foreign currency shortage and sent inflation peaking at 25% last July. 

President Rodrigo Paz has rejected the union’s demands, citing a previous 20% wage increase in January and urging leaders to focus on job creation instead. 

The COB, however, remains firm, vowing to continue the strike until the government addresses the public’s ‘dismal economic conditions’.

Photo Credits: AFP