Latin America: May Day marches protest high cost of living

[Judi Lynn]

Latin America: May Day marches protest high cost of living

Submitted by Weekly News Update on Tue, 05/10/2011 - 10:04. This year many of the traditional International Workers Day marches on May 1 focused on demands for wage increases and for fighting the high cost of living following recent jumps in food and fuel prices.

Chile's major unions commemorated May 1 with a massive march in Santiago criticizing the government of right-wing president Sebastián Piñera and demanding a new labor accord.

Colombia's unions held marches in the main cities, with about 10,000 people joining the protest in Bogotá, according to the Unitary Workers Central (CUT), the largest labor federation. The marchers' demands included rejection of a planned free trade agreement.

In Panama, several thousand marchers called for pay raises and the freezing of prices for the main commodities in the "consumer basket" (canasta básica), the combination of foods and other staples the average family is expected to need. Latin American governments generally use the consumer basket to measure inflation.

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