PANAMA CITY, Panama (AFP) — The Panamanian government on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in one province after US banana giant Chiquita Brands laid off about 5,000 workers following a strike that had ground its production to a halt.

Workers went on strike a month ago in the province of Bocas del Toro, blocking roads and halting school instruction to protest a pension reform approved by Congress.

Construction workers have also been striking for the past month over the pension reforms.

The “state of emergency” declaration allows the government to speed past bureaucratic hurdles to address economic or social crises quickly. Bocas del Toro lives off tourism and banana production.

Chiquita, which employed more than 7,000 workers, laid off about 5,000 of them last week for what they called unjustified abandonment of work.

The company claims the strike has cost it $75 million in losses and caused irreversible damage to the production of bananas.

Right-wing Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino warned Friday that more jobs are on the line if the strikes continue.