(Photo: FSC)

The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) strongly condemns the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Panama on forest management across the Panamanian State Forest Heritage. Announced during the FSC General Assembly, this act is a disgrace to the global forestry community. It grants legitimacy to a government currently engaged in the brutal and systematic persecution of BWI’s affiliate, the National Union of Construction and Related Workers (SUNTRACS), and fatally undermines the FSC’s moral and institutional credibility.

This MoU is not simply ill-timed; it is a deliberate affront to justice. It was signed just days after the Panamanian government intensified its crackdown on SUNTRACS. On 27 October 2025, while FSC delegates were gathered, the authorities issued 17 search and arrest warrants against SUNTRACS leaders and their families, resulting in the detention of union leaders.

FSC cannot plead ignorance. BWI already raised urgent concerns during the General Assembly plenary and in direct meetings with the FSC Board and its Director-General. Despite being fully informed of these grave violations, FSC proceeded to sign the MoU, choosing to ignore the plight of persecuted workers and the warnings of its own social partners.

This decision is a betrayal of FSC’s own principles: It violates Principle 1, which requires compliance with ratified international conventions, where the Panamanian government is in open breach of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining; it undermines Principle 2, which mandates enhancing the social and economic well-being of workers, but FSC now partners with a government that arrests, imprisons, and financially cripples its unions.

In March 2025, the International Labour Organisation's Committee on Freedom of Association (Report No. 409, Case No. 3456) explicitly urged the Panamanian government to protect SUNTRACS leaders and restore the union’s access to its bank accounts. The government has ignored every recommendation. By formalising cooperation with this regime, FSC makes a mockery of international labour standards and its own system integrity.

BWI demands that FSC immediately suspend all cooperation with the Panamanian government and publicly denounce this partnership. FSC must not allow its name to be used to legitimise repression. The FSC must also distance itself from the state of Panama, as the duty-bearer, fulfils its international obligations and restores the fundamental rights, safety, and liberty of all workers and trade unionists.