Panama Canal expansion strike settled

(AP)  PANAMA CITY, Panama — A company expanding the Panama Canal has settled a strike by 6,000 workers that had paralyzed work for six days.

The multinational consortium Grupo Unidos por el Canal says in a news release that the workers have agreed to a 13 percent wage increase and will return to work on Monday.

Union representative Saul Mendez says workers are not completely happy with the deal raising hourly pay to about $3.34 an hour, but still made important advances. The workers had been seeking a pay raise to as much as $10 an hour.

The company already had agreed to meet worker demands to cover delayed overtime and weekend pay. It blamed bookkeeping errors for the delay.