ABSTRACT
Ley 95 signaled the loss of autonomy of the Torrijos regime with regard to the former ruling elite, which it had dispossessed of power in 1968. The modifications to the collective agreement clauses removed any potential participation of workers in the management of the enterprise. The events that followed after Ley 95 was enacted are telling of the transformations undergone by the Torrijos regime. Ley 95 modified Article 403 drastically. Once the Labor Code was enacted into law and its new provisions were set in motion, the common belief in Panama was that the number of labor litigations escalated to unmanageable proportions. Throughout 1977 and 1978 the economic situation continued to deteriorate. As time passed without recovery in sight, fear began to set in among all those concerned that the economic situation was out of control. Ley 95 had an effect on labor similar to that of the 1972 Labor Code on the private sector.
