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Para ver esta página en español, oprima aquí. Vote Recount Begins Again, New Facilitating Measures Adopted… Striking IAU Workers Disrupt Governor’s Xmas Party… UT Debut Set… ASA Will Implement Final Offer Rejected By Union… Rivera Schatz Allowed To Testify… Calderon Says Melecio’s Testimony Is "Unheard Of"… PDP Challenges Integrated Votes To Counter NPP
Vote Recount Begins Again December 2, 2004 SAN JUAN (AP) – The recount and general review at the State Elections Commission began again Thursday morning after SEC President Aurelio Gracia ruled against petitions by the New Progressive Party (NPP) and the Popular Democratic Party (PDP). Gracia said he ruled against the NPP request to adjudicate as integrated votes the ballots only marked with an "x" for PDP candidates. "They must be adjudicated as votes by candidacy," he said at a press conference after a meeting of the three election commissioners. Gracia also said he decided not to grant the PDP request to nullify ballots with straight votes. The PDP challenged the validity of the straight votes in the same way the NPP questioned the mixed votes and candidacy ballots. PDP Election Commissioner Gerardo Cruz said Wednesday that he would demand the straight votes not be counted, based on the argument presented by former judge Juan R. Melecio at federal court. To take away the validity of the "pivazos" – votes in favor of the Puerto Rican Independence Party but in favor of the PDP candidates for governor and resident commissioner – Melecio testified that people can not vote to register a party. Gracia said he did not know if the affected parties would challenge his decisions in court. New SEC Measures Should Help Process Move Forward December 2, 2004 SAN JUAN (AP) – The main political parties and the president of the State Election Commission demonstrated hope on Thursday, after a meeting in which they changed procedures for challenging ballots and rules about officials at counting tables. SEC President Aurelio Gracia said if the officials of one of the three parties leave the recount tables, they will be replaced with government personnel. "If personnel from any of the parties are removed, the president if going to be authorized to appoint Commission officials, of our choosing, in a way so that if there is one party leaves, the work can continue … it is a measure that can resolve some of the conflict," Gracia said. Gracia, as well as NPP election commissioner Thomas Rivera Schatz, and PDP commissioner Gerardo Cruz, said the agreements would make it possible to certify a new governor before the end of the year. Puerto Rico Holiday Ceremony Disrupted By Striking Workers December 2, 2004Copyright © 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)--A group of striking water union members crashed the governor's Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Puerto Rico, authorities said. About 30 union members entered the governor's mansion Tuesday night for the annual event that is open to the public and began shouting pro-union slogans and holding placards during a singer's performance, police said. They were promptly escorted outside where several hundred other members were holding a protest and the lighting ceremony resumed without further interruption, officials said. Demonstrators clashed with a few dozen officers who formed several lines blocking the road into the La Fortaleza mansion in historic Old San Juan. At least one police officer was slightly injured and five police vehicles including three cars and two motorcycles suffered minor damage, police spokeswoman Marilyn Calo said. At least two union members were slightly injured, said Alberto Hernandez, a spokesman for the Authentic Independent Union which represents the water workers. None of those injured were hospitalized. No arrests were reported, Calo said. The protest lasted at least two hours and calmed down after the initial clash but was interspersed with firecrackers and demonstrators shouting slogans and beating drums. Urban Train Will Be Inaugurated On Tuesday December 2, 2004 SAN JUAN (AP) – After eight years of waiting, the Urban Train will be inaugurated Tuesday in a ceremony in Rio Piedras and the public can begin to use it two weeks later, said Transportation Secretary Fernando Fagundo. According to reports, Fagundo said the train, built at a cost of approximately $2.2 billion, is now the most modern transportation system in the world. "They could spend years coming up with new technology more modern than we have," Fagundo said. He said the inauguration will only be attended by officials of his agency and the Federal Transportation Authority, and the former secretaries of Transportation and Public Works, Hermenegildo Ortiz, Carlos Pesquera and Sergio González, will be invited. He did not cite reasons for the absence of Gov. Sila M. Calderon. ASA Will Implement Agreement, With Or Without Union Signature By Ricardo Zuñiga December 2, 2004 SAN JUAN (AP) – With or without the signature of the Independent Authentic Union (IAU), the management of the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (ASA) will put into effect their "final and firm" proposal for the collective agreement. This was announced Thursday by ASA President Jorge Rodriguez, who made repeated calls to the employees of the agency to return to their work, even as the IAU strike continues. "The agreement is going to be put in place," Rodriguez said at a press conference, just hours after IAU leadership roundly rejected the proposal, alleging it eliminated numerous benefits already negotiated and did not award salary increases for the first 30 months. ASA lawyer Jose Olivencia said that in case of a stall in negotiations, the law authorizes the employer to impose the agreement, however, it does not have to be signed by the union. "At the time a final offer has been made, and a stalled situation has arisen - an impasse - the employer can put it in place," Olivencia said. Rodriguez, nevertheless, made multiple calls to the union to accept his final offer, which he said was "fair" and "reasonable," taking into account the fiscal crisis at ASA. He said employees who return to their jobs will be rewarded all the benefits of the final proposal, including a bonus of $1,800 and a Christmas bonus. "Already it is time we return. Already it is time that we go to work," he said. IAU President Hector Rene Lugo hours earlier rejected the ASA proposal, saying he did not see an end to the two-month strike. He criticized the proposal, which included a bonus of $1,800 for employees when they return to work and increases of $100 monthly from the second to the fifth year of the agreement. Water Co. Presents Final Offer To Union December 2, 2004 SAN JUAN (AP) – Sixty days into the strike, the management of the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (ASA) presented their final offer to the Independent Authentic Union (IAU) and left the negotiation table. The spokesman for the ASA negotiating committee, Jose Olivencia, said the final offer was presented Monday with an increase in the total worth of the salary offer from $71 million to $91 million. "The Authority has issued its final offer…. For us, the negotiation here is over," Olivencia said. IAU Vice President Andrés Carrasquillo said he was "very surprised" by the ASA announcement and said it could be illegal. "A final proposal is when the agreement is signed. Until then, all proposals are negotiation … What they have done is refusal to negotiate, because they got up and left …and this is an illegal work practice, according to the Law of Labor Relations in Puerto Rico," Carrasquillo said. The union planned to hold a news conference at 11 a.m. Thursday to announce their response to the offer. Strike Continues: IAU Rejects ASA Proposal By Ricardo Zuñiga December 2, 2004 SAN JUAN (AP) – The Independent Authentic Union on Thursday said it could not see a quick end to the strike that has lasted two months, and said it will hold more "group actions" such as the protests that held up traffic in the metro area in recent weeks. IAU President Hector Rene Lugo said they received a proposal from ASA management Wednesday afternoon, allegedly with the condition that it be accepted in its totality. He criticized the proposal because it allegedly eliminated many benefits already negotiated and did not give salary increases for the first 30 months of the agreement. "The entire agreement is eliminated and returned to 1972, when the first collective agreement was negotiated," Lugo said after a press conference at IAU headquarters, which he entered to the sound of union members chanting strike songs. "This never has been seen in the history of a collective negotiation in Puerto Rico," he said. Lugo said also that ASA management did not wait for a counter-proposal from the union and left the bargaining table. The spokesman for the ASA negotiating committee, Jose Olivencia, said Wednesday night that their final offer was presented to the union Monday with a increase in the total value of the salary offer from $71 million to $91 million. "The Authority has issued its final offer…. For us, the negotiation here is over," Olivencia said. Lugo said that IAU finances are solid and they can continue to pay members from the strike fund, including the medical plan. The IAU began a strike Oct. 4 to protest conflicts in negotiation of a new collective agreement. Dominguez Will Allow Rivera Schatz To Testify December 1, 2004 SAN JUAN (AP) – After little more than an hour of arguments, Judge Daniel Dominguez on Wednesday decided to allow the testimony of New Progressive Election Commissioner Thomas Rivera Schatz in the judicial complaint about the mixed votes. James Hibey, a defense lawyer for the NPP, said Rivera Schatz would speak about a press conference given by Popular Democratic gubernatorial candidate Anibal Acevedo Vila, in which he allegedly made statements "consistent with what we said about the votes with three x marks." "Anibal Acevedo Vila asked for one vote for him and not for Roberto Prats. This is consistent with what we said … Acevedo Vila knew that he could not ask the PIPs for a vote for him and for Prats because that was asking them to turn into PDPs," Hibey said in court. Meantime, the defendants – the government and the PDP – argued Rivera Schatz could not be a witness because he was announced as a witness for the beginning of the juridical process. Attorney Luis Sánchez Betances also objected to Rivera Schatz’s testimony because Rivera Schatz would be "interpreting what Acevedo Vila wanted to say." Calderon Says Melecio’s Testimony Is "Unheard Of" December 1, 2004 SAN JUAN (AP) – For Gov Sila M. Calderon, it is "unheard of" that the former president of the State Elections Commission (SEC), Juan R. Melecio, would testify before the Federal Court that in his 12 years as president of the SEC he was not aware of a tradition of mixed votes, called "pivazos." "It’s unheard of," Calderon said, when asked her impressions of Melecio’s testimony before Judge Daniel Dominguez. She added, "it is unheard of to want to say something so incredible." "Obviously the mixed votes in Puerto Rico have been a reality, they have always been valid, have always have been used by the citizens … and have been validated by the courts," she said. In the federal complaint initiated by the New Progressive Party, Melecio said voters in Puerto Rico can not vote for parties without choosing candidates to public positions, and said he did not remember having seen ballots with three marks like the "pivazos." The NPP went to the federal court asking, among other things, that the state ballots with three marks be invalidated. PDP Challenges Integrated Votes To Counter NPP Strategy By LEONARDO ALDRIDGE December 1, 2004 SAN JUAN (AP) – The Popular Democratic Party will challenge the validity of the integrated votes in the same way the New Progressive Party has questioned the mixed votes. The PDP election commissioner, Gerardo Cruz, said Wednesday afternoon he will submit a document to the State Elections Commission (SEC) demanding that they not count the intergrated votes as valid, basing his demand on the argument presented by Juan R. Melecio at the federal court. To take away the validity of the "pivazos" – votes in favor of the Puerto Rican Independence Party but also marked for the PDP candidates on the state ballot – Melecio testified that you can’t vote to inscribe a party. "If the voters that voted mixed do not have the right to inscirbe a party, the voters that voted ‘integrated’ don’t have this right either … so neither is valid," Cruz argued. Cruz insisted that Melecio’s statements before Judge Daniel Dominguez are "absurd" and "he threw on the floor" all the progress of the SEC.
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