Unionized workers at Puerto Rico’s water utility voted to authorize a strike Saturday, rejecting a salary offer from the Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados in the middle of an island-wide water rationing crisis that has touched Condado, Ocean Park and Miramar for weeks.
Members of the Unión Independiente Auténtica (UIA), which represents AAA employees, held an extraordinary assembly Saturday at the Coliseo Manuel “Petaca” Iguina Reyes in Arecibo, where they voted for strike authorization and turned down AAA’s latest salary proposal. The vote does not set a strike date on its own — it gives union leadership the authority to call one if negotiations stall further.
Timing Raises the Stakes
The authorization lands at an unusually sensitive moment for AAA. The utility has run rolling 48-hour water interruptions across San Juan since early August, after the Carraízo reservoir hit critically low levels during the driest July the region has recorded in more than 120 years. Condado has spent stretches of the month cycling in and out of the rationing plan, alongside Ocean Park and Miramar.
A labor dispute inside the agency responsible for restoring water service — even one that stops short of an actual walkout — adds a layer of uncertainty to a recovery effort residents are already watching closely.
What Happens Next
AAA has not publicly detailed its next move following the vote. Historically, a strike authorization in Puerto Rico’s public utilities functions as leverage in ongoing contract talks rather than an automatic walkout, and further negotiation sessions would typically follow before any job action is called.
Condado Daily will update this story if UIA sets a strike date or AAA responds with a revised offer.
Related coverage: San Juan’s Water Rationing and the Extreme Drought Behind It
Sources: El Nuevo Día
