PANAMA CITY (Reuters) -Chiquita Panama's administrative staff have left the country and the firm will seek authorization from the government to sack its remaining personnel in Panama, the nation's labor minister said on Monday.

The news comes after the company fired some 5,000 workers of a total of 6,500 employees nationwide last month in response to a strike at its banana farms.

Chiquita Panama did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company said on May 22 that it had fired daily workers in the western province of Bocas del Toro after what it called an "unjustified abandonment of work" at its banana farms that began late April.

The company said at the time that losses from the strike had at that time amounted to $75 million.

Thousands of banana workers have gone on strike as Panamanians across the country have protested against several issues including a social security reform they say will affect their future pensions.

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino called the strike illegal and illegitimate.