Although in court the strike was declared illegal, the government compromised on not discounting from wages for the days not worked by the strikers in return for lifting of the strike.
After managing to avoid wage deductions for having been absent from their duties for 15 days, the Workers Syndicate of Japdeva (Sintrajap) agreed to suspend the strike and resume duties as normal today at the ports of Limon and Moin.
Despite the new president having reaffirmed his government's commitment to the project at Moin to be run by the Dutch company APM Terminal, his own lawmakers are supporting the formation of a committee to re-analyze the concession contract.
While President Luis Guillermo Solis is touring the United States looking for investors and providing legal certainty to foreign companies, inside the country space is still being given to obviously bias obstructionism on the part of port official unions. Now it is the sphere of the Legislature where a petition will be filed in an attempt to halt the project.
The Costa Rican Chamber of Construction says urgent investment in port infrastructure is needed and that it supports the new Container Terminal at Moin.
A statement from the Costa Rican Chamber of Construction (CCC) reads:
The Costa Rican Chamber of Construction (CCC) would like to draw attention to improvements that the country needs to make in port infrastructure, because the lack of investment that has been made is taking a toll on all Costa Ricans.
The government of Costa Rica has put on hold "indefinitely" the process for the concession of the ports of Limon and Moin.
Caught between the demands of port efficiency by the productive sectors and the real power of the union, the Chinchilla administration has back tracked on its intention to grant concessions to private companies for the modernization and operation of the ports of Limon and Moin, and now intends to invest about $70 million to make sure that this essential modernization takes place, while keeping both terminals under the management of the Port Management Board of the Atlantic (JAPDEVA).
Aubery de Young, CEO of the company, explained that the Government of Costa Rica completed the formalities required to initiate these studies, which include the selection of a government counterpart and an independent engineering firm who will serve as auditor.
Tariffs in force since 2003 and salaries that absorb 80% of the budget have led to losses during 2010.
As of July 2010, losses had already reached $4 million.
Allan Hidalgo, president of Costa Rica's Atlantic Port Development Management Board (JAPDEVA in Spanish), believes that the problem lies in the way prices are calculated.
Only one company, APM Terminals, has submitted a tender to build an operate the container port in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica's National Concessions Council has 45 days to evaluate the technical offer and if it meets the bid criteria required the next step is the economic offer evaluation with the contract due to be awarded by the end of the year.
An assembly of workers from JAPDEVA, the entity who administers ports in the Costa Rican atlantic coastline, voted in favor of conceding the ports to private operators.
Workers also voted to remove the directors of the worker's union, whom oppose private operation of the ports.
Costa Rica's official newspaper will publish today the bidding rules for the concession of Port Moín.
According to sources from the National Concessions Council, the bidding rules for Port Moín concession should be published today in the Official Gazette, with modifications by the General Comptroller of the Republic. The government was finally unable to tender Port Limón and Port Moín simultaneously, as was the initial idea. This is due to the ongoing dispute between the government and the worker's union of Port Limón.
Meanwhile, the terms for Limón's port bidding process should have been published on August 21st.
Francisco Jiménez is the Executive President of Japdeva, the organization negotiating with the government and the worker's Union the private concession of the port.
The main question from investors is whether concession of the new port in the Costa Rican Caribbean includes the existing facilities.
The Costa Rican government´s response to this issue is that the processes are independent. The future of the existing facilities depends on the JAPDEVA union coming to an agreement with the government over the amount and nature of worker compensation, which has not yet been reached. Yesterday, the union again rejected another government proposal totaling $137 million in compensation.
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