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.
Although the strike was declared illegal by the Labour Court of Costa Rica, the union has rejected the government's proposal which promised marketing efforts at the ports in conflict.
Unionists remain steadfast in their rejection of the concession contract clause which states that the terminal operated by APM will be the exclusive operator of specialized container ships.
Once again conservationism is at the service of sectoral interests, paralyzing investment in infrastructure which is essential for halting the deteriorating competitiveness of the economy.
EDITORIAL
In Costa Rica an investment of billions of dollars to build a container port has been held up by six years of legal proceedings, and added to this will be a further 5 months due to maneuvers made by uncompromising conservationists in league with unionists.
Union members went on strike indefinitely in the port terminals of Moin and Limon, through which pass 80% of international trade by the country and the region.
Business leaders from various productive sectors reported losses caused by the strike, while managers of port administration are looking for alternative labour in order to restart the loading and unloading.
A constitutional court has rejected appeals by port unionists and announced that the construction of the Container Terminal at Moin will begin in early 2015.
From a statement issued by APM Terminals:
San José, Costa Rica, October 9. The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Costa Rican Government and APM Termináis in an appeal filed by the port workers unión against the 33-year concession contract for the new Moin Container Terminal (TCM) in Limón on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.
The Environmental Technical Secretariat of Costa Rica has suspended works in the pit which was to provide material to APM Terminals to build the port in Moin.
On top of the long list of obstacles that have impeded the progress of the construction of the new port in the Costa Rican Caribbean, the Technical Environmental Secretariat has stopped work on the the pit in La Asuncion, in response to a request by Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA) for a revocation, claiming that "... the expropriations in the Banana River, located near the Cerro La Asunción, threaten the water supply in the province of Limón."
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.
In Costa Rica extreme environmentalism and the interests of the port unions are crippling a proposed $1 billion logistics development which is vital for the country
For the second time this year an appeal has been filed to obstruct the development of the port terminal by APM Terminals. Now it is the Constitutional Court that is hosting yet another appeal against the construction of the access road to the project.
In Costa Rica a judicial ruling has lifted a restriction in order to advance the construction of port for container ships in Moin.
In February the Japdeva Workers Union (Sintrajap) filed a motion to prevent two km of road being built for the construction of the New Moin Mega Container port and in response to an appeal, the Administrative Court imposed as a precautionary measure suspension of the work.