Central American exporters are being recommended to keep using alternate routes during the union conflict which is causing ports to operate erratically.
From a statement issued by the Guatemalan Exporters Association (AGEXPOT):
The 29 main ports for goods moving from the West Coast of the United States, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, the main US ports, have been operating erratically since August 2014 due to a conflict which has been going on for months between the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union from the West Coast (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA).
The Government has issued an Executive Order which details the services that will be defined and the procedure to be followed to ensure the continuity of their delivery of services to the population.
After the lifting of the veto of the Act amending the Labour Procedure Code, which enabled strikes in essential services, president Solis has issued a decree which will be in force until the aforementioned Reform Act comes into force in mid-2016.
Despite widespread opposition from all productive sectors in the country, President Solis has lifted the ban on reforms to the law on labor procedures imposed by the previous administration.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of Private Business Sector (UCCAEP):
Lifting of veto outrages and concerns business sector
The productive sector is asking the Solís government not lift the ban on the labor law allowing the suspension of essential services during worker strikes.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations in the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP):
The Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations in the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP) has requested that the President, Luis Guillermo Solís, not lift the ban on the Reform of the Code Labour, record 15,990; on the eve of Saturday December 13, the expiry date of the four-year term for the project.
The defense of the interests of a privileged union which paralyzed the normal operation of the Caribbean ports of Costa Rica for 15 days, cost at least $1.5 million.
Hiring extra staff, renting of machinery and food expenses for officers of the security forces guarding the entrances to the terminals cost approximately $1.5 million, an expense that was incurred while employees of Japdeva went on strike.
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.
For the private sector work stoppages at the ports of Limon in Costa Rica, have reaffirmed the urgent need for the country to build a port terminal in the Caribbean.
Costa Rican ports move the majority of cargo from international trade from Nicaragua, therefore abnormalities in the terminal operations affect the transit of Nicaraguan goods, because of the lack of a port on the Caribbean coast.
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.
In Costa Rica the Solis administration, which promised that no new taxes would be applied in the first two years of its government, has granted a huge increase for public employees, and these are the same people who are now proposing a "Robin Hood" tax.
EDITORIAL
President Luis Guillermo Solís seems to be increasingly disconnected from the Citizen Action Party which brought him to power, and his government seems more and more to be the result of complex interactions within an academic union corporation, where the dominant political concepts seem to be drawn from melodramas of the sixties and seventies of the twentieth century. The main feature of the members of this outdated corporation - especially its main leaders - is the disconnect with the world of the real economy which allows them to regularly receive their salaries regardless of actual productivity of their labors.
A proposed amendment to the Labour Code of Costa Rica would allow for strikes with only 16% of total workers in companies whith no unions.
From a statement issued by the Union of Chambers and Associations of the private business sector (Uccaep):
UCCAEP rejects proposed amendment to the Labour Code
In regards to the new labor code reform initiative released on Monday by the parliamentary factions of the Citizen Action Party, Frente Amplio and the Social Christian Unity, UCCAEP :
The "negotiators" for the Government of Costa Rica have suggested "as a starting point" a proposal to increase the salaries of state workers which was met with "satisfaction" by the public employee unions.
EDITORIAL
Imagine you are responsible to the shareholders of a company that is in a very bad financial position, with costs consistently rising above income, meaning that the losses continually mount up and threaten the stability of the corporation.
Unions reject a proposal by industrialists to work 4 days and rest 3 days, whle the government describes it as a "sensitive" issue.
The Minister of Labour, Victor Morales, told Crhoy.com that "....These proposals concerning working hours require legislative amendment, they need a reform of the Labour Code to be approved in the Legislature ... I proposed to the Chamber of Industries ...