Costa Rica’s public sector workers unions are calling for day of protest on Friday, making a call to all public sector workers to skip work and gather in front of La Hispanidad fountain (in front of San Pedro mall) starting at 11:00am.
The protest and day of strike is to pressure the government on the proposed proposed wage adjustment bill, as proposed by the Ministry of Finance which would cut bonuses and either cancel or restrict overtime hours and earnings, similar to the internal policy being adopted by the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (CCSS).
The march, protest or strike – depending on your point of view – is being organized by the Asociación de Profesores de Secundarias (APSE), one of Costa Rica’s largest public sector union and the Magisterio Nacional. Expected to take part in the protest will also be the Asociación Nacional de Educadores (ANDE) – teachers union and other public sector unions.
Union leaders say that the government’s plans to cut incentives and bonuses from “regular” public employees would leave them with wages below that of the private sector. The unions, in other words, are not against cutting bonuses and incentives of upper government managers, but not that of the every day employee.
