With the distinct possibility of Luis Guillermo Solis of the PAC (Citizen Action Party) forming the next Government as the President following the Second Round of the Election, the Unions (Sindicatos) in Costa Rica are “smelling blood”, already becoming more publically vocal with their demands since the end of the First Round.
Without a doubt, if Mr. Solis is the President, the Unions can expect a more sympathetic ear from the Government as a result of the left-wing policies of the PAC.
The net result will be increased wage demands and the jeopardizing of the Moin, Limon Superport, which a Dutch consortium is supposed to build pursuant to a Concession Agreement with the Costa Rican Government. JAPDEVA, the Union representing the stevedores who work at the Port of Moin, has long been opposed to this Superport proceeding.
The building of this Superport is critical to the economy of both the Province of Limon and Costa Rica in general, in order to establish a competitive advantage between ports in Central America. These Union demands, if acceded to by a new left- leaning Government such as PAC, will have a detrimental effect on the economy of Costa Rica.
Trade Unions were an essential development in the 1800’s, toward the end of the Industrial Revolution, to institute fair wages and working conditions for particularly workers in factories and coal mines. In my opinion, with the establishment of Labour Codes by the Governments of Democratic countries throughout the world, which embody these protections through legislation for modern day workers, unions have become virtually obsolete in their original purpose.
Costa Rica has a strong Labour Code (Codigo de Trabajo) which provides through legislation for these worker protections. A movement toward strengthening unions in Costa Rica will have a profound negative impact on the economy of the Country. Work stoppages and strikes would become common place and major arterial routes will be blockaded by union workers marching in the streets.
Large corporations that are affected by such a change are likely to re-locate to friendlier, less-union oriented jurisdictions, taking good paying jobs with them. Should Mr. Solis prevail following the Second Round of the Presidential Election, the Costa Rican economy will suffer greatly over the next four years.
The effect on the economy is an important consideration, but is not paramount. There are ecological considerations that have been largely ignored in the planning of this Limon superport. The dock workers were also essentially ignored in this planning. If it works out the way most things here do, the port will profit only the Chinese (and whatever greedy government officials can get kick-backs out of the deal).
While there is much public sentiment against the PLN and Araya (does anyone actually like this guy?), I’m not so confident that Solis will pull off a win. His failure to reach out to the Frente Amplio shows a definite lapse in judgment, perhaps a smug but naive assumption that he has Villalta’s supporters in his pocket. If elections history has shown anything, it is that the rich and powerful, the business interests, will turn out in force to protect those interests.
This article appears to be another scare tactic to drum up extra support for the PLN candidate, and is reminiscent of tactics used to win passage of the TLC/CAFTA.