The protests expected this week takes a jump start with a protest march by state telecom ICE workers against cell phone number portability.
Union members (most ICE workers) of the Frente Interno de Trabajadores del Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) will be taking to the streets, supporting the charges by union leader, Fabio Cahves, that the forced signing of the portability agreement was to avoid an up to US$10 million dollar fine.
ICE, until last Friday, had refused to sign the agreement with the Superintendencia de Telecomuniciones (Sutel) – telecom regulator, a deal signed by the mobile phone operators in the country.
According to Chaves, the march will start at the ICE offices in La Sabana and onto the Legislative Assembly in downtown San José. The typical route is through Paseo Colon and Avenida Segunda.
In addition to the march, the union leader says the state telecom workers will be on strike between 6am and 6pm today, though it is not likely to affect telecommunications or electrical services.
The other marches through the streets of San José this week include the traditional May 1 march on Wednesday and several groups have said they will be protesting the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama, who arrives in Costa Rica on Friday (May 3).