QCOSTARICA – The unions forming the Bloque Unitario Sindical y Social Costarricense (Bussco) will strike on April 26 and 27, to oppose the tax reform proposals by the government and the proposed performance evaluation of public employees.
Gilberto Cascante, president of the Asociación Nacional de Educadores (Ande), one the largest of public employee unions and spokesman for Bussco, said the strike aims to oppose a series of initiatives launched by the government in the Legislative Assembly to please international bodies such as the Organization for Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“We are against the bill of public employment, performance evaluation of public workers, the dual education and tax reform projects,” Cascante said.
The Bussco bloc is made up of 54 unions and organizations, among Sindicato de Educadores Costarricenses (SEC) and the Asociación de Profesores de Segunda Enseñanza (APSE) – teachers unions.
Missing so far from the Bussco bloc is the Asociación Nacional de Empleados Públicos y Privados (ANEP).
ANEP secretary-general and coordinator of the Patria Justa movement, Albino Varags, said his grouping has not yet received a formal invitation to participate in the strike.
I agree that there should not be an increase in taxes. What these Public Sector employees planning to strike don’t seem to realize, is that they are the cause of the proposed tax increases, due to their “bloated” wages, benefits, and pension payments.
Maybe the government should try cracking down on the people and corporations who have been avoiding paying their taxes, before raising the tax rate. They might be surprised at how much more money they will take in.