Costa Rica’s dockworkers suspend strike in exchange for pay

November 6^th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) The dockworkers union known as Sintrajap agreed last night to suspend its strike at the Limon and Moin ports on Costa Rica’s Atlantic coast, in exchange for the ports administration agreeing to not deduct workers’ pay for the days that they have been absent from their posts as a result of the 16-day-old strike.

The decision comes after a labor court declared the strike illegal in recent days, which would have allowed the ports administration known as JAPDEVA to make payroll deductions from striking workers’ paychecks for days they were absent from work.

Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court dismissed an appeal last month against the new Moín Container Terminal filed by the union against the concession holder for the project, APM Terminals.

Sintrajap had claimed in its appeal that a particular clause in the concession would create an “illegal monopoly” giving APM Terminals the exclusive right to load and unload containers arriving in Limon.

The union subsequently declared a strike after further negotiations with the government broke down.

Workers are expected to be back on their posts today, but the union is describing its action as a “suspension” rather than an end to the strike, and said it is expecting further negotiations with the government surrounding the APM concession.