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Public employees to take to the streets of San Jose Thursday, schools to be closed

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(ICR archive / illustrative)

(ICR archive / illustrative)

August 19th, 2015 (ICR News) At least ten unions and dozens of labor syndicates representing the country’s public education and public health workers, amongst others, will flood the streets of downtown San Jose Thursday in protest of what they describe as “attacks” on their salary bonuses and other employment guarantees.

 

Gilberto Cascante, president of the National Association of Educators (ANDE), said that 95% of public grade schools, high schools and preschools will be closed, as dozens of busloads of public schoolteachers from around the country converge on San Jose.

 

Tomorrow’s protests, dubbed the “Protest for Social Justice,” will begin at 10 a.m. at San Jose’s Central Park (La Merced) and proceed down second avenue before reaching the Legislative Assembly, where protestors intend to deliver a manifesto to lawmakers against proposals to cut bonuses and what some lawmakers call “excessive” compensation and perks to public employees.

 

Union leaders said that public employees are suffering from “unjustified attacks” and that “attacks on economic, labor and social rights only widen the gap between rich and poor.”

 

Opposition party lawmakers in Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly have been calling for austerity measures – especially in public payrolls – to tackle the country’s soaring fiscal deficit, while President Luis Guillermo Solis is pushing for broad tax reforms to increase tax revenues.

 

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  • Ben

    The protest for social Justice should be called the protest to screw over the people. These Public sector Unions do not do one dam thing to help anybody in Costa Rica. The Unions want a raise from the goverment, no dam way they should not get anything. WheN i hear Social Justice i think of Anti business right away i think of goverment telling us how to live and sleep and what to think that is social Justice. The Unions soon will not know what hits them when the President say the country is broke and the IMF and World bank say privatize the country or else. When HP or IBM pull out of Costa Rica or any other big employer leaves Costa Rica will be really dead then we will see these unions get scared and blood will come out of there eyes and ears when austerity really hit Costa Rica.

    These unions are lazy and a bunch of bums that steal and cheat the honest tax payers that a fact.

    TO ANYONE MOVING TO COSTA RICA DO NOT INVEST IN COSTA RICA YOU WILL LOOSE EVERYTHING. COSTA RICA IS A MESS AND GETTING VERY BAD THAT COULD MAKE GREECE LOOK GOOD. TAKE MY WORD I AM TICO STAY OUT OF THIS MESS IN COSTA RICA.

  • Yeims

    This is probably only the start of such protests, and will result at best with only a very small “ñapa” for them. They don’t understand that THEY are a big part of the problem.

  • prdatki

    First jail and fire the top 20% of the heads of the Unions, Any one making more than $1600 a month should have their pay cut by at least 50%,no benefits and very reduced retirement . Then audit Congress and cut all of there benefits.

  • winkdarren

    Interesting to note, that heads of unions are paid by the government they are actually salaried employees that do nothing but run the union. Unlike basically everywhere else where union members pay a small amount towards the salary of the part of full time union leader. Also all union leaders here are full-time employees.

  • Ken Morris

    Yeah, these vague strikes for “social justice” by public employees are really getting tiresome.

    The fastest (and fairest) way to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor is to stop overpaying the public employees. I’m amazed that the public employees don’t seem to get this, and ashamed especially of the school teachers who don’t.

    I’m also amazed that these folks believe that strikes like these will garner public sympathy. Unless I miss my guess, the public reaction is going to be the opposite.

    So let’s look at the bright side: These clowns are digging their own graves. Before long even Solís is going to lose his patience and just let the public employees sue over salary cuts and firings. It’s not as if there’s much to lose, since they’re not even showing up for work on their ever increasing strike days.

  • http://www.AnimalsBigandSmall.com Maxine deVillefranche

    Protests for Social Justice? I fear that Social Justice is not really being served by public employees. They are getting paid way too much money for the job that they do, way more than the private sector. I was shocked when I read about the high salaries that they make. How can such a small country afford these high salaries? I am not sure that the rest of the private sector workers and businesses are willing and able to support these high salaries by being taxed to death. The economic viability of Costa Rica is being choked by these high salaries, benefits and retirement packages. When a country has to borrow 7% over and above its annual GDP just to continue operating, it spells its eventual death. Indeed, Costa Rica is going to end up like Greece. I am almost sorry that I chose this country to retire in. I should have done more research about its economic viability before moving here.

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