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ICE Strike: Day 18
• No end in
sight
An
editorial:
The ICE
strike action, now in it's 18th day, has caused
problems for president Pacheco and some
government members, but really has little
effect on the general population.
You still can pay your telephone bill at any
branch of the Banco de Costa Rica, even if one
don't have your latest bill from ICE. One can
still make and receive long distance calls.
Some of the installation of new services and
repairs are handled by sub-contractors of ICE
and they are continuing to complete those
orders issued prior to the strike.
Electrical service has not been affected, nor
has the internet at Racsa. Power failures
still occur at a regular rate, and slow
connection speeds at times remind us that
Racsa is working well.
Perhaps, the most inconvenience is for those
who steal cellular telephones for a living.
Since the strike, only the automated system at
193 is working and you can only report you
phone stolen. There is no way for the time
being to reconnect the equipment.
Some readers have written insidecostarica.com
wanting to know if the ICE employees are still
getting paid while the strike is on. To the
best we could find, the answer is yes. So,
where's the motivation to get back to work?
ICE management as declared the strike illegal,
but has not taken any action to have that
order enforced? The Central Bank is standing
firm that authorization of the complete bond
issue is bad for the country, however, another
state institution, Banco Nacional, says it
will issue the difference ($60Million of the
$100Million) locally. Won't this still be bad
for the country?
The government of president Abel Pacheco is
caught between a rock and a hard place, akin
to a parent having to settle a fight between
the siblings. In this case, the children are
all adults.
We took to asking around some of the elders
what they think of this problem. Most agree,
that the fault lies with the previous
administration, when former president
Rodriguez gave in to the ICE unions on the
combo issue a few years back.
So, we asked, what is the solution? Just about
everyone has an opinion, but no one has a
clear and cut answer.
Costa Rica has embarked on a path where the
unions can call a strike at will and bring
public services to a grind; the government
doesn't have the will or the ability to stop
them; and the public become more complacent of
the situation, oh, another strike. Who is it
this time?
Pura vida.
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