Work Slowdown At Limon Docks Costing Millions In Losses
The loss is estimated at ¢4 billion colones (us$7.9 million dollars) by the victims of the "tortuguismo" - work slow down - at the Limón and Moín docks as members of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Japdeva (Sintrajap) union have been slow to load ships.

Producers of the area, especially producers of melons, say that they have been losing millions of colones daily from not being able to ship their perishable product. The Cámara Nacional de Productores y Exportadores de Melón y Sandía says it is losing between 90 and 100 containers daily.

The Cámara Nacional de Bananeros (Corbana) says that for every day the workers don't load the shipt, 300.000 cases of bananas, valued at some ¢1 billion colones, is lost.

A meeting Wednesday by representatives of Sintrajap, the Junta de Administración Portuaria y de Desarrollo Económico de la Vertiente Atlántica (Japdeva), the ministers of Transport and Labour, Randall Quirós and Fernando Trejos, reached no resolution to the problem.

Last night, riot police were brought in to stop the work slowdown by truckers and other union workers to get the docks moving again, that have been at an almost standstill since Monday.

Leroy Lewis, a spokesperson for Sintrajap, said that they barely touched the five points in discussion. The main point of dispute is the union's stand that the government is backing down on a promise to sign a collective agreement by April 26, which the union considers will not occur.

The collective agreement touches on resolutions made by the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep) and tarrifs, base salaries and eliminating overtime and opening up some 171 new jobs.

Lewis said that the movement will continue for an undefined time.

Meanwhile, dockworkers are calling for a full strike on April 30, the deadline set for Japdeva to deal with the situation.