No Teachers Strike Tomorrow
The threatened one day strike by teachers of the Asociación de Profesores de Segunda Enseñanza (APSE) that was supposed to take place tomorrow, Monday, has been called off after the teachers got their back pay, following delays after delays.

The press office of the Ministerio de Educación (MEP) - Education Ministry - announced that schools would be operating normally on Monday.

APSE notified its membership of the cancellation of the strike after many of the teachers reported that they had been paid, though some still are waiting, mainly due to problems with the computerized payroll system, the MEP says.

According to Jesús Velásquez, president of APSE, although the MEP made good on its pay, there still are teachers who waiting to get paid and some who say they have been short changed.

Velásquez said that though there still are problems with teachers receiving their pay, it did not merit a strike action, though many teachers called on their union to continue with their strike plans, protesting the constant violation of their rights.

The payment issue is a long standing problem between the MEP and the teachers. In some cases, teachers have reported not being paid for months on end as the MEP blames clerical and computer problems.

Although there will be no strike tomorrow, a strike action is still being planned for October 23 and 24, when teacher are expected to take to the streets to protest against the Tratado Libre Comercio (TLC) - free trade agreement with the United States.

APSE is strongly against the TLC and has added to their list of complaints the poor state of the educational system in Costa Rica and the rising cost of living and the high price of gasoline.