Tortugiusmo May Be Deemed Illegal
The government is asking that the Ministerio de Trabajo (Ministr Labour) study the legal mechanism to put an end to the "tortuguismo" - work slowdown - that has been ongoing in the port of Limón for almost two weeks, said Rodrigo Arias, Ministro de la Presidencia.

The workers of the Junta de Administración Portuaria y de Desarrollo Económico de la Vertiente Atlántica (JAPDEVA) have been on a work to rule since the beginning of last week and the government had to send in the police to re-establish order and get the docks moving again.

The government is considering making the slowdown illegal and force workers to operate the docks normally.

Although police were able to get the trucks into and out of the port, they cannot operate the cranes to load and unload containers onto the ships.

The JAPDEVA crane operators have been heeding to the call of their union to keep things moving slowly as they pressure the government into giving in to their demands of not privatizing the docks at Limón. President Oscar Arias has said firmly that docks will not be sold to private business, but will allow the docks to be operated by private business as a concession, similar to the operation of the Pacific coast dock at Caldera.

"The government maintains firm that the movement of cargo at the docks of Limón and Moín cannot be interrupted. The Moín docks are operating normally while at the Limón docks we will do all that is possible to maintain normal operations", said Rodrigo Arias.

The minister added that Ministro de Trabajo, Marco Vargas, has his office door open so that the union leaders can sit down and discuss the situation in depth. However, Arias says that the government will stay firm on the privatization and will not discuss the subject of privatization with the union.

For his part, Trabajo Minister Vargas said that if the tortuguismo continues the government will bring in workers from Colombia that can operate the machinery.

Meanwhile the union leaders are not taking the initiative to dialogue with the government and say they are studying developing strategies for the short term that could include a full work stoppage (strike) that would paralyze the Caribbean docks.

Arias added that the concession of the Caldera docks has been a great success. The Caldera docks that was run by the nstituto Costarricense de Puertos del Pacífico (Incop) was given out on concession in August and early reports indicate that the docks are operating efficiently.

A large number of Incop workers were rehired by the private operator of the dock that has invested some ss$36 million dollars in infrastructure and equipment at the Pacific dock. "There has been a strong and powerful investment that has allowed the Caldera dock to function", said Arias.

Arias added that in addition, the privatization at Caldera has meant a us$5 million dollars saving in benefits now that there is no collective agreement with the Caldera workers and a 94% reduction in the payroll of Incop, again, another saving for the government.

The minister explained that the cut in government expense at Caldera does not mean a reduction in jobs. Actually the private operator emplos 130 people, 100 of which are former Incop workers.