Government partially vetoes bill allowing strikes in public services

Costa Rica’s executive branch vetoed two articles of a reform to the Labor Process Act because “they are unconstitutional and allow the possibility of strikes in essential services such as health and public security.”

Labor Minister Sandra Piszk clarified that in spite of the veto, “the government supports most of the articles of the bill because it advances labor regulations.”

According to the vetoed articles, the government would be unable to hire temporary staff to replace striking workers, and services would be paralyzed. These aspects “are contrary to the provisions of Article 61 of the Constitution and the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court,” the government said in a statement.

Presidency Minister Carlos Ricardo Benavides said that “with this new legislation, when a strike like the one we had in JAPDEVA recently, the State could not hire workers to perform the work of loading and unloading [cargo containers]. This is unacceptable because it affects all our population.”

“The government now expects the Legislative Assembly to correct these problems and make the reform a reality in the shortest possible time,” Communications Minister Francisco Chacón added.