Private-sector salaries

Government representatives will meet next week with union leaders and employers to vote on a final amount.

Union leaders on Monday will request a 2 percent increase in private-sector wages for the second half of this year, at a 4 p.m. session of the Labor Ministry's National Wages Council.

The 2.01 percent salary increase approved in October by the National Wages Council went into effect on Thursday and will remain in place for the first six months of this year.

The National Wages Council on Monday evening approved a 2.01 percent salary increase for private-sector employees that will be applied in the first half of 2015. The approved rate corresponds to the proposal presented by government officials during a hearing at the Labor Ministry earlier on Monday.

Labor representatives last week submitted a proposal for increases ranging from 2.91-4.58 percent, depending on worker's salary level.

Leaders of the Costa Rican Union of Private Sector Chambers and Associations on Monday evening presented the National Wages Council with their wage-hike proposal for the private sector. The proposal would change wages for the second half of the year.

Unions leaders on Monday presented Labor Ministry officials with a request for salary hikes for the private sector, to be applied in the second half of the year.