Unions leaders are threatening to call a general strike in late September or early October if lawmakers move forward with a bill that would eliminate public worker bonuses and cash incentives.
Classes will be suspended at 95 public schools across the country and public hospitals only will attend emergencies and lab tests. Porteadores, or private chauffeurs, will also protest starting at 8 a.m.
Teachers’ unions representing some 70,000 educators agreed to a proposal Monday presented by the Catholic Church to put an end to a strike that has dragged on for nearly a month and complicated the start to President Luis Guillermo Solís’ term.
Education Minister Sonia Marta Mora on Wednesday evening said the government will no longer negotiate with unions until teachers return to the classrooms.
Costa Rican Educators Union President Gilberth Díaz on Friday said a nationwide teachers' strike would continue into a fourth week. Unions will evaluate future actions on Tuesday, following payment reports they are expected to receive from members on Monday.
As the teachers’ strike entered its third week and a possible general strike loomed, Education Minister Sonia Mora announced an agreement with the Costa Rican Banking Association to pay thousands of teachers back pay dating back six months in some cases.
In his first national televised address Sunday night, President Luis Guillermo Solís asked public school teachers to end a two-week strike and return to the classrooms, despite a failure to reach agreement on when teachers would receive their back pay.
Leaders from public teachers' unions in Costa Rica on Tuesday accused the Education Ministry (MEP) of failing to live up to a promise to deliver back pay Monday night, as reported by The Tico Times yesterday. Teachers will continue striking.
