On Monday, 15 public institutions requested the Labor Court to declare the strike illegal. If this happens, the employees who participated in the strike are exposed to sanctions, wage reduction, and will have 24 hours to resume their work.
So far, the institutions that have requested this are: the CCSS, Correos de Costa Rica, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (RECOPE), and Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI), as well as the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT), the Ministry of Justice and Peace, the Ministry of Housing and Human Settlements, the Ministry of Health, and Junta de Administración Portuaria para el Desarrollo de la Vertiente Atlántica (JAPDEVA).
The list is completed by the National System of Radio and Television (SINART), Radiográfica Costarricense (RACSA), the Power and Light Company (CNFL), the National Emergency Commission (CNE), and the Rural Development Institute (INDER).
The government stated that the new Labor Code establishes the requirements to convene a strike, which haven’t been met, so now it’s up to a judge whether the protest is illegal or not.
So far, these services have experienced a mild impact due to the strike:
-The surgery services in hospitals. In San Juan de Dios Hospital alone, 60 surgeries were cancelled on Monday morning.
-Emergency services in health centers, even though the unions promised this crucial service would not be affected.
-In the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) only 7.413 employees joined the strike.
-Trains services experienced little impact, according to INCOFER.