Costa Ricans to strike against FTA

Costa Ricans to Strike against FTA

San Jose, Oct 27 2007 (Prensa Latina) — Trade unions from the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) announced a strike against the complementary agenda of the Free Trade Agreement, so that the company continues to govern in the fields of electricity and telecommunications.

It is unacceptable for the workers that everything the state-owned monopoly has built over the past 57 years would be handed over by virtue of 13 bills contained in that mechanism.

Those laws will strip the ICE of its infrastructure, its privileged place as the leading body in the sector, and would turn it into another operator on the market, said Jorge Arguedas, coordinator of the Internal Front of Workers.

Trade union leaders agreed that demonstrations, resistance, strikes and marches are the only ways left to defend the institute, as they did in 2000, when the government tried to privatize the company.

The October 7 referendum only asked whether we supported the agreement. It did not refer to the implementation agenda, they said.

The ICE trade union organizations demanded changes in the complementary agenda and explanations on the intention behind those bills.

source : Prensa Latina

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