page_title: Trade unions in Costa Rica
section_title: Legal impediments in the 1980s and resurgence in the 1990s
hierarchical_section_title: Trade unions in Costa Rica / History / Legal impediments in the 1980s and resurgence in the 1990s
caption_attribution_description: English: Bananas for market, Central America
context_page_description: Trade unions in Costa Rica advocate for the rights of workers in Costa Rica. Dating back to the late 1800s, labor unions in the country have been a political force. They remain active in political and social life for many Costa Ricans.
context_section_description: The 1980s were a decade of trouble for many Costa Rican unions. Many companies, supported by the administration of Óscar Arias, tried to dissolve and undercut private sector unions. Using tactics such as bypassing collective bargaining agreements and ignoring union requests, the banana unions were hit particularly hard. As a fiscal crisis took hold of the country, in large part due to the Arias' austerity measures, private and public sector unions tried to regroup.
  Because of the austerity measures taken in the 1980s and 1990s, labor unions in Costa Rica underwent a period of increased activity as poverty and unemployment increased. Private sector unions developed in the textile, construction, tourism, and transportation industries, as well as among sugarcane farmers. The national government confronted a fiscal crisis after the presidency of Arias. When Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier took over, his administration began withdrawing benefits to public sector workers and consolidating government departments.
  Public sector unions, among other interests, were concerned about the austerity measures which failed to improve the economic problems of most people. Both administrations tried to restrict the rights of unions. Problems became so difficult for public sector workers that unions took their cases to the International Labour Organization.
  Despite their resurgence in the 1990s, many private sector unions faced repression and opposition. Specific instances include the 1994 Korean-owned Kokomerica case in which workers denounced union repression, unsanitary work conditions, non-payment of wages, and other issues to the Ministry of Labor. When Carteco's workers at the SARET free-trade zone in Alajuela Province complained of mistreatment and then tried to form a union, the owner from the United States fired all workers. Workers at another company located in SARET complained that their US owners created terrible working conditions, they contacted the Asociación Nacional de Empleados Públicos y Privados (National Association of Public and Private Employees). The managers of the plant followed through on threats to fire workers, reduce wages, and create black lists. The Ministry of Labor and a Catholic priest intervened, and the company rehired the workers.
  In 1997, when workers at Chiquita Brands International, another US-owned company, tried to unionize and complained of mistreatment, their salaries were reduce and many employees were fired, while pregnant women were assigned to field work, and black lists were sent to other companies. Another case of illegal mistreatment   and repression in the 1990s include the  US-owned Semicon-Tek, the German-owned Iguana Park case, the case of Nicaraguan workers trying to affiliate with the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Plantaciones Agrícolas (Agricultural Plantation Workers Union) and then being fired in 1994. Other cases of union repression include the Talmana case of 1992, the Ticatex case in 1994, the Conoplast case in 1994, the Autotransports Sabana case in 1994, and the Cocorisa case from 1994 to 1996.
caption: Nearly all banana workers in Costa Rica are organized in unions
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