Costa Rica

2

Repeated violations of rights

Same as last year

Region:Americas

Workers' rights violations

Union-busting

In Costa Rica, the bus company Tapachula retaliated against a group of drivers for joining the ANEP union and summarily dismissed them from their posts.

Dismissals for participating in strike action

In Costa Rica, employers often resort to courts to thwart workers’ attempts to organise strike actions; employers claim that the services of the workers are essential and therefore subject to restrictions with regard to strikes. On 18 October 2020, the labour court of San José upheld the claim of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS), the Costa Rican Social Security Board, that workers in the laundry services of the public hospital should be regarded as essential. Their work stoppage, initiated on 23 September to protest workplace harassment by management, was therefore declared illegal by the court, and the judge allowed the application of disciplinary sanctions and sentenced their union, the Sindicato Nacional de Enfermería (Sinae), to pay the court costs.

Workers’ rights in law

All countries