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World Labor Body Releases Report Critical of Costa Rica's Labor Rights It has been common practice for private sector employers in Costa Rica to refuse to recognize a union and dismiss the union leaders and those workers who are members. Instead, employers establish a solidarismo organization, which offers workers access to credit and savings facilities in exchange for renunciation of the union and promises of industrial peace. ICFTU reports to the International Labor Organization (ILO) cite mass dismissals of unionized workers and union leaders days after an application to register a trade union was lodged with the Ministry of Labor. The ICFTU also asserted that the Ministry passed names on to the employers, who fired the workers. The government denied the accusations, but the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association ruled that the involvement of solidarismo organizations in trade union activities violated workers' freedom of association. After decades of the practice, unions are almost non-existent in the private sector. Where unions have attempted to organize there has been coercion and even outright repression. The banana industry is a case in point, demonstrating the persistence of anti-union discrimination even after legislative amendments in 1993 and 1998. In April 1999, the leader of the SITRASUR banana workers' union, Adri�n Herrera Arias, was fired, sent death threats warning him to quit the union, narrowly escaped being run over by a vehicle without identification plates, and was tied up and beaten in the street. This came after two years of the company refusing to recognize the union. In violation of the Labor Code Amendment of 1993, the company established a solidarismo organization and signed an agreement with it immediately after the union presented its bargaining claims. At the same time, the Ministry of Labor was overseeing mass dismissals of banana workers and widespread use of short-term contract labor paid less than the minimum wage in an attempt to deal with falling banana prices. Falling prices were in effect a pretext for the widespread dismissal of unionized workers, who were harassed and blacklisted, as were any workers even seen talking to a trade unionist. This case, and the general situation on the banana plantations, are clear examples of international trade pressures that have resulted directly in the violation of fundamental human and trade union rights. The ICFTU report coincides with a review of Costa Rica's trade policy by the World Trade Organization (WTO). It concentrates on Costa Rica's respect for internationally recognized core labor standards, including freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, prohibition of child and forced labor, and non-discrimination in employment. The ICFTU customarily releases these labor rights studies concurrently with the WTO review to highlight the need to relate labor and social dimensions to the commercial aspects of trade expansion. In this case, the report is very timely. It is certain to contribute to the debate over the free trade "model" being used by Canada and eyed by the United States as the USTR prepares to do battle on Capitol Hill for "fast-track" approval. Canada's Chilean and Costa Rican FTAs are examples of what is being called "the tool box approach" to dealing with labor and environmental standards outside of the trade agreements themselves. In short, the Bush administration and its allies in Congress and the business community are seeking ways to show their concern with the labor and environmental consequences of globalization without having to negotiate them into the body of a trade agreement. Opponents of free trade without linkages to labor and environmental standards will be able to point to the ICFTU report as evidence of the need for sanctions that go beyond the veneer of appropriate legislation or approval of ILO conventions. In addition, the ICFTU report in some ways refutes Canadian government arguments that higher standards could not be expected from Costa Rica. The depth of that country's labor laws and civil traditions, as well as the extent that it has ratified the principal ILO conventions, belies the "cultural relativism" of weak legal frameworks. In fact, Costa Rica's record on paper is much superior to that of the United States. Canada has taken the position that it cannot agree to stronger labor provisions due to its federal system, under which much labor legislation is at the provincial level. In the case of the US, reluctance to negotiate strong labor conditionality may owe more to fears of our own lack of worker rights in this country. The ICFTU is
the world's largest trade union body and represents more than 155
million workers worldwide. Its full report can be found at:
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