Second CAFTA Labor Complaint Filed; Supports Costa Rican Port Workers

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) joined two Costa Rican unions this week to file a labor complaint against the Costa Rican government for failing to abide by the labor chapter of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).   It is only the second labor complaint filed under CAFTA; the AFL-CIO and Guatemalan trade unions filed against Guatemala in 2008.

The focus of the ILWU complaint is the government’s role in seeking to essentially break a critical Costa Rican portworkers union, Sindicato de Trabajadores de JAPDEVA (SINTRAJAP), which co-filed the complaint along with the primary Costa Rican national union organization, the Asociación Nacional de Empleados Públicos y Privados (ANEP).  The ILWU has been supporting SINTRAJAP since the government replaced the democratically-elected leadership in February 2010.

The complaint was filed with the US Department of Labor.