Union members reject $137 million buyout to protect their community

(This 1:29 video is in Spanish, but a translation is below.)

In this little-seen but very important video, Costa Rican dockworkers unanimously vote to reject a massive payout in order to protect their country’s remaining national ports and their community’s way of life. They want to ensure that modernization benefits the entire community, not just foreign corporations. Their enthusiastic vote against the Costa Rican government’s offer shows the incredible spirit behind the SINTRAJAP union that’s struggling to survive a government takeover of their union.

But the pressure is on now more than ever. ILWU International President Robert McEllrath recently appealed to U.S. President Barack Obama to take action to protect democracy on the docks in Costa Rica, and you can read the entire McEllrath-Obama letter here.

For the video, we’ve included this translation of what’s said in Spanish by Liroy Perez, the union officer at the podium. More importantly, watch the reaction of the 545 SINTRAJAP members present:

0:01
Liroy: Who wants to agree with the government’s last offer? Raise your hand if you agree with the government’s offer (to accept $137 million in excange for conceding the ports to private hands.)

0:07
Crowd grumbles, no one raises a hand.

0:14
Liroy: Who in the room rejects the government’s offer?

0:19
For a full 20 seconds, the crowd stands, cheers, stomps, whistles, waves their country’s flag and raises their hands in an enthusiastic rejection of the government’s offer of $137 million buyout of the national ports. One person shouts, “Viva JAPDEVA!” in honor of the port agency that provides funding for schools and other public services to the community.

0:40
Liroy: Who abstains? Is there anyone who abstains? (The crowd’s silent. No one abstains.)

0:50
Liroy: Then the government’s offer is rejected by a unanimous vote!

0:53
Crowd again cheers, shouts, pumps fists in victory for almost 20 seconds.

1:13
The democratically elected SINTRAJAP leaders are visible for the first time on the stage.

Liroy: Thank you for your incredible participation. Now we’re now moving on to the last item on the agenda…

What’s happening here?

This meeting took place on Thursday, March 4, two months after SINTRAJAP’s democratically elected leadership was removed from office in a sham election forced by the government led by Costa Rican Pres. Oscar Arias. The 545 union longshore workers who came to this subsequent — and legitimate — meeting rejected the government’s offer of $137 million dollars to concede the community’s good jobs and funding for public services. (The situation in Costa Rica, including the role of the Arias Administration and the World Bank, is thoroughly outlined in Pres. McEllrath’s urgent letter to Pres. Barack Obama.)

Though highly significant and news-worthy, this pivotal union vote was not covered by Channel 7 and La Nacion, industry communications media who reportedly witnessed the meeting. The vote was also not recognized by the Costa Rican government. Please help the SINTRAJAP workers by sharing the video widely with your contacts, and stay up to date at www.longshoreshippingnews.com.

Video recorded by Allan Salazar Zamora.