Dockworkers strike over APMT terminal agreement in Costa Rica

Corianne Egan, Associate Editor | Oct 22, 2014 4:52PM EDT

Dockworkers in Costa Rica walked off the job today, continuing a long battle over a proposed container terminal operated by APM Terminals with a strike.

Union leaders described the strike as “indefinite.” The union, which represents workers working at terminal overseen by the Atlantic Port Authority (JAPDEVA), had threatened a strike for several days after Costa Rican courts green lit a 33-year concession agreement between the government and APMT for the construction of a new container terminal in Moin.

Workers Union Japdeva head Ronaldo Blear told ADN that docks in Limon and Moin would be closed starting at 8:30 a.m. today, calling it a "fight for dignity, to stop a monopoly and avoid serious harm to the people of Limon." The Port Authority told La Nacion that one container ship in Moin was in the middle of being unloaded. Two other container ships in Limon were also not able to be unloaded.

The Supreme Court of Costa Rica ratified the concession agreement on Oct. 9, two years after it was originally signed, allowing the 33-year concession to progress. Union workers disputed the contract and it had been tied up in appeals since 2011.

The $1 billion agreement allows APMT to design, finance, construct and operate the Moin Container Terminal. Construction is slated to begin in 2016. The terminal requires the construction of an island, which creates a 200-acre facility with nine ship-to-shore gantry cranes. The terminal will be able to handle ships up to 13,500 TEUs, five times larger than the ships that can curently be serviced in Costa Rica

After the walkout, President Luis Guillermo Solis took to Twitter to plead for an open dialogue between the government and union workers. He said the government is committed to maintaining operations on the docks and access roads, and told the SINTRAJAP the "doors are always open." Later, the tone of his tweets changed.

"A strike is not justified," he wrote. "This strike affects the activity and national economy, and we will not allow this unjustified stoppage. Limon is a port and consists of much more than a union.”

APMT said MCT is only awaiting approval from Costa Rica’s environmental agency before moving forward with the project. Approval is expected in the coming weeks, APMT said.