Working Conditions
Costa Rica has a great deal of national social legislation and has signed and ratified many important international agreements of the International Labor Organization; nevertheless, it is very difficult for workers to exercise their labor rights. Specifically in the banana plantations, the companies abuse the weak role of the Costa Rican Ministry of Labor and Social Security, whose job is to make labor inspections, pay attention to reports, and quickly determine judgments. The banana plantations often pay salaries below the legal minimum and frequently evade social guarantees and workers’ risk insurance. An especially grave aspect is the presence of legal contractors who take advantage of almost every legal labor impunity, evading the fundamental rights of thousands of workers in collusion with the administrations of the banana corporations. In addition, the majority of workers are fired every three months and are only rehired if the administrators happen to be hiring new workers.
On many occasions, the human rights violations are committed with the protection of the law and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS) itself, which is responsible for watching over these rights. In general, the MLSS acts passively. At times they extend the processing of workers’ reports for years, while on other occasions they act negatively. Often, they simply ignore the reality of the working conditions in the banana plantations.
Repression in the Costa Rican Atlantic Zone >>
