MOAS

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ruizsteban
ruizsteban

Those initials stand for Mother Of All Strikes which is currently happening in Costa Rica. I have said it before and I am saying it again, Costa Rica has huge financial problems. I had just talked to a friend of mine that is a school teacher and she told me that they hadn't been paid, once again, for two months. The last time they didn't get paid for four months. If you have a trip planned in the next few days, expect road blocks from the airport to San Jose.

The following is what I read today:

The second day of the Mother of All Strikes (MOAS) in Costa Rica caused headaches for passengers at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), which serves the Greater San Jose Metropolitan Area (Spanish initials: GAM).

Access to SJO via the main highway that connects the airport with San Jose was blocked by MOAS protestors who marched in the vicinity of the San Rafael Hospital managed by La Caja, Costa Rica’s public healthcare system.

Since the off ramp exit from the highway was cut off by members of labor unions on strike, drivers were forced to cut across medians and risk incoming traffic to reach SJO.

Officers from Fuerza Publica, the national police force of Costa Rica, set up barricades to stop workers on strike from spilling out into the highway and creating a dangerous situation. These barricades ended forcing some air travelers to park on the median and cart their luggage across that highway to reach the passenger terminal while officers directed traffic.

The blockage lasted for about 45 minutes, and it also affected arriving passengers looking for ground transportation out of SJO.

As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, MOAS was launched on Tuesday with a huge march by union groups in defense of labor rights and public institutions paralyzed classes at Costa Rica’s public schools and assorted health services.

MOAS extended to Wednesday with striking workers fully aware that they were forfeiting two full days of pay. President Luis Guillermo Solis has promised that the strikers’ demands, which have been summarized to 16 points, will be discussed at a later date.

Some of the demands are: respect for labor rights, defense of the CCSS, defense of the education budget and opposition to sales and income tax increases, salary hikes, land for peasants, pressure on the rich to pay taxes, and access to water as a public right.

Source: http://news.co.cr/protests-disrupt-airport-operations-in-costa-rica/46991/

Edited by FarFromRome, Italicised article quote and added source link.
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overmind
overmind

thanks steve, in absentia on behalf of those there or headed that way (I will not be among them)

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mclarjh
mclarjh

Since the off ramp exit from the highway was cut off by members of labor unions on strike, drivers were forced to cut across medians and risk incoming traffic to reach SJO.

Reminded me of my experience recently when the driver of the bus I was on pulled a U-turn and then drove the wrong way down a toll highway before crossing a farm field, all in an effort to join the free highway and avoid construction ahead on the cuota that reduced traffic to a crawl. This happened in Mexico, but I find Latin American drivers resourceful.

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ruizsteban
ruizsteban

There are major demonstrations all over the country, somebody sent me some photos, of downtown San Jose and it didn't look pretty.

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hermosajoe
hermosajoe

Thanks Steve, power to the people!

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mrmoto
mrmoto

Nothing new, Costa Rica has strikes all the time, and protest, just like other countries in region. I was in Nicaragua when the students protest hit and turned violent and riots ensued in Managua and Leon, had to change our plans on the go.

Public Sector is mainly union, and this results in mass gatherings anytime the Govt tries to change anything, just like the strikes in Chicago as of recent.

The CR Govt has not more financial issues than any other country at present. You might also want to consider it also has one the most literate population in the region due to its focus on education, and the lowest poverty rate, due to a health economy and a lot of foreign investment and economic expansion in last decade. The average wage paid in CR is also far higher than its neighbors and has a much larger middle class too...

Edited by FarFromRome, Removed personal attack from post.
Adventure Travel to Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, South Africa, Morocco, Turkey, EU, USA National Parks, enjoying culture, cuisine, motorcycling, scuba diving, surfing, sailing, rafting, hiking, fishing, camping, nature, wildlife. Get a Guidebook, and get lost!
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ruizsteban
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mclarjh
mclarjh

Actually this is what lonely planet says about trolls (an excerpt from their community guidelines): "Trolls post messages or content deliberately designed to get the blood boiling...."

My travel experience in Costa Rica is too distant to authorize me to give current advice, but I like to read the forum in anticipation of a future trip.

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ruizsteban
ruizsteban
In response to #7

Actually this is what lonely planet says about trolls (an excerpt from their community guidelines): "Trolls post messages or content deliberately designed to get the blood boiling...."

My travel experience in Costa Rica is too distant to authorize me to give current advice, but I like to read the forum in anticipation of a future trip.

True, making comments about place they have never been, making comments that the traveler that has been there knows is not true. Why do they do that?

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breezer123
breezer123
In response to #8

Actually this is what lonely planet says about trolls (an excerpt from their community guidelines): "Trolls post messages or content deliberately designed to get the blood boiling...."

My travel experience in Costa Rica is too distant to authorize me to give current advice, but I like to read the forum in anticipation of a future trip.

True, making comments about place they have never been, making comments that the traveler that has been there knows is not true. Why do they do that?

Once upon a time when TT still had a post count I could see the (ego) reasoning but now??? Just don't have a life, I guess.

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