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'Let the Rich Pay More Taxes': Thousands Take to Streets in Costa Rica
Public sector workers have a long list of demands that includes salary increases, higher taxes on the wealthy, and land rights for peasants.
Apr 27, 2016
Public sector workers in Costa Rica were on strike Tuesday and Wednesday, demanding salary increases, higher taxes on the wealthy, and land rights for peasants.
Thousands of teachers, medical workers, and their allies reportedly marched to the national congress building on Tuesday, demonstrating to President Luis Guillermo Solis "that the people are not happy with his administration," said Gilberto Cascante, the president of the ANDE teachers union, one of three major teachers unions joining the strike.
Spanish language news agency EFE reports that protesters carried banners with messages like "Let the rich pay more taxes" and "For the dignity of workers," among others.
One student told Diario Extra that she was participating in the march to protest attempts to privatize the Costa Rican National Institute of Education (INA) "because it is the only chance we have to improve ourselves."
According to FOX News Latino:
The strikers are demanding attention to 16 points, including respect for labor rights, defense of the [nation's public healthcare system], defense of the education budget, and opposition to sales and income tax increases, among other things.
On the list of demands are also salary hikes, land for peasants, for the rich to pay taxes and access to water as a public right.
The organizing unions say that before the government raises the value-added tax (VAT), it should "deal with tax dodging," FOX reports. According to official calculations, tax dodging amounts to about 8 percent of the country's GDP.
Organizers say the strike has impacted 80 percent of the health services and 95 percent of the educational institutions. Meanwhile, the government has pushed back against the workers, announcing Wednesday that it would go to court to declare the strike illegal.
The actions come days ahead of Dia Internacional de los Trabajadores (Labor Day) in Costa Rica, on which the government delivers its annual report to the legislature. Because Costa Rica's Labor Day falls this year on a Sunday, Solis will provide the report on Monday, May 2.
Earlier this year, Solis said that following a two-year moratorium on tax increases, it was time to implement austerity measures.
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Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Public sector workers in Costa Rica were on strike Tuesday and Wednesday, demanding salary increases, higher taxes on the wealthy, and land rights for peasants.
Thousands of teachers, medical workers, and their allies reportedly marched to the national congress building on Tuesday, demonstrating to President Luis Guillermo Solis "that the people are not happy with his administration," said Gilberto Cascante, the president of the ANDE teachers union, one of three major teachers unions joining the strike.
Spanish language news agency EFE reports that protesters carried banners with messages like "Let the rich pay more taxes" and "For the dignity of workers," among others.
One student told Diario Extra that she was participating in the march to protest attempts to privatize the Costa Rican National Institute of Education (INA) "because it is the only chance we have to improve ourselves."
According to FOX News Latino:
The strikers are demanding attention to 16 points, including respect for labor rights, defense of the [nation's public healthcare system], defense of the education budget, and opposition to sales and income tax increases, among other things.
On the list of demands are also salary hikes, land for peasants, for the rich to pay taxes and access to water as a public right.
The organizing unions say that before the government raises the value-added tax (VAT), it should "deal with tax dodging," FOX reports. According to official calculations, tax dodging amounts to about 8 percent of the country's GDP.
Organizers say the strike has impacted 80 percent of the health services and 95 percent of the educational institutions. Meanwhile, the government has pushed back against the workers, announcing Wednesday that it would go to court to declare the strike illegal.
The actions come days ahead of Dia Internacional de los Trabajadores (Labor Day) in Costa Rica, on which the government delivers its annual report to the legislature. Because Costa Rica's Labor Day falls this year on a Sunday, Solis will provide the report on Monday, May 2.
Earlier this year, Solis said that following a two-year moratorium on tax increases, it was time to implement austerity measures.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Public sector workers in Costa Rica were on strike Tuesday and Wednesday, demanding salary increases, higher taxes on the wealthy, and land rights for peasants.
Thousands of teachers, medical workers, and their allies reportedly marched to the national congress building on Tuesday, demonstrating to President Luis Guillermo Solis "that the people are not happy with his administration," said Gilberto Cascante, the president of the ANDE teachers union, one of three major teachers unions joining the strike.
Spanish language news agency EFE reports that protesters carried banners with messages like "Let the rich pay more taxes" and "For the dignity of workers," among others.
One student told Diario Extra that she was participating in the march to protest attempts to privatize the Costa Rican National Institute of Education (INA) "because it is the only chance we have to improve ourselves."
According to FOX News Latino:
The strikers are demanding attention to 16 points, including respect for labor rights, defense of the [nation's public healthcare system], defense of the education budget, and opposition to sales and income tax increases, among other things.
On the list of demands are also salary hikes, land for peasants, for the rich to pay taxes and access to water as a public right.
The organizing unions say that before the government raises the value-added tax (VAT), it should "deal with tax dodging," FOX reports. According to official calculations, tax dodging amounts to about 8 percent of the country's GDP.
Organizers say the strike has impacted 80 percent of the health services and 95 percent of the educational institutions. Meanwhile, the government has pushed back against the workers, announcing Wednesday that it would go to court to declare the strike illegal.
The actions come days ahead of Dia Internacional de los Trabajadores (Labor Day) in Costa Rica, on which the government delivers its annual report to the legislature. Because Costa Rica's Labor Day falls this year on a Sunday, Solis will provide the report on Monday, May 2.
Earlier this year, Solis said that following a two-year moratorium on tax increases, it was time to implement austerity measures.
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