Costa Rica Unions Call For General Labour Strike For Thursday http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2011/march/08/costarica11030802.htm

Various union organizations have banded together to call for a general strike on Thursday and a protest march beginning at 9:30am at the Parque Central in downtown San José. The unions protest against the 2.33% pay raise and demand better pay for the public and private sectors. The protest is also against the government's Reforma Fiscal (Tax Plan), saying it will mean more taxes for the working class and not the powerful. Among the organization taking part in the strike action are the Asociación de Profesores de Segunda Enseñanza (APSE), the Asociación Nacional de Educadores (ANDE), the Asociación Nacional de Empleados Públicos (ANEP) and the Rerum Novarum, among others. "How is it that the lower class take the burdern of the tax plan when companies not taxed take the benefit. We ask for a stop to this tax evasion", said Alexánder Ovares, president of the ANDE. Mélida Cedeño, president of the APSE, said that although students will lose a day of lessons with the teachers joining the strike movement, "it is importnat that education workers to unite in the defense of labour rights". The APSE, ANDE and ANEP are Costa Ricas largest labour unions.