Costa Rican students are back at school this week, after a month-long teachers' strike that claimed the job of the education minister and severely rattled the Pacheco administration.
For a while last week it looked as if the teachers were going to lose. Their only remaining demand was the preservation of their old pension scheme, threatened by a legal ruling. The government was threatening sanctions against the recalcitrant strikers.
It looked likely that a majority in congress would refuse to legislate the way the teachers wanted. What appears to have tilted the balance was the teachers' adoption of a new tactic: the 'slow march' -not an actionable roadblock but an alternative equally capable of bringing traffic to a standstill on main highways.
After only three days of this, the congressmen of the ruling Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (Pusc) had had enough. They agreed to submit a bill protecting the threatened parts of the teachers' pension scheme. The government also promised to take no action against the strikers.
The ruling the teachers were resisting would have increased the number of years at work entitling one to a pension from 30 to 33 years. It would also have reduced pensions from 100% of full pay to 63%.
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