Costa Rica News – The strike promoted by unions generated problems all around. It led to both losses and dismissals. 18% of businesses countrywide had to lay off staff in the last month due to effects of the strike. These dismissals hit a significant amount of families.
76% of employers suffered financial damages. There was a 25% decrease in sales. Merchants tried to cope by making changes such as delivering goods at dawn, changing routes, adding extra days, increasing inventories and applying teleworking.
The cessation of services coincided with the time of fiscal closure. 90% of businesses considered that it affected sales. Although 33% of companies made extraordinary offers and promotions, there was no significant increase in purchases.
The total amount of losses in different sectors is estimated as at least ₡32,000 million.
These figures come from the Chamber of Commerce of Costa Rica, which considered from the beginning that creating chaos and paralyzing essential services is a crime and not a demonstration.