www.CostaRicaTicas.com :: View topic - MAJOR STRIKEXXXXXX MAIN STRIKE MOVED TO LIMON!! SOME IN SJ

Another STRIKE, EVEN LARGER than the last one (last Friday) is planned for this coming Monday, a day that a lot of guys will be arriving for Halloween week. This one involves the 5 major unions including many public workers. Major difference is this is not planned as a one day strike as is normal here but leaders are saying it will last till they get positive results out of president Solis.

For those coming in Monday I would suggest you plan on it taking as much as 4 hours to get to your hotel. Hopefully most of the taxistas will have enough sense to take the back roads north of San Jose thou even that will be very heavy traffic. Last Friday I was in downtown with my landlady. We mistakenly thought we could beat the marching protesters! Took us 4 hours to get to the northeast side of San Pedro ( about 5 miles). Virtually all major rodundas and intersections on the autopista and carreteras leading into and around San Jose were closed due to protesters. I am sure the same will be the case Monday.

Do authorities anticipate this spilling over into many days? I'll be in Cartago Monday, so could not care less about traffic snarls, but I am planning to relocate to the gulch Tuesday, and as Admin3 said, I do not want to spend the entire day sitting in a cab, inching forward.

Query: Does the strike affect the train from Cartago to San Pedro??? That might be a better option for me.

Oh, thanks to both for posting this info.

ok, an update!

US Embassy in San Jose is now saying the following:

Costa Rican law enforcement is planning for disruptions to the following arteries into metro San Jose on MONDAY.
Rt 32 - limon to SJ

Rt.27 - Ciudad Dolon to SJ

Rt1 )General Canos) highway- Alajuela to SJ

Rt 39 - Circunvalacion (the autopista)

Unregistered taxis are expected to join demonstrations, particularly on Route 1 near the airport.

Guess my info was not as wrong as thought unless the US Embassy is posting bad info!

... the Ticos are getting tired of strikes and demonstrations interrupting their lives and ability to get where they need to go.

BangBang57 wrote:

BB...It looks as though you were right. I do believe that the Admin 3 post on this thread is correct in that there will be times to get around and other times not. Just plan ahead for delays. I do not think this strike will receive the support of the CR people or the media..... let`s see how long it lasts. I do know that in every other case that when the rain starts they go home and the roads open up only to start up the next morning unless resolved. None the less a real hassle and thing for all of our guests to plan for.

Don't shoot the messenger. The OP was doing a real service posting this.

These strikes are no joke.

I was on the way to Manuel Antonio to take a visitor to the national park and stay a night on September 1st and we hit a wall of traffic just before Quepos. The fisherman blocked the main road at a critical river crossing at 5am and kept it blocked until 6pm. I wish I'd tuned in here first.

We were there at 10 am and had to turn back.

It is their country and I respect the way they settle their differences. I am just grateful they announce these strikes ahead of time.

Author:	BangBang57 [ Fri Oct 23, 2015 9:48 am ]
Post subject:	MAJOR STRIKEXXXXXX MAIN STRIKE MOVED TO LIMON!! SOME IN SJ
THIS STRIKE, ORIGINALLY PLANNED FOR SAN JOSE ON THE 26TH HAS BEEN MOVED TO LIMON! SORRY ABOUT CAUSING CONCERN AMONG THE MEMBERS HERE. THE LAST TWO ARTICLES I HAD SEEN BOTH STILL SAID SAN JOSE AND I WAS NOT AWARE OF THE CHANGE UNTIL WISEASH POINTED OUT THE ARTICLE. I DID SOME CHECKING AND APPARENTLY THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF OPPOSITION AFTER THE HORRENDOUS FIASCO LAST MONDAY. THEY ARE ALSO APPARENTLY UNDER ORDERS TO NOT CAUSE ANY INTERRUPTION IN SERVICES NOR TOTALLY BLOCK ANY STREETS. PLEASE DISREGARD THE REST OF THIS POST SEE MY NEXT POST FARTHER DOWN IN THIS THREAD FOR NEW INFO! Another STRIKE, EVEN LARGER than the last one (last Friday) is planned for this coming Monday, a day that a lot of guys will be arriving for Halloween week. This one involves the 5 major unions including many public workers. Major difference is this is not planned as a one day strike as is normal here but leaders are saying it will last till they get positive results out of president Solis. For those coming in Monday I would suggest you plan on it taking as much as 4 hours to get to your hotel. Hopefully most of the taxistas will have enough sense to take the back roads north of San Jose thou even that will be very heavy traffic. Last Friday I was in downtown with my landlady. We mistakenly thought we could beat the marching protesters! Took us 4 hours to get to the northeast side of San Pedro ( about 5 miles). Virtually all major rodundas and intersections on the autopista and carreteras leading into and around San Jose were closed due to protesters. I am sure the same will be the case Monday.

Author:	Admin 3 [ Fri Oct 23, 2015 10:53 am ]
Post subject:	Re: ANOTHER MAJOR STRIKE IS PLANNED FOR MONDAY, OCT. 26
BangBang57 wrote: Another STRIKE, EVEN LARGER than the last one (last Friday) is planned for this coming Monday, a day that a lot of guys will be arriving for Halloween week. This one involves the 5 major unions including many public workers. Major difference is this is not planned as a one day strike as is normal here but leaders are saying it will last till they get positive results out of president Solis. For those coming in Monday I would suggest you plan on it taking as much as 4 hours to get to your hotel. Hopefully most of the taxistas will have enough sense to take the back roads north of San Jose thou even that will be very heavy traffic. Last Friday I was in downtown with my landlady. We mistakenly thought we could beat the marching protesters! Took us 4 hours to get to the northeast side of San Pedro ( about 5 miles). Virtually all major rodundas and intersections on the autopista and carreteras leading into and around San Jose were closed due to protesters. I am sure the same will be the case Monday. Brother Bang Bang brings up an important point. I think the best way to deal with this kind of problem is to ask about the most recent news and have a backup plan, if it happens. The strike could be called off as late as Sunday night if a deal is struck. Plus there is no "Travel Advisory posted yet from the US Embassy here in CR". If this happens, avoid getting in a situation where you have get to the airport for a return flight in a short period of time while the strike is happening. Ask the afternoon before at your hotel. Keep in mind the purpose of the strike is more to disrupt traffic and business than to actually stop working. These are mostly government workers and many of them could never go back to work and we would never notice the difference. The strike is all about disrupting the delicate transportation infrastructure in Costa Rica. And to that end, the strikers will go home at night. They won't be out there for very long after dark (these are paper pusher not teamsters), and if it rains hard enough they will go home. October is the height of the rainy season. So, worse case scenario is to plan your drive to the airport for 4-5 am, even if you have an afternoon flight. In my opinion it's better to spend your day sitting in the airport terminal watching videos on your tablet, surfing the Internet or eating in the terminal than sitting in a taxi in the middle of a traffic jam for 5 hours. If you get stuck at the airport inbound, then go have dinner and few drinks at the Fiesta Casino by the airport. The strikers won't be on the street at 10 pm.

Author:	BashfulDwarf [ Fri Oct 23, 2015 11:14 am ]
Post subject:	Re: ANOTHER MAJOR STRIKE IS PLANNED FOR MONDAY, OCT. 26
Do authorities anticipate this spilling over into many days? I'll be in Cartago Monday, so could not care less about traffic snarls, but I am planning to relocate to the gulch Tuesday, and as Admin3 said, I do not want to spend the entire day sitting in a cab, inching forward. Query: Does the strike affect the train from Cartago to San Pedro??? That might be a better option for me. Oh, thanks to both for posting this info.

Author:	BangBang57 [ Fri Oct 23, 2015 2:14 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: ANOTHER MAJOR STRIKE IS PLANNED FOR MONDAY, OCT. 26
BashfulDwarf wrote: Do authorities anticipate this spilling over into many days? I'll be in Cartago Monday, so could not care less about traffic snarls, but I am planning to relocate to the gulch Tuesday, and as Admin3 said, I do not want to spend the entire day sitting in a cab, inching forward. Query: Does the strike affect the train from Cartago to San Pedro??? That might be a better option for me. Oh, thanks to both for posting this info. Take the train just to be safe. It is actually just as fast if not faster (as you know) than the bus even in normal situations. That is if it is running! Not sure if the train employes are part of the strike or not. At this point no one knows just how long it will last nor how many people will be actively protesting or marching each day after the first day. This is something new here. Strikes are always just a one day thing - more a protest march tying up traffic and often bringing San Jose to a virtual stand still than what we thing of as a "Union strike". I often think they are more a reason to take the day off and visit with friends than they are a protest hoping to accomplish something..

Author:	Jawanker [ Fri Oct 23, 2015 2:18 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: ANOTHER MAJOR STRIKE IS PLANNED FOR MONDAY, OCT. 26
Why not join the protestors and try to hook up with some socialist hottie, (if there is such a thing)

www.CostaRicaTicas.com https://forum.costaricaticas.com/

MAJOR STRIKEXXXXXX MAIN STRIKE MOVED TO LIMON!! SOME IN SJ https://forum.costaricaticas.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48128	Page 1 of 2

Author:	WiseAsh [ Fri Oct 23, 2015 2:43 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: ANOTHER MAJOR STRIKE IS PLANNED FOR MONDAY, OCT. 26
I believe their is no strike scheduled for SJO metro next Monday. I think the strike subject here is for Limon on the Caribbean coast. If my insight is correct, the original poster should remove this topic so that CRT brothers do not incur financial damage (from trip changes) or angst. http://www.crhoy.com/huelga-de-lunes-en ... presarios/

Author:	BangBang57 [ Fri Oct 23, 2015 10:48 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: MAJOR STRIKEXXXXXX MOVED TO LIMON!! NO STRIKE IN SAN JO
ok, an update! US Embassy in San Jose is now saying the following: Costa Rican law enforcement is planning for disruptions to the following arteries into metro San Jose on MONDAY. Rt 32 - limon to SJ Rt.27 - Ciudad Dolon to SJ Rt1 )General Canos) highway- Alajuela to SJ Rt 39 - Circunvalacion (the autopista) Unregistered taxis are expected to join demonstrations, particularly on Route 1 near the airport. Guess my info was not as wrong as thought unless the US Embassy is posting bad info!

Author:	True Sportsman [ Sat Oct 24, 2015 8:18 am ]
Post subject:	Re: MAJOR STRIKEXXXXXX MOVED TO LIMON!! NO STRIKE IN SAN JO
BangBang57 wrote: ok, an update! US Embassy in San Jose is now saying the following: Costa Rican law enforcement is planning for disruptions to the following arteries into metro San Jose on MONDAY. Rt 32 - limon to SJ Rt.27 - Ciudad Dolon to SJ Rt1 )General Canos) highway- Alajuela to SJ Rt 39 - Circunvalacion (the autopista) Unregistered taxis are expected to join demonstrations, particularly on Route 1 near the airport. Guess my info was not as wrong as thought unless the US Embassy is posting bad info! BB...It looks as though you were right. I do believe that the Admin 3 post on this thread is correct in that there will be times to get around and other times not. Just plan ahead for delays. I do not think this strike will receive the support of the CR people or the media..... let`s see how long it lasts. I do know that in every other case that when the rain starts they go home and the roads open up only to start up the next morning unless resolved. None the less a real hassle and thing for all of our guests to plan for.

Author:	BangBang57 [ Sat Oct 24, 2015 9:12 am ]
Post subject:	Re: MAJOR STRIKEXXXXXX MOVED TO LIMON!! NO STRIKE IN SAN JO
The heads of the 5 unions in a meeting yesterday stated that protests and demonstrations were planned for many different spots in and around San Jose for Monday. Also, after reading many Tico comments about this planned strike and inline with what True Sportsman said, there seems to be a majority that are opposed to this strike. It seems from the comments that FINALLY and maybe because of the fiasco with the strike last week, the Ticos are getting tired of strikes and demonstrations interrupting their lives and ability to get where they need to go.

Author:	BashfulDwarf [ Sat Oct 24, 2015 10:47 am ]
Post subject:	Re: MAJOR STRIKEXXXXXX MOVED TO LIMON!! NO STRIKE IN SAN JO
BangBang57 wrote: ... the Ticos are getting tired of strikes and demonstrations interrupting their lives and ability to get where they need to go. I hope not. That is what has led to the sheep-nation that I live in.

Author:	Admin 3 [ Mon Oct 26, 2015 10:29 am ]
Post subject:	Re: MAJOR STRIKEXXXXXX MAIN STRIKE MOVED TO LIMON!! SOME IN
First day of the strike is having minimal effect. It's 8:30 am and according the Sportsmens Lodge, their drivers have been to the airport and back 3 times. Waze reports that it's 43 minutes to get from SJO airport to downtown. That's a a more or less normal Monday morning in San Jose.

Author:	WiseAsh [ Mon Oct 26, 2015 11:57 am ]
Post subject:	Re: MAJOR STRIKEXXXXXX MOVED TO LIMON!! NO STRIKE IN SAN JO
True Sportsman wrote: BangBang57 wrote: ok, an update! US Embassy in San Jose is now saying the following: Costa Rican law enforcement is planning for disruptions to the following arteries into metro San Jose on MONDAY. Rt 32 - limon to SJ Rt.27 - Ciudad Dolon to SJ Rt1 )General Canos) highway- Alajuela to SJ Rt 39 - Circunvalacion (the autopista) Unregistered taxis are expected to join demonstrations, particularly on Route 1 near the airport. Guess my info was not as wrong as thought unless the US Embassy is posting bad info! BB...It looks as though you were right. I do believe that the Admin 3 post on this thread is correct in that there will be times to get around and other times not. Just plan ahead for delays. I do not think this strike will receive the support of the CR people or the media..... let`s see how long it lasts. I do know that in every other case that when the rain starts they go home and the roads open up only to start up the next morning unless resolved. None the less a real hassle and thing for all of our guests to plan for. OVERREACTIONS TO SAY THE LEAST.

Author:	Icantstayaway [ Mon Oct 26, 2015 5:49 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: MAJOR STRIKEXXXXXX MAIN STRIKE MOVED TO LIMON!! SOME IN
Don't shoot the messenger. The OP was doing a real service posting this. These strikes are no joke. I was on the way to Manuel Antonio to take a visitor to the national park and stay a night on September 1st and we hit a wall of traffic just before Quepos. The fisherman blocked the main road at a critical river crossing at 5am and kept it blocked until 6pm. I wish I'd tuned in here first. We were there at 10 am and had to turn back. It is their country and I respect the way they settle their differences. I am just grateful they announce these strikes ahead of time.

Author:	Loco Mike [ Mon Oct 26, 2015 6:32 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: MAJOR STRIKEXXXXXX MAIN STRIKE MOVED TO LIMON!! SOME IN
Icantstayaway wrote: Don't shoot the messenger. The OP was doing a real service posting this. These strikes are no joke. I was on the way to Manuel Antonio to take a visitor to the national park and stay a night on September 1st and we hit a wall of traffic just before Quepos. The fisherman blocked the main road at a critical river crossing at 5am and kept it blocked until 6pm. I wish I'd tuned in here first. We were there at 10 am and had to turn back. It is their country and I respect the way they settle their differences. I am just grateful they announce these strikes ahead of time. +1, I read today on AM Costa Rica as well as ICR about the potential strike. Hopefully, someone who is on the ground, and not affiliated with one of the establishments, will give us an accurate account of what is actually going on.

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Author:	Admin 3 [ Mon Oct 26, 2015 8:19 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: MAJOR STRIKEXXXXXX MAIN STRIKE MOVED TO LIMON!! SOME IN
Icantstayaway wrote: Don't shoot the messenger. The OP was doing a real service posting this. These strikes are no joke. I was on the way to Manuel Antonio to take a visitor to the national park and stay a night on September 1st and we hit a wall of traffic just before Quepos. The fisherman blocked the main road at a critical river crossing at 5am and kept it blocked until 6pm. I wish I'd tuned in here first. We were there at 10 am and had to turn back. It is their country and I respect the way they settle their differences. I am just grateful they announce these strikes ahead of time. You can't beat the real time information in the free Waze App. It works great in Costa Rica, possibly better than in the US. Ticos who use Waze are almost fanatical about updating the information. It shows everywhere traffic is slow, and just about every cop, accident and road hazard in real time. https://www.waze.com/livemap And since Waze is collecting real time motion data from everyone on the road running the app, it can also give you an estimate of travel time between two points while giving you turn by turn directions, even in Costa Rica.