Steeped in an economic recession and watching the employment rate climb higher, Costa Rica's legislators find themselves in the midst of a debate that could dramatically change labor practices here.

The reform, brought to the Legislative Assembly by the Citizen Action Party (PAC), would extend the reach of workers' unions and make it more difficult to fire employees.

Although Manuel Rodríguez, president of the Union of Private-Sector Chambers and Associations (UCCAEP), expressed interest in further protecting labor organizations, he also said he was concerned about a clause in the new legislation that would make it more difficult to eliminate positions.

“It ties the hands of businesses,” he said, during a telephone interview on Thursday. “When you are in a crisis, like the one we are in now, and you want to decrease the number of employees, you can't.”

Costa Rican workplaces have long had an embedded culture of solidarismo, in which internal associations of workers negotiate directly with their employers and take part in the management of the businesses.

Across the private sector, these workers' associations have stood in the place of workers' unions for more than 40 years and, according to a study by the International Trade Union Confederation, they historically have outnumbered trade unions by four to one.

But in 2006, the International Labor Organization (ILO) added Costa Rica to its list of countries with alleged labor violations, saying the Central American country fails to protect the free exercise of trade union rights.

Albino Vargas Barrantes, secretary general of the National Association of Public and Private Employees, hopes to change that with the reforms to the labor code currently before the legislature.

“Fortunately for Costa Rican democracy, the majority of the legislature appears ready to help clean the large stain that the country has in its file, following its repeated disgrace in terms of repeatedly failing to comply with ILO (mandates) on Freedom of Association,” Vargas said in a statement.

The children who attend the Colegio Humboldt, a German school in the western San José district of Pavas, have a bright and sunny future ahead of them.

Two German energy companies – Steca Elektronik and Sunset Solar – put the finishing touches on the school's new solar roof this week as part of its efforts to become the first carbon neutral school in the country. The system, which will generate between 5 and 7 percent of the school's total energy consumption, began generating electricity on Thursday morning.

The project, which was coordinated by the German Energy Agency (DENA), began in March 2009 and cost €90,000. Funding for the installation came from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology in Germany and a private German bank.

Aswin Linsenmeyer, an engineer for Sunset Solar, said the school should see a “return on investment” within 10 years.

The companies installed photovoltaic and thermal solar systems for the school. The photovoltaic system converts solar rays into electricity. Dirk Hasse, member of the school's executive director's board, said the photovoltaic system generates the perfect amount of electricity to power small machines like computers and printers in the school's offices.

The thermal solar system converts sun rays to heat, which is used to heat water. In Colegio Humboldt's case, the hot water will be used in the kitchen, dining hall and gym showers.

Hasse noted that aside from the emissions-free benefit, solar energy provides a great cost-cutting method.

In peak hours, electric rates are higher. If a building can reduce the amount of energy it uses during these times, Hasse reasons, it can decrease the amount of electricity drawn from the grid and reduce the amount of money spent.

Hasse said, “Why spend so much money on energy when we have sufficient, free energy from the sun?”

Catch of the day: Authorities believe hundreds of frozen sharks carrying cocaine were shipped from Costa Rica and caught in Mexico.

Jacinto Kanek | EFE

A shipping container holding 893 kilograms of cocaine stuffed inside frozen shark carcasses was originally loaded out of a Costa Rican port, authorities said.

The container, later carried by the ship Dover Strait, was stopped in Puerto Progreso, a port on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, when a routine X-ray scan of the cargo revealed irregularities that required further inspection, said the marine secretary of the Mexican port.

After drug-sniffing dogs raised the alarm, an official cut open one of the sharks to reveal black plastic bags filled with rectangular bricks of the white powder.

The final destination of the cargo was not revealed, but it was believed to be headed for the United State.

The destination would not be surprising, considering experts say that 400 of the 650 tons of cocaine that enter the United States every year pass through Mexico.

The discovery comes as Mexico plays host to an anti-drug trafficking convention of 14 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean. The third conference of its kind, it aims to increase coordination in combating the traffickers and cooperation on the international scene to reduce the movement of drugs throughout the region.

The San Carlos Highway has hung over President Oscar Arias' head since he broke relations with a major donor two years ago.

Hoping to complete the 29.7 kilometer road before he leaves office next year, Arias once again called on the legislature to approve an $850 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) that would see the highway and host of other road projects completed.

Started with a $15 million donation and $35 million loan from the Taiwanese government, the San Carlos Highway was intended to serve as a connector between the northwest Central Valley coffee town of San Ramón and Ciudad Quesada (also in the northern zone.)

But when Costa Rica established diplomatic relations with China, Taiwanese withdrew its support and the road remained unfinished.

The current request to the legislature is for approval of an International Development Bank (I DB) loan for an “umbrella plan” in which the country could make improvements to transportation infrastructure across the country.

“This is not money just for San Carlos,” said Karla González, minister of Public Works and Transport (MOPT.) “It will allow us to pay for other improvements that have been underfunded in the past.”

The money will go towards new bridges, bike paths as well as roads, and will help complete a train line between Alajuela, Heredia, San José and Cartago.

Yet, the San Carlos project presents an important facet of the $850 million umbrella plan.

“As an administration, we have been clear that the San Carlos Highway is a necessity,” said Mayi Antillón, minister of communication.

The highway has progressed with a loan from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE), but González said those funds are not sufficient because the highway is being expanded to four lanes and requires connectors to nearby roads.

The loan's approval stalled in the Legislative Assembly this week, after Mario Quirós, a legislator with the Libertarian Movement, insisted on considering other motions before taking a vote.