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bor Wheo nflue Presi curi pons ܘܠܐ u its good offices in the settlement of a great number of disputes between employers and employees. Several decrees govering wages and hours of work in special fields and sections have been put into effect. La Gaceta of March 5, 1943, for example, carried four executive decrees, one fixing a minimum salary of five colones an eight hour day for bus drivers in San José; the second fixing a minimum salary of thirty seven and a half centimos an hour for agricultural workers in Puntarenas; the third placing a similar minimum salary of fifty centimos an hour for agricultural workers in Heredia, and the fourth augumenting by one colon a day the salaries and wages of the workers in the National Coastwise Trade, with a minimum salary of four colones a day for all workers in this Government enterprise. In addition the President has been instrumental in obtaining better hospitalization facilities and lower working hours for laborers by his personal suggestions to the heads of certain companies in Costa Rica. Public hospital facilities have been greatly increased under the direction of the Social Security Board (See Voluntary Report No. 60 of March 27, 1943, on Social Insurance in Costa Rica. Last December a National Arbitration Commission for hearing labor disputes was created (see Legation despatch No. 1385 of February 11, 1943) and the presentation of a labor code to the Costa Rican Congress on April 13, 1943, is the latest act of many which the President has taken to help the conditions of the masses.
His públic utterances and interviews show his awareness of the necessity of bettering laboring conditions and manifest his pride in the part which his administration has played in bringing this about. In this connection, it is interesting to refer to an interview which he gave to the press in Panamá on the occasion of his visit to that country last January in which he was quoted as saying that the social evolution of the world would be markedly to the left after this war and that the workers would resort to violence if their just rights were denied them (see despatch No. 3581 of January 28, 1943, from the American Embassy in Panamá. Co oplama The labor code (Codigo del Trabajo) which was presented to the Congress on April 13 was prepared im great secrecy. The lawyers of the large companies here, the organizations which will probably be affected the most by this new law, were unable to obtain previous drafts.
No copies, apparently, were seen by anyone, except those connected with the drafting of the code, until April 13.
As a result, the Government Printing Office underestimated the number of copies that would be required and only two were obtained by the Legation. These are enclosed. It will be seen that this labor code contains 587 separate articles and is a compact single spaced booklet 13 6 of over 82 pages. The projected law is divided into eleven sections (Titulos) treating the following subjects: General Regulations: Labor Contracts, divided into eleven sub sections, such as individual contracts, collective bargaining, obligations of employee and employer, suspension of contracts, labor contracts with women and minor children, domestic labor, apprentice labor and regulations govering maritime and inland water laborers; Minimum hours, minimum salaries and vacations: Protection of labor, divided into sub sections 110 tio ges mila Rai 18. 00Baldi Tee 02 the nic Les ly 3SOS se.
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