Project 25.798: unions will decide their reelection regime every five years

The bill of File No. 25,798 reforms articles 345, 346, and 358 of the Labor Code, Law No. 2 of August 27, 1943, and adds an article 345 bis so that each general assembly may decide, every five years via secret ballot, the reelection regime of its board of directors. The initiative, titled “Reform and addition to articles 345, 346, 358 and addition of an article 345 bis to the Labor Code, Law No. 2 of August 27, 1943 and its reforms, to strengthen union democracy,” was published in Supplement No. 132 to La Gaceta No. 186 on Friday, October 2, 2026, in the Bills section of the Legislative Branch, under reference IN202601130035.

The text was submitted to the knowledge of the deputies by the Legislative Assembly for its discussion and approval, and applies to all unions, federations, and confederations in the country. The statement of motives invokes article 60 of the Political Constitution and articles 2 and 3.1 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 87 on freedom of association and protection of the right to organize, to maintain that the State must not intervene in the internal election processes of unions.

According to the project, statutory decisions adopted in the past may become obsolete or contrary to the will of the general assembly; therefore, a quinquennial review seeks to ensure that the will of the members is always reflected in the statutes that govern them.

What articles 345, 346, and 358 change

• Article 345, subsection e): the method of electing the board of directors must guarantee equal representation of both genders; in any odd-numbered list or body, the difference between the total number of men and women may not exceed one. Its members must be Costa Rican citizens or foreign nationals married to Costa Ricans with at least five years of permanent residence in the country.
• Article 345, new subsection f): the general assembly shall set the maximum limit, in nominal value or percentage terms, of the funds authorized to the board of directors for representation expenses, an amount that must be ratified or modified via secret ballot every five years.
• Article 346: subsection a) is reformed and a subsection b) is added so that the general assembly annually appoints the members of the board of directors and annually approves the budget for representation expenses.
• Article 358: federations and confederations shall be governed by the provisions of the chapter, except for the legal term of their boards of directors, which may be up to two years, with re-electability subject to the statutes and the resolutions of the general assembly; boards of directors must guarantee gender parity.

The secret ballot in two phases of article 345 bis

The new Article 345 bis establishes that, every five years and once the statutory quorum has been verified, the general assembly shall resolve on the ratification or modification of the statutes regarding reelection through a secret ballot structured in two phases. In the first phase, each assembly member shall select one of four normative alternatives:

• Normative continuity: maintain the current statutory provisions without any modification.
• Successive reelection: establish a regime of continuous and indefinite reelection.
• Reelection subject to limit: fix reelection to a specific number of terms, previously determined by a relative majority.
• Absolute alternation: decree the total inadmissibility of reelection.

In the second phase, the two options with the highest relative votes compete, and the one that obtains a simple majority of the validly cast votes wins; in the event of a tie, the vote shall be repeated until a tie-break is achieved. The result shall be binding, subject to immediate and mandatory compliance, and must be incorporated into the statutes if it implies a formal reform. If absolute alternation is chosen, the assembly must hold an additional vote to determine how many terms the outgoing board of directors must wait before becoming eligible again. Null votes and blank votes shall not be counted.

Six-month period and signatories

Transitory Provision I sets a non-extendable period of six months, counted from the entry into force of the law, for confederations, federations, and trade union organizations to convene their respective general assemblies and submit the provisions to deliberation and agreement. The project governs from its publication and completed the process of reviewing formal, material, and orthotypographic errors in the Department of Parliamentary Services.

The initiative is signed by deputies Kattia Calvo Cruz, Wilson Alfredo Jiménez Cordero, Marta Eugenia Esquivel Rodríguez, Royner Mora Ruiz, Ariel Alfonso Mora Fallas, María Isabel Camareno Camareno, Nayuribe Guadamuz Rosales, Cindy María Blanco González, Nogui Acosta Jaén, Juan Manuel Quesada Espinoza, Stephan Brunner Neibig, Mayuli Ortega Guzmán, Fernando Obaldía Álvarez, Robert Johsan Barrantes Camacho, Daniel Asdrúbal Siezar Cárdenas, Kristel Lizeth Ward Hudson, Zaira Murillo Marín, Kattia María Ulate Alvarado, and Gréthel María Ávila Vargas.

If approved, the reform would force all unions, federations, and confederations in the country to submit to a secret vote by their general assemblies, at least once every five years, the election system and the reelection regime of their boards of directors, as well as the amount of representation expenses, with an initial period of six months to convene the assemblies.

Source: La Gaceta, Supplement No. 132 to La Gaceta No. 186, Friday, October 2, 2026, Legislative Branch — Bills (official reference: IN202601130035).