Impact on Strikes to Expats and Tourists

DRob said:

I'm opening this thread in the hopes that some of the more knowledgeable folks here will take a moment and explain the source of the strikes, and what if any effect it has on tourism or living in-country.

Why are folks on strike? Do they happen often? Are there any safety concerns? What if anything should we do if we encounter people on strike or a group of protesters? For those who are interested, is there a way to get involved, or is this a strictly internal matter?

Any insights would be deeply appreciated.

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Like you mentioned, it's an internal matter.
One must not cross a huelga line, no more than one would cross a picket line in America.
It would be a show of disrespect to the strikers, and they may throw stones, or whatever.

I think your most knowledgeable response on this will come from Hillbilly but in the meanwhile I'll offer a few thoughts. The strike was called by the Alternative Social Forum which is an aggregate organisation made up of community and union groups. Basically they are asking for the same things for which they have been asking for some time: salary increase, lowering of price of food, modification of Hydrocarbon Law (which sees fuel going up more often than it comes down, with Government raking in the taxes) & a halt to people being thrown out of their homes 'at whim' as they see it.

To set this in context: there is a lot of unhappiness here at present. Yes more money is coming into the country but it isn't filtering down to the poorest thus the gap between rich & poor is widening and people are getting fed up with it.

On safety issues: if you ever see a protest in action (burning tyres, stones being thrown etc) remove yourself from the area by turning back. Sooner or later police will probably arrive & people get hurt in the ensuing shootouts, including innocent bystanders.

Involvement by most expats who do so tends to be in helping alleviate the social ills, where we can, rather than in organisational involvement in mounting the strike itself. There are South American community workers (Spanish speaking) in some of the barrios involved in consciousness raising community work but I don't think this was what you meant by expats?

If you're a tourist or visitor and you see stones/rocks/trees/burning tires on the road, please turn back and take an alternate route. When things are calm, the organizers could decide to quickly lead you through the strike area, but communication is not always clear and the people on the other side may not know that you have permission. Turn around, get out, take an alternate route.

I would echo what Lambada said.

As of tourists staying in their touristic region (such as Las Terrenas, where I live), most won't even notice there's something different. Strikes don't have any effect here.

The problem is for those who have to travel that day, because it is sometimes difficult to cross the bigger cities...

For the most part tourists are not even aware it is going on. Police and military do their best to ensure that tourists are not effected.

If you are out driving the roads as a tourist then head the advice already given. Turn around, go home or find another way around.

I was coming back from Santiago to Puerto Plata one day. There was an "unscheduled" disruption on the road. I simply turned my car around and returned to Santiago for a few hours.