The labour code is modified in the free trade zones. For example, the right to negotiate collective agreements is inferior to the process outside the Canal Zone, and the right to other things such as overtime pay, for example, is much less than in the canal zone.
As I mentioned, the other specificity of the port of Barú is that there are limitations making collective bargaining discretionary for employers for the first six years of operation. Another article ensures that for the first three years of employment, certain protections of the labour code will not apply. This is a new law that was brought in over the past number of months and is connected to the special economic area of Barú. As well, article 18 provides that a worker can be legally dismissed if there are fluctuations in export markets that bring about a considerable loss in the volume of sales.
Very clearly, articles 7, 17, and 18 of the law regulating the special economic area of Barú do not correspond to the general labour law of the rest of the country.