LABOR LEADERS WRESTLE TO MOVE PAST REFERENDUM

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 002695 SIPDIS NSC FOR CBARTON USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS USAID FOR DCHA/OTI LABOR FOR I/LAB E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2014 TAGS: ELAB KDEM PHUM VE SUBJECT: LABOR LEADERS WRESTLE TO MOVE PAST REFERENDUM Classified By: Abelardo A. Arias, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, for R easons 1.4 (d). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Organized labor is willing to test the GOV's call for dialogue in post-referendum Venezuela, but doubts President Hugo Chavez's sincerity. Venezuelan Workers Confederation (CTV) Secretary General Manuel Cova believes his organization needs to re-focus on issues affecting the daily lives of workers, and plans to propose a common labor agenda for all unions to pursue with the GOV. Labor expert Jesus Urbieta hopes Venezuela's unions can become more centralized, better coordinated, and more effective at negotiating sector-wide bargaining agreements. The pro-GOV central National Workers' Union (UNT) lacks clear leadership and remains mired in factionalism. End summary. -------------- CTV Leader Sees New Political Reality -------------- ¶2. (C) Manuel Cova, Secretary General of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation (CTV) told poloff August 18 that if the opposition could not make a case for GOV fraud during the August 15 presidential recall referendum, the opposition would have to accept the new political reality that they are in the minority. Cova said the referendum results should signal to President Hugo Chavez that the opposition is not politically insignificant, but rather a force representing 40 percent of the population. Cova doubted the sincerity of Chavez's offer to begin a dialogue with the opposition, but believes the opposition should make an effort. He said the opposition's approach, including that of the CTV, has been too confrontational, too focused on the short-term political scene, and too distant from average Venezuelans. He hoped the opposition's political defeat would lead to "new faces" in the opposition, and even suggested the consolidation of leftist opposition parties into a new center-left front. ¶3. (C) Cova said he hoped the CTV would re-focus its efforts toward improving lives of Venezuelan workers. He said the CTV called on all Venezuelan labor centrals two months ago to develop a common agenda for negotiating with the GOV. The common agenda, he said, would be developed under the auspices of a Central University of Venezuela (UCV) project. He said the CTV's first priority should be negotiating collective agreements for public sector employees. He also said unions must challenge the GOV's dismissal of public sector employees who signed the presidential recall petition. Public sector employees, he said, are especially disappointed and worried about Chavez's victory, causing them to wonder whether the purges of Chavez opponents in the bureaucracy will now begin in earnest. -------------- CTV Labor Expert Sees Tough Times Ahead -------------- ¶4. (C) Jesus Urbieta, Director of the CTV's Labor Studies Institute (INAESIN),told poloff August 19 Venezuela's labor movement has been generally weakened under Chavez rule and will face more challenges in the future. With private industry in decline since Chavez took office, he said, public employee unions have become relatively more influential on labor issues. If pro-GOV candidates win the regional elections scheduled for September 26, he said, they will favor rival pro-Chavez unions in collective contract negotiations. ¶5. (C) Urbieta, who holds an elected position on the International Labor Organization's (ILO) Administrative Council, said a sign of good faith by the GOV would be to accept the visit of an ILO direct contact mission to investigate various labor complaints in Venezuela. Urbieta said the ILO made the request in 2003, but the GOV ignored it; a similar request for a mission was approved in June ¶2004. -------------- Chavista Labor Remains Divided -------------- ¶6. (C) The pro-Chavez National Workers' Union (UNT),formed in early 2003, has yet to hold elections to select its leaders, functioning instead under 21 "National Directors." UNT National Director Francisco Torrealba told poloff August 18 the UNT is divided into two factions: one controlled by himself and public sector union leader Franklin Rondon that seeks labor union autonomy from the GOV and another controlled by Orlando Chirinos and Marcela Maspero, whom Torrealba described as "Trotskyites." These radical leaders frequently speak out in support of the GOV and, said Torrealba, and resort to intimidation tactics against Torrealba's faction for control of unions. Torrealba alleged that Minister of Labor Maria Cristina Iglesias frequently sides with this radical faction in disputes among UNT members. Torrealba said he hopes UNT can hold elections in November so that the labor central can act with one voice. ¶7. (C) Urbieta said that labor is one area the GOV has failed to co-opt or create a viable parallel organization. The GOV's labor agenda was largely stalled when the GOV-backed candidate for CTV president (present Education Minister Aristobulo Isturiz) was defeated in elections in 2001. The Ministry of Labor responded, Urbieta said, by facilitating the registration of pro-Chavez parallel unions such that the UNT, launched in the wake of the national strike, now claims more than 600 affiliates. Torrealba said he would welcome collaboration with the CTV in developing a common agenda for negotiating with the GOV, but was not hopeful for progress until UNT leadership issues are resolved. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) While it would seem this juncture provides an opening for organized labor to recover lost ground, the key actors are not prepared or not willing. Chavez has failed to "revolutionize" the labor sector in the past and has not specifically raised labor in his post-referendum offers of reconciliation. Manuel Cova talks about moving past the referendum, but key CTV leaders continue to focus on allegations that Chavez stole the election. Years of political battle with the GOV have left the CTV out of touch with workers and created the opening for the UNT. The pro-GOV confederation, however, has yet to consolidate its power and influence among unions, and could be further weakened if UNT elections are scuttled due to in-fighting. McFarland NNNN 2004CARACA02695 - CONFIDENTIAL