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).

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Summary
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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.

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CTV Leader Sees New Political Reality
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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.

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CTV Labor Expert Sees Tough Times Ahead
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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.

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Chavista Labor Remains Divided
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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.

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Comment
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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


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2004CARACA02695 - CONFIDENTIAL