Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04MANAMA236
2004-02-18 14:56:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Manama
Cable title:  

BOYCOTTERS RIG LABOR UNION FEDERATION BOARD

Tags:  ELAB PGOV PHUM BA 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

181456Z Feb 04
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000236 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP
CAIRO FOR STEVE BONDY
LONDON FOR ETHAN GOLDRICH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2034
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PHUM BA
SUBJECT: BOYCOTTERS RIG LABOR UNION FEDERATION BOARD
ELECTIONS.


Classified By: By Charge D'Affaires Robert S. Ford for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000236

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP
CAIRO FOR STEVE BONDY
LONDON FOR ETHAN GOLDRICH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2034
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PHUM BA
SUBJECT: BOYCOTTERS RIG LABOR UNION FEDERATION BOARD
ELECTIONS.


Classified By: By Charge D'Affaires Robert S. Ford for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY. Bahrain's two leading opposition societies
colluded to fix the labor union federation board elections
with the plan to use the labor movement as a political
platform. By ignoring standard democratic election and bylaw
procedures, opposition parties realized their plans but also
thwarted the board's ability to legislate, make decisions,
and set a labor agenda. Disillusioned by the opposition
parties' machinations, several large unions are attempting to
extricate themselves from this quagmire and are discussing
the establishment of a second, non-politicized federation.
National Democratic Action Society and Al Wifaq's resorting
to non-democratic methods to gain control of Bahrain's union
federation board raises serious questions about the
societies' long-term commitment to democracy. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Even though the General Federation of Bahraini
Workers (GFBW) notified several government agencies about
holding its first ever federation conference, no government
official offered to speak at the conference opening or
sponsor a venue. (NOTE: It is normal in Bahrain for
ministers to 'patronize' public events related to their
ministries. END NOTE) The GFBW went ahead anyway and one
hundred and forty-nine union delegates attended the
conference, representing 39 labor unions from both the public
and private sectors. The purpose of the three-day conference
was to ratify the federation's statute and bylaws. GFBW
invited the Arab Workers Union to guide election proceedings
and to establish federation bylaws and operational procedures.

--------------
COOKING THE ELECTIONS
--------------


3. (U) GFBW Labor Consultant Dr. Mohammed Merbati told
PolOFF that inviting the Arab Workers Union brought
unexpected results. He believes that the Arab Workers Union
came to the conference to ensure that a non-democratic 'Arab'
federation be established, in line with the federations of
Iran, Iraq and Kuwait. Standard democratic election
procedures allow for each union member to vote for its own

board and also to elect conference delegates to represent
them at the foundational conference. (the number of each
union's conference delegates is proportional to the size its
union.) To ensure a predominance of opposition party
delegates, Al Wifaq and National Democratic Action Society
(NDAS) requested that the Arab Workers Union forego the
selection process of voting for conference delegates. The
Union complied and invited delegates directly from union
boards, the majority of whom has affiliation with the two
opposition societies.


4. (C) Bringing the delegate selection process to light,
"Al Ayam" published an article on January 11 also claiming
that opposition societies clandestinely agreed to divide the
GFBW board membership among themselves; 5 from NDAS and 6
from Al Wifaq. Journalists accused both opposition societies
of hijacking the elections and politicizing the trade union
movement. However, on January 18, media reports subsided when
the GFBW Central Council elected independent candidate Abdul
Ghaffar Abdul Hussain its General Secretary. Dr. Merbati
explained to PolFSN that neither opposition society had issue
with Hussain as General Secretary based on his experience and
stature. However, Al Wifaq member Adel Al Abassi told PolOFF
he was angered to find out about Hussain's appointment.
Hussain used to be a Shura Council member of the old regime.
In the 1990's Hussain was named General Secretary of the
GOB's National Labor Committee, precursor to the GFBW. In
that position, Hussain publicly accused Shi'a opposition
leaders (many of whom are now leaders in Al Wifaq) of being a
"bunch of terrorists." Al Abassi surmised that Hussain
tricked both Al Wifaq and NDAS labor leaders by telling both
he was aligning with them. The other two independent
candidates aligned themselves with NDAS to secure seats on
the board. In the end press reports were correct: the
election results established a central council with 5 NDAS, 6
Al Wifaq, 1 independent, and 1 from National Democratic
Congregation.

--------------
FEELING USED AND ABUSED
--------------


5. (C) A review of board committee positions reveal that
NDAS holds the more prestigious positions on the board. Al
Abassi told PolOFF that unlike NDAS, Al Wifaq is not an
expert in labor. Al Wifaq colluded with NDAS not realizing
that committee designations made a difference in the balance
of power. An unauthorized Deputy Secretary General position
was created at the outcome of the elections and given to Al
Wifaq. Although Deputy Secretary General would appear to be
the second-ranking position on the board, the position does
not exist in the bylaws and has no authoritative power. Al
Wifaq feels used by NDAS. Both NDAS and al-Wifaq feel used
by Abdul Ghaffar Hussain. Now Al Wifaq is making an effort
to woo the independent board members away from NDAS to try to
rectify the imbalance. Al Abassi added that it does not help
that every Al Wifaq member on the board is a 'soft spoken
moderate.' He said there is talk among Al Wifaq board
members that the decision try and dominate the labor federal
board was a political mistake. Some believe Al Wifaq can
gain more ground politically by focusing on real solutions to
actaul labor issues.

6. (U) In a statement to the press, GFBW Assistant
Secretary for Activities and Social Protection and member of

SIPDIS
the National Democratic Congregation Khalid Al Aradi resigned
his position because of the NDAS and Al Wifaq collusion. His
replacement, Al Menbar Islamiyya member Qassab also announced
his resignation for the same reasons. NDAS member Almousawi
claims Al Aradi quit because he failed to get the prestigious
Assistant Secretary position for Arab and International
Affairs. Both Almousawi and Al Abassi claim Al Aradi and
Qassab took the opportunity to embarrass NDAS and Al Wifaq.

-------------- ---
GFBW GOING NOWHERE; SOME UNIONS HEADED ELSEWHERE
-------------- ---


7. (C) With all the attention focused on getting opposition
leaders in board positions, the conference failed to
establish clear operational guidelines for the board. Even
though 8 of the 12 federation board members have over 100
years of combined labor movement expertise and knew each
other in the labor movement many years prior to joining
political societies, the lack of established bylaws and
operational procedures has paralyzed the federation. Dr.
Merbati claims that instead of creating a legitimate
federation with a vision for the labor movement, the
opposition socities crippled the federation, tossed out its
credibility for the next 4 years, ultimately damaging the
labor movement. Shura Council member Faisal Fulad told
PolOFF that union representatives from Batelco, Automotive,
Petrochem, BenGaz, Ministry of Interior, Gulf Airline
Stewards, and Alba contacted Dr. Merbati and himself to find
a way to leave GFBW and start a new federation that has no
political affiliations whatsoever.


8. (C) COMMENT. Opposition societies went to great lengths
to rig the GFBW board elections, ensuring they were neither
free nor fair. This has resulted in many unions wanting to
leave the GFBW and establish a second federation. It also
demonstrates their desire for a legitimate democratic
federation. Although Al-Wifaq and NDAS colluded to gain
control of the board, the emerging competition between them
to wield board power revealed that there is friction among
the political parties which boycotted the October 2002
parliamentary election. NDAS/Al-Wifaq have tarnished their
image and certainly have raised serious questions about their
long-term commitment to fair-play and democracy.
FORD