YOUNG PATRIOTS CONTINUE TO OCCUPY HIGH SCHOOL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000549

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2016
TAGS: ELAB PGOV ECON EFIN IV
SUBJECT: YOUNG PATRIOTS CONTINUE TO OCCUPY HIGH SCHOOL
TEACHER UNION HEADQUARTERS AS UNION PRESSES DEMANDS FOR
SALARY INCREASES

REF: ABIDJAN 716

Classified By: ECONOFF ERFANA DAR FOR REASON 1.4 (B AND D)

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y added tags ELAB, PGOV, ECON, EFIN,
changed classification to 1.4 b & d

1. (SBU) Summary: The Congress of Young Patriots (COJEP),the
leading faction of the Young Patriots youth militia and
headed by Ble Goude, continues to occupy the headquarters of
the Secondary School Teacher,s Union (SYNESCI). Despite
complaints to the Ivorian government, COJEP remains in place
with impunity. SYNESCI has led several strikes during the
2006 academic year, most recently in April 2006 to protest
the lack of movement on its request for pay increases absent
since 1994 (reftel). SYNESCI,s efforts to continue to
negotiate with the government have been hampered by COJEP,s
take-over, DESIGNED TO support the pro-FPI faction within
SYNESCI. End Summary

Key Players


2. (U) SYNESCI is a labor union of secondary school teachers
in Cote d,Ivoire. Within SYNESCI there are two factions,
each claiming legitimacy in leadership and control of the
union,s financial assets. One faction is led by Mamadou
Soro, who won both the 2000 and 2003 elections. Soro is
recognized as the elected leader of SYNESCI by the majority
of its members. The schism in SYNESCI occurred in 2003 when
Evariste Koudou became head of a dissenting group and refused
to recognize Soro as SYNESCI's elected leader. Since that
time, Koudou has claimed leadership of SYNESCI. Koudou, who
is a member of the ruling FPI party, has been able to sustain
his claim by drawing on the political support of the Minister
of Education and President Ggagbo.

Headquarters attacked while SYNESCI met with PM


3. (U) COJEP's invasion of SYNESCI headquarters occurred on
May 4, while Soro was meeting with Prime Minister Banny to
discuss SYNESCI,s demand for pay increases for its members.
Two teachers were reported wounded as staff members were
forced out by the militias.


4. (SBU) The invasion of SYNESCI headquarters was apparently
an FPI effort to force acceptance of Koudou's leadership.
During Soro's meeting with the prime minister, a
representative from Koudou,s faction walked out to protest
his group,s exclusion from a mid-April planning session that
SYNESCI had held with the Prime Minister's staff to set the
agenda for the May 4 meeting.


5. (U) According to Soro, SYNESCI does not intend to go back
on strike any time soon. However, if the current
negotiations with the PM,s office fall through and SYNESCI
again walks out of the classroom, its members have already
demonstrated their ability to paralyze the secondary school
system (reftel). Now that the schools are back in session,
the students and teachers are simply expected to catch up.
Despite the lost hours in the classroom, no one anticipates
that the Ministry will nullify the entire school year.
However, minor concessions have already had to be made, e.g.,
the annual exams have been moved from June to July.


6. (U) Since the COJEP invasion occurred, neither Mamadou
Soro nor his staff have had access to SYNESCI,s
headquarters, hampering the efforts of SYNESCI to represent
its members. Soro has filed a protest of COJEP,s occupation
with the police commissioner, the Ministry of the Interior
and the Prime Minister,s office, all to no avail.


7. (U) SYNESCI is not the only disgruntled group within
within the secondary school system. The owners of the
private secondary schools had threatened to close their
schools (as they have done before) starting on May 23 to
protest the more than 60 billion CFA in unpaid subsidies that
the government owes to them since 2002. The owners agreed to
put off the closure after meeting with the Prime Minister's
Secretary General and receiving assurances that the

SIPDIS
government will pay 7.5 billion CFA in arrears by the end of
the week. If the money is not paid, the owners are likely to
make good on their threat.


8. (C) Comment: The occupation of the union's offices by
COJEP typifies the FPI's preferred approach of relying on
strongarm methods to assert control through intimidation and
violence. Regardless of the merits of SYNESCI's case for
higher pay, it is unlikely that the teachers will receive the
increase they are seeking given the transitional nature of
the current Ivoirian government and its existing budget
constraints. The most the union can hope for is a promised

ABIDJAN 00000549 002 OF 002


review of their wage scale after the next elections.
Hooks