LABORING UNDER A MISAPPREHENSION: UNIONS PREFER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 002892

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL/IL AND INR/AA
PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2016
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PINS PINR SG
SUBJECT: LABORING UNDER A MISAPPREHENSION: UNIONS PREFER
DIALOG BUT PREPARE FOR CONFRONTATION

REF: A. DAKAR 2120

B. 05 DAKAR 2194

C. 04 DAKAR 1522

Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROY L. WHITAKER, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B)
AND (D).

SUMMARY
--------------

1. (C) Leaders of Senegal's splintered labor movement prefer
dialog with the state, but workers demand action to protest
worsening social conditions. A strike by secondary teachers
may invalidate the school year, and their union may launch
job actions "to remind government we are here." Energy
unions are proposing a social compact with Wade, but have
warned him he "has one month" to resolve shortages or face
possible worker unrest and an election defeat. The truckers'
head is fervently loyal to Wade, but says that in a
confrontation, he'll back his union. Wade still has room to
maneuver, but not much time before coming elections to
assuage worker discontent. END SUMMARY.

TEACHERS' DIRTY LOOKS
--------------

2. (C) Confederation des Syndicats Autonomes (CSA) Secretary
General Mamadou Diouf, who has gained immensely in presence
and confidence since taking up his job a year ago (Ref B),
says the current closure of high schools reflects confusion
and divisions in the teacher corps as much as predetermined
strategy. The Government copes with shortage of teachers in
the professional civil service by hiring substitutes and
part-timers (though many of these work for years). The three
categories earn different salaries for the same job, and
internal rivalries have created a dynamic in which each tries
to prove itself more activist than the others. The
Government has drained the treasury this year with raises for
judges, the military and others, Diouf says, so there is
little prospect for teacher raises. A first-ever "annee
blanche" or uncredited school year in the high schools is
possible.


3. (C) Diouf says Wade has seemingly lost interest in labor
issues. While he had a competent labor minister from 2000 to
2004, his replacement was "less than zero," and the new
Minister Abdoulaye Babou, appointed late November, is
"unknown" to labor. Wade's last real attempt to reach out to
labor was last May Day, and Diouf expects he won't hear from
the Labor Ministry until April, so "it can report to Wade
that it followed up on his promises." The CSA is trying to
bring together some of the largest of Senegal's 18 labor
confederations on behalf of a "united front." While building
the new front, though, the CSA may launch some job actions
between now and February elections just "to show we're still
here."

OUT OF GAS
--------------

4. (C) Confederation des Travailleurs Senegalais - Forces du
Changement (CTS-FC) head Cheikh Diop represents virtually all
of Senegal's energy workers in both the electricity and
petroleum sectors. Diop owes both his position and
CNTS-FC's creation to Wade, and would like to forge a
"national compact" bringing unions and government closer
together. He sees the energy sector as hidebound and
inefficient, one in which widespread nepotism effectively
excludes hiring of highly trained new talent. A more
immediate problem is that, as of December 1, Senegal had
"three or four weeks oil supply, and there was no immediate
promise of relief. In order to preserve jobs and streamline
the sector, the union was about to propose an agreement in
which workers would give up butane cooking gas subsidies, and
Government in return would guarantee "programmed raises" in
salary. That deal would be hard to sell to workers, but it
had to be done. Meanwhile, Diop had warned Wade, "if you
don't solve energy problems, you'll lose the elections."

TRUCKERS' TRAVAILS
--------------

5. (C) We had our annual lunch with the moody Mody Guiro,
who as head of CNTS was for many years undisputed prince of
the Socialist Government's company union (Refs B and C). He
was typically uncommunicative, playing with his cell phone,
staring at the ceiling or trenching into his grilled fish.
Luckily he had brought with him Alassane Ndoye, head of the
powerful truckers' union who lamented the dilapidation of
transport companies' trucking equipment, deterioration of the
nation's roads and unpredictability of petrol supplies in the
countryside. Wade's economic performance had in general been
unsatisfying, Ndoye admitted, and that caused him pain

DAKAR 00002892 002 OF 002


because "Wade is my political leader." If ever forced by
social need to lead his union in a strike which would weaken
Wade, though, he would not hesitate to do so. At this, Guiro
bestirred himself to interject that his once murderously
tense relationship with Wade had improved, and that he was
doing everything possible to calm intensifying
government-worker distrust. Guiro warned, though, that there
was a growing gap between political leadership and labor, and
that government needed to respond soon to meet worker demands
and ward off strikes and mass protests.

COMMENT
--------------

6. (C) Having failed to co-opt the union movement as a
whole, Wade seems to have lost interest in worker issues even
while he cultivates labor leaders in due proportion to the
degree of political support they can provide. The CNTS,
which Wade's ruling party goons firebombed in 2000, has
reached an understanding with President Wade, though even its
leader warns of a growing gap between the political elite and
workers. Intriguingly, the CNTS splinter group created by
Wade recognizes his limitations as a manager of the energy
sector, and has warned him of energy shortages' possible
electoral consequences. The immediate challenge to the
social order, though, comes from the teachers' unions, since
school closure affects many families and teachers are
politically influential throughout the country. If the
teacher strike continues into February, and if other unions
elect to show their strength in the streets, both social
tranquility and Wade's re-election could be at stake. END
COMMENT.


7. (U) Visit Dakar's classified website at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/af/dakar.
JACOBS