Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06SANSALVADOR2051
2006-08-18 18:24:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy San Salvador
Cable title:  

EL SALVADOR: PROGRESS WITH LABOR MINISTRY IN KEY

Tags:  ELAB ES ETRD PGOV PREL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSN #2051/01 2301824
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181824Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3481
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 002051 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ES ETRD PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: PROGRESS WITH LABOR MINISTRY IN KEY
CASES

UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 002051

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ES ETRD PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: PROGRESS WITH LABOR MINISTRY IN KEY
CASES


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In the span of less than a month, El
Salvador's Ministry of Labor has made moves to establish the
official status of the airport maintenance workers union
(SITEVMAIES) and the telecommunications workers union
(SITCOM). The former case had proven controversial and
attracted international attention, while the latter had
languished in a state of limbo for three and a half years.
The resolution of the cases demonstrates an atmosphere of
greater openness and flexibility on the part of Minister
Espinal compared to his predecessor, although Embassy
pressure and independent legal decisions have often proved
useful in breaking bureaucratic logjams and getting the
Ministry to "do the right thing". El Salvador also stands
poised to ratify ILO Conventions 87 and 98; further
developments relating to ratification will be reported
septel. END SUMMARY.

BACKGROUND: AIRPORT MAINTENANCE WORKERS UNION
-------------- -


2. (SBU) Fifty-one Comalapa International Airport
maintenance workers representing 15 companies met May 13 to
form a union, and on May 17 submitted their petition for
union status to the Ministry of Labor. The Ministry on May
23 requested additional information regarding the workers'
job responsibilities and the companies for which they worked;
this information was duly provided the same week. On June 9,
the Ministry denied the union's legal status ("personeria
juridica") on the basis of several legal technicalities,
including the requirement that every company with workers
belonging to a union have at least 2--but no more than
25--workers represented; the Ministry also found that several
of the workers' employers weren't properly-registered and
incorporated companies. On June 12, the workers filed an
appeal asking that the Ministry review its decision. The
case attracted attention internationally, including that of
the AFL-CIO.


3. (U) Labatt and Political Section FSN reviewed the
Ministry's decision, and concluded that it resulted from an
improper interpretation of Commercial Code Article 554 and
Labor Code Article 209. Labatt met with Minister Espinal
June 29 to discuss the SITEVMAIES case; Espinal outlined that

the Ministry's refusal of the union's status had occurred
while he was away at ILO meetings in Geneva, but that now
that he had returned, he would personally review the facts of
the case. At the meeting's close, labatt asked whether the
Minister would be open to the idea of our preparing a
chronological summary of the key facts of the case, annotated
with our understanding of what would be the relevant points
that would be applicable under Salvadoran law. The Minister
readily agreed to the idea, and the Embassy submitted such a
summary to Minister Espinal on July 14 (although the Minister
himself did not review this document until the following
Monday, July 17). A week later on July 24, the Ministry
reversed itself and granted the union's legal status.

BACKGROUND: TELECOMMUNICATIONS WORKERS UNION
--------------


4. (U) In March 2003, a group of telecommunications workers
met to form a union (SITCOM),and submitted its petition for
legal status to the Ministry of Labor. In May 2003,
then-Minister Nieto denied the union's petition, asserting
that radio station workers were not part of the
telecommunications industry, that at least two of the
petitioning workers were actually management (and therefore
ineligible for membership),and that without the disqualified
workers, the union lacked the legally-mandated minimum of 35
workers. In June, SITCOM appealed the Ministry's decision to
the Administative Dispute Chamber of the Supreme Court.
During 2003, SITCOM President Angel Moreno was discharged
from his job, SITCOM Secretary Jose Ayala was locked out of
the workplace, and five SITCOM-affiliated workers were
demoted to lower-level positions. Labatt met with union
officers on numerous occasions to discuss the status of the
case.


5. (SBU) In March 2004 the Supreme Court asked the Ministry
of Labor to submit documents outlining the basis on which the
Ministry had denied the union's status. On July 29, 2006,
the Supreme Court's Administrative Dispute Chamber rejected
the Labor Ministry's 2003 findings, but requested that SITCOM
members resubmit documents and employment records as evidence
in support of their petition to form a union. Following the
Supreme Court's decision, the Ministry has moved quickly to
review the union's documentation, and Minister Espinal
personally assured labatt August 18 that, judging from his
preliminary reexamination of the case, the Ministry would
almost certainly reverse his predecessor's decision, and

SITCOM's official registration would be in order very soon.



6. (SBU) COMMENT: These developments regarding SITEVMAIES
and SITCOM are especially encouraging when viewed together
with the Ministry's granting of union status to Acajutla port
workers (STIPES) last July, and the Saca administration's
willingness to undertake the legal reforms necessary for
ratification of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 regarding freedom
of association and the right to collective bargaining.
Although the contrast between Minister Espinal and his
predecessor is striking, it is nonetheless apparent that
unionization in certain business sectors sometimes pits the
Minister against influential private-sector backers of the
ruling ARENA party. It is likely that Espinal's
ever-welcoming attitude toward Embassy intervention in such
cases is due to the leverage--and cover--it provides him
within the Saca administration. END COMMENT.
Barclay