Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06SANSALVADOR2142
2006-08-31 20:59:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy San Salvador
Cable title:  

EL SALVADOR: LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY RATIFIES ILO

Tags:  EIND ELAB ES ETRD PGOV PHUM PREL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0010
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSN #2142/01 2432059
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 312059Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3607
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 3594
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0421
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 002142 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EIND ELAB ES ETRD PGOV PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY RATIFIES ILO
CONVENTIONS

REF: SAN SALVADOR 1742

UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 002142

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EIND ELAB ES ETRD PGOV PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY RATIFIES ILO
CONVENTIONS

REF: SAN SALVADOR 1742


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: El Salvador's Legislative Assembly on
August 24 voted unanimously to ratify International Labor
Organization (ILO) Conventions 87 and 98 regarding freedom of
association and the right to organize and bargain
collectively, as well as Conventions 135 and 151 dealing with
protection of workers' representatives and public service
employees' right to organize, respectively. Passage of the
conventions follows years of debate regarding language in El
Salvador's Constitution that appears to bar unionization
among public-sector workers. The likely upcoming loss of
European Union trade benefits was ultimately the driving
force behind ratification. The Saca administration, like its
predecessor, already has extensive experience in dealing with
highly-politicized and often-intransigent associations
representing public workers. It remains to be seen whether
their unionizations will pose new challenges to governability
in the leadup to the 2009 elections. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) In approving the ILO conventions, the ruling
center-right Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party
and their National Conciliation Party (PCN) allies were
joined by the hard-left opposition Farabundo Marti National
Liberation Front (FMLN) deputies and eight deputies from
smaller center-left parties. The unanimous approval of the
conventions marked a rare show of cooperation and consensus
in an Assembly normally characterized by a sharply polarized
atmosphere. However, the ratifications entailed amendments
to Articles 47 and 48 of El Salvador's Constitution; the
former had contained language that appeared to proscribe
unionization among public sector workers, while the latter
was amended to restrict strikes affecting essential public
services. Only ARENA, PCN, and the center-left Christian
Democratic Party (PDC) voted in favor of the constitutional
amendments. (Note: Under Article 248 of the Salvadoran
Constitution, amendments to the Constitution require initial
approval by only a simple majority, but must then be
reapproved in the succeeding Assembly by a two-thirds
majority. End note.) Notwithstanding uncertainty regarding
future reapproval by a two-thirds majority in the Assembly to
be elected in 2009, the conventions will enter into force
immediately.


3. (U) Ratification of Conventions 87 and 98 was strongly
opposed by the National Private Enterprise Association
(ANEP),the Salvadoran Apparel Industry Association (ASIC),
conservative leading daily El Diario de Hoy, and other
influential actors. The ultimate impetus behind Salvadoran
ratification was pressure from the European Union, which had
conditioned continued duty-free Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP-Plus) importation of Salvadoran products
into Europe on ratification of Conventions 87 and 98 before
the end of 2006. Anticipating that the country might not
achieve such ratification, Spanish tuna processor Calvo in
June laid off 600 tuna cannery workers (some 40 percent of
their entire Salvadoran workforce). This action received
widespread attention in government and private sector
circles, and in the media (see reftel). In a lengthy June 28
interview by leading daily La Prensa Grafica, Calvo Group
General Manager Ramon Calvo outlined his view that in the
absence of GSP benefits exempting Salvadoran tuna from 20.5
percent duties, tuna originating from El Salvador would no
longer be competitively priced in the European marketplace.


4. (SBU) COMMENT: This and previous ARENA administrations
had long feared official unionization of public-sector
workers associations, because many such groups are widely
acknowledged to be under the sway of hardliners in the
opposition Farbundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN).
By way of example, the public healthcare workers' association
STISSS began a strike in November 1999, ostensibly in protest
of alleged government plans to privatize public healthcare,
in which they were later joined by government-employed
doctors. The strike lasted until June 203 and paralyzed
healthcare at many public clinic. The government has
already weathered the chalenging consequences associated
with negotiating with what are already in effect
public-sector unions. By ratifying Conventions 87 and 98,
they will now also reap the benefits thereof. With
nationwide presidential, legislative, and municipal elections
less than three years away, the Saca administration will
likely watch with great interest to see whether the
opposition FMLN uses ratification of 87 and 98 to expand its
influence among public sector workers by moving to unionize

key government sectors.
Barclay