TRADE UNION POWER STRUGGLE INTERRUPTS WORK OF THE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TIRANA 001208

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE (EKOTHIEMER AND CRIEHL)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ELAB ECON AL
SUBJECT: TRADE UNION POWER STRUGGLE INTERRUPTS WORK OF THE
NATIONAL LABOR COUNCIL


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. With dwindling membership and waning
societal influence, the Albanian trade union organization
that helped bring down the communist regime has been further
weakened by an internal power struggle. This struggle has
pitted Gezim Kalaja, long-time trade union confederation
president, against Gezim Qato, a challenger who, until
recently, enjoyed the tacit support of the government.
Speculation has been rife that at the heart of the issue was
control over considerable union property assets. The
government used this conflict as a pretext for not convening
the National Labor Council (NLC). Critics charged that
failure to convene the NLC effectively silenced the voice of
labor during a period when the government introduced several
pieces of legislation with a direct impact on workers.
After stalling the work of the NLC for almost a year, on
September 28, the government abruptly reversed course and
convened the NLC, with Kalaja as the trade union
representative. END SUMMARY.

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Background
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2. (SBU) The Albanian Union of Independent Trade Unions
(known as the BSPSH) is a confederation of ten independent
trade unions and is one of two umbrella organizations created
out of the former Albanian Union of Professionals (known as
the BPSH),the single workers, union that was an arm of the
former communist party. The other successor trade union is
the Confederation of Albanian Trade Unions (known as the
KSSH).


3. (SBU) During the communist period, the BPSH owned and
operated resorts and &workers, camps8 throughout Albania.
Most of these properties were located along the coast or in
other prime vacation spots. In 1992, then-President Sali
Berisha issued a decree granting control of all property of
the BPSH to the newly formed successor unions for a period of
20 years. According to Kosta Barjaba, Chief of Cabinet at
the Ministry of Labor, before the pyramid crisis of 1997,
many of the assets of the constituent unions were
&privatized8 by unscrupulous union leaders who pocketed the
proceeds. Other properties have been taken away from the
unions by the courts and returned to previous owners.
Nevertheless, the unions still control considerable assets,
including beachfront properties all along the Albanian coast,
estimated to be worth tens of millions of Euros.


4. (SBU) The current power struggle in the BSPSH is between
Gezim Kalaja, head of the miners, union and, since 2001,
BSPSH President, and Gezim Qato, long-time head of the
transportation workers, union and pretender to the BSPSH
leadership position. With once as many as 100,000 members,
the miners were one of the most powerful constituents of the
BPSH. As their leader, Kalaja helped organize the civil
society protests that precipitated the collapse of the
communist government in 1991. According to Barjaba, following
the collapse of communism, the former communist trade union
split along political lines. The KSSH aligned with the
Socialist Party (SP) while the BSPSH aligned with the
Democratic Party (DP). Both confederations set up parallel
structures, having similar constituent trade unions (i.e.,
health, education, miners, transportation, etc.).

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STRUGGLE FOR THE LEADERSHIP OF THE BSPSH
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5. (SBU) The struggle between Kalaja and Qato for leadership
of the BSPSH began in December 2004 when Qato convened an
extraordinary congress of the BSPSH. According to Qato, such
a meeting, called outside of the regularly scheduled
congress, may be convened by a majority of leaders of the
unions without the authorization of the president. At this
extraordinary congress, eight of ten leaders of the
constituent unions elected Qato as the new president of the
BSPSH with a four-year mandate. Only the leaders of the
education and health unions remained loyal to Kalaja.


6. (SBU) In an attempt to forestall Kalaja from convening the
regularly scheduled congress in December 2005, Qato submitted
documents to the Tirana District Court requesting that he be
recognized as the legitimate head of the BSPSH. In October
2005, the court agreed with Qato and granted this
recognition. Nevertheless, Kalaja convened the regularly
scheduled congress of the BSPSH in December 2005 that

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included observers from the International Confederation of
Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). During this congress, Kalaja was
re-elected president of the BSPSH and the ICFTU certified the
election results.


7. (SBU) On July 4, the Tirana District Court, ruling on a
countersuit filed by Kalaja challenging the legitimacy of the
December 2004 extraordinary congress, issued a temporary stay
suspending the first decision of the lower court and all of
the decisions taken by the extraordinary congress, including
the election of Qato as the leader of the BSPSHQ Kalaja said
the final decision of the court would be handed down in
December.


8. On July 13, a visiting delegation from the Brussels-based
ICFTU told Poloff that the extraordinary congress convened by
Qato was illegitimate because, as per the internal rules of
the BSPSH, the ICFTU was not notified about the congress in
advance, no international observers were present, and only
the constituent union leaders participated (i.e., the rank
and file members were not included). While in Albania, the
delegation also had meetings with the President, Prime
Minister, and the Minister of Labor during which they
conveyed the same message. They informed Poloff that they
drove home the point that labor policy, including the
functioning of trade unions, was among the factors considered
for membership in the European Union.

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WORK OF THE NATIONAL LABOR COUNCIL STALLED
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9. (SBU) Under Albanian law, the Ministry of Labor must
convene the National Labor Council (NLC) every three months.
The NLC must then invite ten representatives of the workers
(i.e., unions),ten representatives of employers, and seven
representatives of the government. After an initial meeting
shortly after the Berisha government took office in September
2005, the NLC did not convene again until September 28, 2006.
According to Kol Nikollaj, President of the KSSH, under
Albanian law the government must first consult with the NLC
before proposing any legislation that would impact workers.
Since taking the reins of power, the Berisha government has
passed legislation for pension reform, social security
administration, and unemployment compensation, all without
convening the NLC.


10. (SBU) Barjaba told us that the NLC had not been convened
for almost a year, pending the outcome of the Kalaja-Qato
legal dispute. Both Nikollaj and Kalaja, as well as media
commentators, were vocal in their view that the government
was exploiting the internal power struggle as a pretext for
not convening the NLC. Accordingly, the government was
effectively denying the trade unions a voice in legislation
affecting workers.


11. (SBU) In mid-September, the government changed course and
convened a meeting of the NLC to which Kalaja was invited to
represent the BSPSH. Kalaja told Poloff that over the past
month the government position has changed 180 degrees. Now,
not only was he invited to represent the BSPSH on the NLC,
but he was also elected deputy chair of the NLC, something
that would have been impossible without the support of the
government.

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BEHIND THE SCENES MACHINATIONS AND OTHER MOTIVES
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12. (SBU) According to Kalaja, Berisha personally
orchestrated the move to have him ousted from the leadership
of the BSPSH in retaliation for his refusal to encourage his
union members to participate in protests Berisha organized in
2003, when he was the leader of the opposition. It was
shortly after this that Qato first emerged as a challenger to
Kalaja for the leadership position. Nikollaj said that Qato
had close ties to the DP, as evidenced by the fact that
during the 2005 parliamentary elections, Qato campaigned for
Berisha.


13. (SBU) For Qato, the motivation would appear to be
financial. With high unemployment and dwindling membership,
revenue from union-owned properties is the principal source
of funding for the unions. Both Kalaja and Qato have told
the Embassy that at the heart of the conflict over the BSPSH
leadership position was control over these properties (more

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specifically the revenue streams they generate). Each
accused the other of being motivated to hold the leadership
position solely by the prospect of personal gain. According
to Barjaba, though changes in Albanian law now specifically
prohibit union bosses from selling property, the government
is virtually powerless to oversee union finances and thus can
do little to prevent misuse of funds.

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COMMENT
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15. (SBU) The government appears to be backing away from the
efforts of one of its party militants to assume the
leadership position of the BSPSH. International community
interest in this issue, including our own, served to remind
the government that civil society actors, including the trade
unions, contribute to the social dialogue and that their
voice should be heard. END COMMENT
RIES