COTE D'IVOIRE:SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS STRIKE

UNCLAS ABIDJAN 000203 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB PGOV ASEC IV SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE:SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS STRIKE ¶1. (U) On February 19, Ivorian police arrested five members, including the secretary general, of the secondary school teachers, coordination, &Coordination des Enseignants du Second Degre de Cote d,Ivoire8, CES-CI. Since February 6 this informal, unrecognized labor movement has been leading a secondary school teachers strike which education minister, Michel Amani N,Guessan declared illegal. CES-CI initially called for a three day strike, to demand a five-fold increase in housing allowances from CFA 40,000 (USD 80) per month to CFA 200,000 (USD 400),and also to demand job reclassifications which would result in higher salaries for many teachers. After the minister declared the strike illegal because the coordination is not a recognized union, and refused to even discuss their demands, they extended it indefinitely. At this stage, the national secondary school teachers, union SYNESCI (National Union for Secondary School Education in Cote d'Ivoire) joined the movement. CES-CI contacts tell us that they have no intention of ending the strike because of the February 19 arrests of their leaders, and that 90 percent of the secondary school teachers throughout the country are observing the strike. ¶2. (U) Comment. There about 20,000 secondary school teachers. Thus, the increase in housing allowances alone would cost the government about USD 6.4 million a month, and major concessions to this group would only intensify the demands of other disgruntled public sector workers. End Comment. Hooks