TEACHERS UNION WARNS OF POSSIBLE STRIKES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 001215 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB PGOV PREL ASEC GV SUBJECT: TEACHERS UNION WARNS OF POSSIBLE STRIKES ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. While Guinea,s teacher union is not planning any formal strike, union officials report that 30,000 contractor teacher members could organize an unofficial strike if the Minister of Education does not address specific concerns. According to contacts, the teachers' chief complaint is the sheer number of teachers employed by contract rather than as permanent employees with regular benefits. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) On November 2, poloff met with Dr. Louis M,Bemba Soumah, General Secretary of the Union of Independent Teachers and Researchers of Guinea (SLECG) and Mr. Bamba Camara, General Secretary of the Federation of Professional Educators. Both unions are members of the broader union inter-syndicale, headed by Dr. Ibrahim Fofana and Mme. Serah Diallo Rabiatou. -------------- REBEL, CONTRACTORS COULD STRIKE -------------- ¶3. (SBU) When asked about recent rumors circulating regarding possible strikes by Guinea,s teachers, M,Bemba said that the unions are not currently planning any strikes. However, M,Bemba emphasized that of Guinea,s approximately 50,000 educators, more than half are contractual employees who the unions have had difficulty controlling in the past. He clarified that these contractors are union members, but given their majority numbers, they may decide to organize unofficially on their own, without seeking union support. M,Bemba added &they are rebels who do their own thing.8 -------------- TEACHERS FOCUSED ON CONTRACTUAL PROBLEMS -------------- ¶4. (SBU) A key unresolved issue for educators is the fact that there are so many contractual posts (estimated to be about 30,000). M,Bemba said that government hiring practices for contractors tend to be less stringent. &There are no standards, they just hire anybody,8 he said, although he acknowledged that there are plenty of &good teachers8 within the ranks of contractors. Accord to M,Bemba, a related problem is an unknown number of false contractors who are included in the government payroll. Fictitious names are listed as contractual employees, M,Bemba said, names that do not actually represent an individual teacher, but for whom &somebody is collecting a salary.8 ¶5. (SBU) M,Bemba said that the unions spoke with the Minister of Education about this problem one month ago and proposed that the Ministry offer regular employment terms to all contractors and then audit the payroll lists afterwards in order to weed out the false names. &That should calm everybody down,8 M,Bemba said. He added that the Minister seemed amenable to the idea. (Note ) The Minister of Education is himself a member of the teacher,s union. End Note). -------------- -------------- CONCERNS ABOUT DELAYED SALARIES AND POOR INFRASTRUCTURE -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) While the contractor issue is the unions, biggest priority, the unions are advocating for resolution of a number of other problems. M,Bemba said that many teachers still go for several months without ever seeing their salary, which has been a common practice for several years. Even when the salaries are paid on time, they are very low. M,Bemba said that teachers make an annual monthly salary of about $54 while teachers with over thirty years experience make just $150. ¶7. (SBU) Lack of appropriate infrastructure is another union complaint. Classrooms that are built to accommodate 35 students are holding upwards of 150, M,Bemba said, all of whom are taught by a single instructor. He added that basic equipment and supplies are generally lacking. ¶8. (SBU) M,Bemba also commented on parents, lack of means to afford basic school supplies for their children. A single notebook now costs about $.75 and an average child needs about ten notebooks for the academic year, or $7.50, he said, which many parents simply cannot afford. M,Bemba added that private school tuition costs have increased dramatically, running approximately $15 a month per child although private school instructors still make the same salary as their public school counterparts. -------------- -------------- TEACHER STRIKE COULD SPUR OTHER UNIONS TO FOLLOW SUIT CONAKRY 00001215 002 OF 002 -------------- -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Returning to the possibility of teacher strikes, M,Bemba said that while the unions are not planning anything, the contractors may be threatening to take to the streets. If they (the Ministry of Education) don,t fix the problems, people will probably strike,8 he said. M,Bemba added that since the contractors represent more than half of all educators, any potential strike would likely succeed since other teachers would probably join in to support their colleagues. When asked about a ripple effect to other unions, M,Bemba said that the unions are united and he believes other unions would also strike as a statement of solidarity. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Although M,Bemba claimed that SLECG represents the 30,000 contract teachers, his comments suggest that there may be a disconnect between union leadership and their constituents. Given this possibility, it is unclear whether M,Bemba,a prediction of a possible teacher strike will prove accurate. Embassy will continue to reach out to contacts, including the Minister of Education, in order to get a more balanced understanding of the situation. END COMMENT. CARTER