Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MANAMA292
2007-03-29 14:38:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Manama
Cable title:  

GOB TIGHTENING CLAMP ON PUBLIC SECTOR UNIONS

Tags:  ELAB PHUM PGOV BA HUMRIT 
pdf how-to read a cable
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INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAMA 000292 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DOL FOR ILAB/JAMES RUDE
USTR FOR JBUNTIN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/28/2017
TAGS: ELAB PHUM PGOV BA HUMRIT
SUBJECT: GOB TIGHTENING CLAMP ON PUBLIC SECTOR UNIONS


Classified By: CDA Susan L. Ziadeh for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

-------
Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAMA 000292

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DOL FOR ILAB/JAMES RUDE
USTR FOR JBUNTIN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/28/2017
TAGS: ELAB PHUM PGOV BA HUMRIT
SUBJECT: GOB TIGHTENING CLAMP ON PUBLIC SECTOR UNIONS


Classified By: CDA Susan L. Ziadeh for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

--------------
Summary
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1. (SBU) The GOB Civil Service Bureau (CSB) announced that
it is not prepared to tolerate the establishment of unions
formed in government ministries and other government
entities. It calls these unions illegal and has instructed
government bodies to prevent them from forming. At the
center of the debate is an article of the Trade Union Law of
2002, which appears to specify that civil servants are
permitted to participate in unions, but not establish unions
within government organizations. Two leaders of groups have
reportedly been questioned at length about their union
involvement by officials from the CSB. A panel of
representatives from five public sector unions announced that
as of March 15, over 10,000 civil servants had signed a
petition calling for a 25% pay increase. There is an
indication that the CSB, under instruction from the Prime
Minister, is taking action on a salary increase for some
government employees, but it is unclear how soon the move
would become effective. End summary.


2. (SBU) The CSB circulated a memorandum March 19 to all
ministries and other government entities ordering action to
stop union activity by groups in the public sector. (Note:
This does not apply to state-owned companies like Gulf Air
and Alba, where unions are permitted to operate.) The
memorandum from CSB president Ahmed Bahr labeled the
organizations illegal and directed government ministries and
commissions to prevent them from forming. Government sources
point out that the Trade Union Law of 2002 does not permit
public sector workers to establish unions in government
ministries/organizations, even though it permits them to join
them. Further, a CSB memorandum circulated in early 2003
clarified the language in the law, clearly prohibiting
government employees from forming unions.

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Hardball Tactics
--------------


3. (SBU) Public sector union sources told the press March 21

that the CSB and the Cabinet's Legal Affairs Directorate had
formed a joint committee to monitor government unions and
their leadership. The sources claimed that the committee had
opened an investigation of the head of the joint Postal
Service and Civil Aviation Authority union Jamal Ateeq, who
is also assistant secretary general for public sector unions
at the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU).
The committee reportedly informed Ateeq that it could file a
legal case against him for violating Civil Service
regulations. The head of the union in the Ministry of
Electricity and Water (MEW) announced March 24 that an
attorney from the CSB and an official from the MEW legal
affairs department had interrogated him for four hours. Both
the Cabinet Legal Affairs Directorate and the CSB have
publicly denied the existence of an investigatory committee.


4. (SBU) Seven public sector union groups have been formed,
but only five have rallied in support of a recent call for a
salary increase: unions at the Ministry of Electricity and
Water, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Housing, Ministry of
Interior, and the joint union of employees from the Postal
Service and the Civil Aviation Authority. Article ten of the
Trade Union Law of 2002, which legitimizes unions, says,
"Workers have the right to organize trade unions in any
establishment or sector, or in any specific activity, or
industry, or in professions that are interconnected based on
this law, and the employees of the Civil Service system have
the right to join." The GOB has consistently argued that
although civil servants are given the right to join unions,
the law does not give them the right to establish their own
unions within government entities.

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Signing for Support
--------------


5. (SBU) The public sector unions began calling for a raise
in the government sector minimum wage after a February 4
meeting at the Federation. They demanded a raise from the
current BD 200 to at least BD 300 to keep pace with rising
consumer prices. Several days later, the five unions

MANAMA 00000292 002 OF 003


announced that they had formed a panel, consisting of
representatives from each of the unions, to develop an action
plan. The panel announced shortly thereafter that it had
drawn up a petition asking for a 25% pay increase and that it
had already attracted 500 government employees to sign the
petition. As of March 15, public sector union leaders
claimed that the petition had drawn the support of more than
10,000 government workers from approximately 38,000 total in
Bahrain.

-------------- --------------
Teachers, Human Rights Activists Join the Discussion
-------------- --------------


6. (SBU) Mahdi Abudeeb, president of the Teachers Society, a
professional organization and not a union, announced March 6
that 3,000 primary and secondary public school teachers had
signed a petition calling for a 20% rise in their salaries.
Teachers are also reportedly dissatisfied with the
recruitment process and school administration, and are urging
the Ministry of Education to reform. Abudeeb, who ran for
parliament in the 2006 elections but was defeated, said that
teachers have not received any pay increases since 1997. The
Teachers Society will reportedly send the petition to the
Prime Minister, the Crown Prince, the Council of
Representatives, and to the Shura Council. According to
Ministry of Education statistics from academic year
2005-2006, there were approximately 10,800 public school
teachers.


7. (SBU) Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) released a
press statement March 29 urging the CSB and other government
entities to recognize government workers' right to organize.
The statement characterized the CSB's interpretation of
Article ten of the Trade Union Law as "strange and the first
of its kind," saying that it is not in line with
international labor standards. BHRS stressed that the
unions' activities to press for a salary increase are
legitimate under the constitution, and measures taken against
these activities are a violation of a fundamental human
right. BHRS called on the government to stop harassing union
leaders by questioning them and threatening them with further
action, and announced its support to the GFBTU in its
complaint to the International Labor Organization's Trade
Union Freedom Committee.

--------------
Message Heard?
--------------


8. (SBU) CSB president Bahr announced March 15 that the CSB
was already taking the necessary steps to give civil servants
on the specialist scale (including managers and mid-level
technocrats) a 15% raise in their salaries. In addition,
Bahr said that the Prime Minister had asked the CSB to look
at providing an increase to those on the general salary
schedule (clerks, drivers, etc.) as well, reaching as many as
18,000 public sector workers. He added that a new schedule
would be introduced to increase the payout for employee
overtime. Assistant Undersecretary of Finance Arif Saleh
stated in the press that salary increases are not included in
the 2007/2008 budget, but other financial sources could be
used to cover the increases.

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Comment
--------------


9. (C) The last several weeks have seen an escalation in the
rhetoric between the government, leaders of the public sector
unions, and the GFBTU. The reported questioning of the union
leadership represents a show of force from the government,
but the GOB has denied that these activities are taking
place. If the government follows through on steps to raise
government worker salaries, this will give the public sector
workers, and the GFBTU behind them, a boost in confidence
that their recent tactics have been effective. However,
even if the GOB bends on salaries, it is unlikely to change
its policy in the near term on recognizing the right for
public sector workers to form their own unions within
ministries.


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MANAMA 00000292 003 OF 003


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