Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ASUNCION517
2009-08-17 14:25:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Asuncion
Cable title:  

PARAGUAY'S LABOR UNIONS' UNMET HOPES

Tags:  EIND ELAB ETRD PGOV PHUM SOCI KTIP PA 
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VZCZCXYZ0006
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAC #0517/01 2291425
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171425Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASUNCION
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8062
INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
UNCLAS ASUNCION 000517 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

PASS TO RACHEL RIGBY AT DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, STATE FOR
DRL/ILCSR MMITTELHAUSER, G/TIP SSTEINER AND WHA/BSC
MDASCHBACH

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EIND ELAB ETRD PGOV PHUM SOCI KTIP PA
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY'S LABOR UNIONS' UNMET HOPES

-------
SUMMARY
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UNCLAS ASUNCION 000517

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

PASS TO RACHEL RIGBY AT DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, STATE FOR
DRL/ILCSR MMITTELHAUSER, G/TIP SSTEINER AND WHA/BSC
MDASCHBACH

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EIND ELAB ETRD PGOV PHUM SOCI KTIP PA
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY'S LABOR UNIONS' UNMET HOPES

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SUMMARY
--------------


1. (SBU) Paraguay's unionized labor is fractured and
represents only eleven percent of the total labor force.
Labor unions have undertaken structural reforms (organizing
campesino groups); however, they have had limited success
organizing workers and improving labor conditions. President
Fernando Lugo has included labor unions in his government and
union leaders support Lugo but are skeptical of his
government's ability to improve labor conditions. Union
leaders' support for Lugo remains strong, but unmet
expectations will likely erode the existing goodwill. END
SUMMARY.

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PARAGUAY'S LABOR SECTOR
--------------


2. (SBU) Paraguay's unionized labor is fractured and
represents only eleven percent of the total labor force.
Paraguay's General Directorate for Statistics, Surveys, and
Censuses (DGEEC) reported in 2008 that Paraguay had a total
labor force of 2,981,126 workers and approximately 317,000
Paraguayan workers belong to one of the roughly 350 organized
labor unions. (NOTE: General Worker's Confederation (CGT)
President Sonia Leguizamon told PolOff that unionized labor
figures are rough estimates because some workers are
represented by more than one union and records are out of
date. END NOTE.) Labor unions represent workers in Paraguay's
formal economy, including the public, industrial, and service
sectors. Although the public sector has several large
syndicates, most are small and represent workers in
individual organizations, sectors, or geographical regions.


3. (U) The DGEEC report indicated that 5.7 percent of
Paraguayan workers were unemployed and 26.5 percent
under-employed. Many more workers are underpaid or unpaid,
and few receive benefits such as pensions, sick leave, and
medical insurance. Although the mandatory national minimum
wage is approximately USD 265 per month, the government
estimated that 50 percent of government workers and 48

percent of private-sector workers earn less than the minimum
wage. Many workers face hazardous or unhealthy working
conditions. Women are paid less than men and have a higher
unemployment rate. Paraguay's labor force is young, with more
than half of all workers under the age of 30.


4. (U) The 1993 Labor Code codifies Paraguay's labor laws.
It allows private and public sector workers (excluding police
and military personnel) to form and join unions; permits
labor unions to conduct legitimate activities without
government interference; and contains provisions that protect
fundamental worker rights. The Labor Code provides for the
right to strike, bans binding arbitration, prohibits
retribution against union organizers and strikers, and allows
collective bargaining. The Labor Code does not provide
provisions for unregistered campesino movements. The revised
Paraguayan Penal Code, which went into effect on July 16,
2009, incorporates the Labor Code in its entirety.

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LABOR UNIONS, AGENDAS
--------------


5. (SBU) Paraguay's labor unions have had limited success
organizing workers and improving labor conditions. However,
they are working to organize campesinos into legally
registered syndicates and establish a coordinator to manage
their diverse political agendas. National Workers, Central
(CNT) representatives Narciso Castillo and Rodolfo Romero
told EmbOffs that the union began a program to unionize
campesinos and organize several small campesino groups into
labor syndicates. Unitary Workers Central (CUT) President
Jorge Alvarenga told EmbOffs that CNT, CUT, Authentic Unitary
Workers Central (CUT-A),and Paraguayan Workers Confederation
(CPT) established a council to coordinate their political
agendas with leadership rotating between the four unions.
Alvarenga noted that General Workers Confederation (CGT)
opted not to join the coordinating council and that the Trade
Union Confederation of Workers of Paraguay (CESITP) would be
excluded as an illegitimate union.


6. (SBU) CNT's Castillo and Romero, CUT President Jorge
Alvarenga, CUT-A President Bernardo Rojas, CGT President
Sonia Leguizamon, and CPT President Geronimo Lopez told
EmbOffs in June that their unions' common concerns are
getting child workers off the streets; training and
education; creating and sustaining jobs; ensuring adequate
wages; protecting workers from discrimination and unfair
labor practices; strengthening collective bargaining
agreements with public institutions; improving relations
between management and workers; working with the government
and employers to foster better labor conditions; and working
with the government to expand workers' social safety net.


7. (SBU) Union leaders offered different proposals for
improving labor conditions. CGT supports the creation of a
Labor Ministry separate from the current Ministry of Justice
and Labor focused solely on labor concerns. CUT-A supports
the creation of a Ministry of Social Security to coordinate
workers' benefits. CUT co-authored with the Paraguayan
Industrial Union a job creation proposal and submitted it for
government consideration. CPT co-authored a study of the
Paraguayan labor force with the assistance of the
Inter-American Development Bank. (NOTE: CUT's Alvarenga
stated that the government ignored the proposal. END NOTE.)


8. (SBU) Labor unions also run their own programs. CUT-A
works closely with Itaugua Ceramics S.A., an employee-owned
ceramic enterprise, to run a factory that provides jobs to
over 100 industrial workers. (NOTE: During a tour of the
Itaugua Ceramics factory in April 2009, factory workers told
EmbOffs that CUT-A was instrumental in saving the factory
from closing down in 1999 and played a key role in helping
the enterprise expand. END NOTE.) Both the CNT and CPT offer
computer training and educational opportunities to Paraguayan
workers.

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POLITICS OF LABOR
--------------


9. (SBU) President Lugo included labor leaders in his
government and increased the national minimum wage by five
percent on April 30, 2009. Although many union leaders told
EmbOffs in June that they are non-partisan and do not receive
government funding, some occupy official positions in Lugo's
government and have blurred the line between organized labor
and the government. (NOTE: Although it is officially
non-partisan, the CNT is the most favored union in the
government. Former Secretary General Eduardo Ojeda is now on
the board of directors of the Social Provision Institute
(IPS); CNT,s Castillo works for the National Institute of
the Indigenous (INDI). END NOTE.)


10. (SBU) Paraguay's union leaders expressed support for
Lugo but are skeptical that his government can improve labor
conditions. CUT's Alvarenga said that within the labor
movement, Lugo is viewed as a friend, but the government is
not. Although CUT's Alvarenga and other leaders affirmed that
Minister of Justice and Labor (MJT) Humberto Blasco has good
rapport with unions, dialogue has not been productive. CGT's
Leguizamon explained that Lugo's government's ability to
implement reform is impeded by cronyism. CNT's Castillo and
CUT's Alvarenga claimed conditions for workers have worsened
since Lugo took office, although the CNT expressed optimism
that conditions could improve in the near-term. CUT-A's Rojas
was skeptical about the government's ability to improve labor
conditions. CNT's Castillo said Lugo will not be able to
resolve two key labor issues -- social security for retiring
workers and getting child workers off the streets.


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COMMENT
--------------


11. (SBU) Although some union leaders serve in Lugo's
government and MJT Minister Blasco has maintained an open
dialogue with the unions, union leaders are increasingly
dissatisfied with the government's reform efforts. Union
leaders' support for Lugo remains strong, but unmet
expectations will likely erode the existing goodwill -- and
if they continue, Lugo will be at risk of losing their
support. END COMMENT.
Ayalde