DJIBOUTI: RIVAL UNION FACTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 001413 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/22 TAGS: ELAB PHUM PGOV ECON ILO DJ SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI: RIVAL UNION FACTIONS REF: 08 DJIBOUTI 743 CLASSIFIED BY: J. Swan, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Djibouti has a history of rocky government-labor relations. Despite recent modest progress on labor issues-including reported success in moving forward on long overdue collective bargaining agreements-one union has recently lodged a formal protest over the GODJ's alleged disbandment of its congress. A longstanding power struggle within the union concerned has complicated the situation. One faction, backed by the Africa Regional Organization of the International Trade Union Federation (ITUC),condemns the GODJ's alleged breakup of its congress. A second faction, however-described by the ITUC-backed faction as a GODJ-created "clone" union-claims that the meeting was unauthorized, and was therefore rightly dispersed. The ITUC-backed faction now plans to hold its union congress by the end of December, without inviting its rival faction or formally publicizing the event. In possibly forcing a union congress out of the public view and "underground," the GODJ increases the likelihood of the Credentials Committee of the International Labor Conference once again questioning how Djibouti's worker delegates are selected, and whether they really represent Djibouti's workers. END SUMMARY. -------------- -- FACTION ONE AND ITUC: GODJ BROKE UP OUR CONFERENCE -------------- -- ¶2. (SBU) Adan Mohamed Abdou, the Secretary-General of the UDT (Djiboutian Work Union),alleges that the GODJ prevented the UDT from holding a union congress in mid-October. Abdou told EmbOffs that police officers broke up an October 13 pre-congress meeting held at the People's Palace (Djibouti's main public convention center),confiscated documents and publicity banners, and briefly detained two meeting participants. Shortly after the October 13 meeting was broken up, Abdou said, the UDT learned that the GODJ had also reportedly ordered the Sheraton Hotel to cancel the union's reservation for their planned October 14-15 congress. Sheraton employees told the UDT that they could not reinstate the reservation without written authorization from the GODJ, Abdou said. The UDT applied for this authorization to the Ministry of the Interior, but received no response. Later in the day on October 13, Abdou said that police also came to UDT headquarters. ¶3. (SBU) Abdou provided EmbOffs with a copy of an October 21 letter sent to President Guelleh by ITUC-Africa Regional Organization General Secretary Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, formally protesting the GODJ's disbandment of the October 12-15 union meetings. ITUC officials were initially to have participated in the October 12-13 meetings, Abdou said. A formal UDT protest to the International Labor Organization (ILO) also appeared on the opposition website ARDHD (Association for the Respect of Human Rights in Djibouti), dated November 8. In this formal protest, the UDT alleges that a Ministry of Interior official told UDT representatives that all union activities relating to congresses or seminars are suspended. ¶4. (C) On December 21, Abdou told PolOff that the UDT was still hoping to hold a congress before the end of 2009, but had decided to hold the event "discreetly," at a UDT annex office. Abdou said that he hoped just over one-half to three-quarters of the UDT's membership would be able to attend, thus providing the required quorum for union decisions. The congress, Abdou said, would not involve any ITUC participation (although ITUC had been notified of the UDT's plans). A summary of the congress decisions would be provided both to ITUC and to the GODJ. (NOTE. Abdou simultaneously serves as Secretary-General of the opposition ARD (Republican Alliance for Democracy) party. GODJ officials have previously questioned Abdou's participation in both union and political activities, and Article 214 of Djibouti's 2006 Labor Code formally prohibits union leaders from simultaneously holding leadership roles in political parties. END NOTE). DJIBOUTI 00001413 002 OF 002 -------------- -------------- FACTION TWO: WE ASKED THE GODJ TO BREAK UP YOUR CONFERENCE -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) According to UDT President Mohamed Youssouf, the October 12-15 congress was an unauthorized event, without the support of legitimate UDT leadership. (COMMENT. Abdou and Youssouf both completely deny the other's legitimacy as a UDT leader. Abdou claims that Youssouf functions as a "clone" union leader, with GODJ support. END COMMENT). In a November 1 meeting with EmbOffs, Youssouf said that GODJ authorities had called him before breaking up the October 13 meeting, to ask if the event was officially sanctioned by the UDT. Youssouf said that after finding out that Abdou had organized an event with ITUC financing (the participants were reportedly wearing T-shirts with the ITUC logo),he ceased to see ITUC as a neutral party. Youssouf said that he prepared a communique for GODJ authorities, explaining that the October 12-15 meetings were unauthorized, and that Abdou had previously been "suspended" from his functions by a majority of union members. Although Youssouf previously told EmbOffs that the UDT would hold a congress in December-without the participation of Abdou or his supporters-no congress has yet been held or scheduled. -------------- -------------- WHO REPRESENTS DJIBOUTI'S WORKERS? -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The longstanding dispute over UDT leadership has surfaced several times in the context of how Djibouti's workers' delegates to the annual International Labor Conference (ILC) are selected. In June 2009, the Credentials Committee of the ninety-eighth ILC again raised questions about the fairness of Djibouti's selection procedures, and asked Djibouti, again, to submit a report to the Committee in the following year explaining in detail how workers' delegates are chosen. In its report, the Credentials Committee noted, inter alia, that "The Committee finds that the existence of the UDT led by Mr. Mohamed Abdou as part of the trade union movement in Djibouti is a fact." In a September meeting, Labor Ministry Secretary-General Ali Yacoub Mahamoud had told PolOff that all of Djibouti's unions were planning to hold leadership elections by the end of 2009. If necessary, the GODJ would be willing to provide logistical support for such elections, Mahamoud had noted, as the election turnouts could help show more definitively which organizations are most representative of Djiboutian workers, and thus respond to ILC Credentials Committee concerns. -------------- -------------- DIFFERENT SIDES OF THE STORY; BUT NO REAL WINNERS -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) COMMENT. While rival factions continue to contest UDT leadership, both ITUC-Africa and the ILO Credentials Committee have consistently backed Abdou's camp. Leadership squabbles notwithstanding, splintered or disrupted union congresses are in nobody's interest, since they perpetuate rather than settle rival claims of who represents Djiboutian workers, and leave the GODJ, again, to face questioning from the ILC Credentials Committee. Especially in light of signals from the Ministry of Labor that the GODJ was eager to see union congresses take place, it is troubling that the GODJ effectively prevented one faction from holding an open and public congress. The GODJ may have been spooked by the presence of an opposition politician in the union leadership or by reports of external financing-or may have simply been encouraged to react by the rival union faction. Post will continue to monitor this situation closely. END COMMENT. SWAN