HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF: FSLN LABOR MOVEMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAGUA 000835 SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CEN KRAAIMOORE DEPT FOR DRL MAGGIO, MITTLEHAUSER DEPT FOR INL/IAA ARCHUBTA STATE PASS USAID STATE FOR USOAS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2019 TAGS: ELAB ECON PHUM NU SUBJECT: HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF: FSLN LABOR MOVEMENT BROKEN? REF: A. MANAGUA 828 (NICARAGUAN LABOR UNIVERSE) ¶B. MANAGUA 524 (FTZ LABOR AGREEMENT) ¶C. 2008 MANAGUA 1213 (MINIMUM SALARY AGREEMENT) Classified By: Ambassador Robert J. Callahan for reasons 1.4 (b & d) 1 (C) SUMMARY. The simmering fight for influence within the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) party between its largest unions - the Frente Nacional de Trabajadores (FNT) and the Central Sandinista de Trabajadores (CST) - has spilled onto the front page. The largest FSLN union, the FNT, has taken a confrontational stance against business, while the two smaller unions appear more interested in finding arrangements with employers to preserve jobs. The FNT, however, seems to enjoy the support of Daniel Ortega and his wife, for whom it is an element of their strategy to control the party and the country. END SUMMARY. -------------- OPEN BATTLE BETWEEN FNT & CST -------------- ¶2. (C) The behind the scenes power struggle between the FNT and CST (see reftel A) has recently made headlines. On July 26, the CST Workers Congress publicly denounced campaign led by FNT leader Gustavo Porras and Managua mayor's office secretary Fidel Moreno against CST union members, to entice them to abandon the CST and join the Union Nacional de Empleados (UNE) a FNT-affiliated public employee union. (COMMENT: Both Fidel Moreno and Gustavo Porras are closely allied with Rosario Murrillo, Daniel Ortega's wife and political partner. END COMMENT) -------------- PRO-BUSINESS OR PRO-LABOR? -------------- ¶3. (SBU) As reported previously (see reftel B),two large labor unions (Congreso Permanente de Trabajadores (CPT) and Confederacion Sandinista de Trabajadores Jose Benito Escobar (CST-JBE) affiliated unions in the Free Trade Zones (FTZs)) signed a two-year minimum wage agreement with the goal of preserving employment in lieu of demanding higher wages. The agreement is generally believed to be more "pro-business" than "pro-labor" by many prominent labor leaders. Similarly, on May 30, three large labor confederations - Central Sandinista de Trabajadores (CST),Confederacion Unidad Sindical (CUS),Confederacion Unidad Sindical Autonomo (CUSA) - publically backed Carlos Pellas, president of the Pellas Group, Nicaragua's largest sugar and rum producer, against a campaign led by the International Union of Food Workers (IUF) to boycott Nicaragua's famed Flor de Cana rum. IUF officials accused the Pellas Group of poisoning former workers at the Pellas sugar plantations, who have allegedly died from chronic renal insufficiency (CRI) in recent years. CST, CUS and CUSA also signed an accord with the Pellas Group to guarantee employment for more than 7,000 workers. FNT President Porras strongly condemned the three unions, in particular the CST, for supporting the Pellas Group instead of helping fellow workers and their families advance claims against the sugar company. -------------- -------------- DESPITE RHETORIC FSLN RELUCANT TO CALL WORKERS, CONGRESS -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) When the FSLN returned to power, many labor leaders thought that the GON would form a new national congress of labor to champion workers' rights and match FSLN campaign rhetoric. Instead, the GON has been reluctant to call for a Workers, Congress. Our labor contacts believe that the FSLN is afraid that by calling a national Workers, Congress they would lose control over the weak labor movement (see reftel A). In July, CST President Gonzales proposed holding a national labor forum on production, employment and social justice. Gonzales indicated that he was willing to negotiate any theme, including revising the minimum wage review to once a year (see reftel B),something the FNT, Porras and Murrillo vehemently oppose. -------------- DADDY INTERVENES? -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The rancorous verbal battle primarily between Gonzales and Porras finally convinced President Ortega to meet with Gonzales in August. During the meeting, Ortega promised Gonzales that he would use his "good offices" to improve the treatment of the CST workers. On August 14, El Nuevo Diario (national newspaper, 35,000 daily readership, center-left) reported that there are positive signals that Fidel Moreno would also meet with Gonzales to end the conflict. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) The political infighting between the FSLN-affiliated unions has only served to compound the plight of Nicaraguan's organized workers. In a country where union affiliation has increasingly become a political tool rather than a vehicle for defending the rights of all workers, the FSLN is clearly trying to eliminate competing worker allegiance, so that only FSLN, and in particular, FNT-affiliated unions, have any "real" power or voice in the social justice dialogue. Within the FSLN-affiliated unions, it appears that the FNT, and its leader Gustavo Porras, which consistently provide street-level "muscle" to support the party's intimidation tactics against opposition political parties and civil society, is likely to be the favorite of Ortega and Murrillo, despite some efforts at reconciliation with the other unions. CALLAHAN