VZCZCXYZ0012
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMU #0193/01 0271509
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271509Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5036
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS MANAGUA 000193 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SOCI ELAB ECON EFIN NU
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT DECLARES MEDICAL STRIKE ILLEGAL, BUT 
FSLN UNIONS THREATEN TO ESCALATE CONFLICT 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  A widespread strike of medical workers, 
led by a Sandinista (FSLN)-affiliated union, has paralyzed 
most Nicaraguan public hospitals for the last week.  On 
January 20, the Minister of Labor declared the strike 
illegal, allowing the Ministry of Health to fire striking 
union leaders.  However, the FSLN-controlled courts have 
predictably sided with the union, overruling both government 
actions.  Amid media reports of people with critical health 
problems and injuries going untreated, the United Nations 
agencies in Nicaragua issued a pronouncement reminding all 
involved in the labor dispute of their responsibilities to 
their fellow citizens.  There are also signs that the medical 
strike may be only the first in a wave of FSLN-fomented labor 
conflicts and street violence in a familiar attempt to 
pressure and discredit the GON during an election year.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
LABOR MINISTER DECLARES MEDICAL STRIKE ILLEGAL 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶2. (U) On January 20, Minister of Labor Virgilio Gurdian 
declared illegal a strike of medical workers that began in 
November with partial work stoppages, but has grown into a 
near-total shutdown of public hospitals since January 18. 
The labor minister's declaration gave striking workers 48 
hours to return to work and threatened those who refused with 
firing by the Ministry of Health (Minsa).  Gurdian stated 
that he made his decision because lives are being endangered 
by the strike and the medical workers unions involved in the 
strike have not followed all of the proper administrative 
procedures required for a legal work stoppage.  While some 
medical workers returned to their jobs after the Labor 
Ministry's announcement, most did not, and the 48-hour grace 
period expired at 3 p.m. on January 22.  Minister of Health 
Margarita Gurdian announced the first firings, of nine union 
leaders, on January 23.  The health minister reiterated that 
Minsa has accepted a 13.75-percent salary increase, but 
simply cannot fund the 70-percent pay hike the unions are 
demanding. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On January 24, Labor Minister Gurdian told poloff 
that his decision to declare the strike illegal was based on 
strong legal ground.  First, the striking medical workers had 
not complied with all the procedures mandated for a legal 
strike.  Second, the labor code specifically states that the 
Ministry of Labor can declare a strike illegal if it 
threatens to endanger lives, which the "total" work stoppage 
has done.  Finally, on a political level, Gurdian asserted 
that his declaration was a lever for the government as it 
sought to pressure strike leaders to match the pressure they 
were exerting via their complete work stoppage.  Gurdian 
noted that he had expected the Managua appeals court to side 
with the medical union and throw out his declaration (which 
it did on January 24), describing this as yet another example 
of the judiciary interfering in affairs that are the 
exclusive purview of his ministry. 
 
U.N. REPRESENTATIVES REMIND GON AND UNIONS OF THEIR 
RESPONSIBILITIES 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶4. (U) In response to widespread media reports of people with 
critical health problems going untreated because of the 
strike, on January 21, the local representatives of United 
Nations organizations in Nicaragua (UNDP, WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA) 
made the unusual move of issuing a joint public pronouncement 
calling on all involved in the labor conflict to ensure that 
no one is denied critical medical care.  The UN officials 
noted that such care is a requirement of the United Nations 
charter, UN Declaration on Human Rights, the Nicaraguan 
constitution, and numerous other Nicaraguan laws. Although 
the UN statement was careful not to take sides in the labor 
dispute and called on all parties to behave responsibly, it 
seemed directed primarily at the striking medical workers, 
and exhorted them not to neglect their duties and the human 
rights of their fellow citizens. 
 
¶5. (SBU) On January 24, UNDP Country Representative and UN 
Country Coordinator Alfredo Missair told poloff that he and 
his UN counterparts had issued the pronouncement in order to 
inject an "ethical dimension" into the labor dispute, and to 
try to provide both Minsa and the striking union a way to 
back down from extreme positions and negotiate.  It was for 
this reason that the statement had reminded both sides of 
their responsibilities and suggested ways out of the impasse. 
 Missair believes that the pronouncement has helped to nudge 
Minsa and the doctors back to the negotiating table and had 
softened their positions.  Missair added that while his 
predecessor, Jorge Chediek, had become deeply involved in 
political negotiations throughout much of 2005 intended to 
prevent the removal of the Bolanos government from office and 
restore governability, he (Missair) prefers a less political 
role for the UN agencies and has withdrawn them from the 
Nicaraguan political fray.   However, he and his counterparts 
will inject an ethical, non-partisan dimension to divisive 
issues and make their views known when appropriate, both to 
suggest solutions to problems and to promote development of a 
more democratic and responsible culture of politics and 
citizenship in Nicaragua. 
 
COURTS SIDE WITH UNION (AS USUAL) AND STRIKE GOES ON 
- - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶6. (U) In response to the U.N. statement, negative media 
reports and the actions of the labor and health ministers, 
union leaders have denied that their strike has deprived 
anyone of critical medical care.  They also immediately 
appealed the Labor Ministry's ruling and the nine firings in 
the (Sandinista-controlled) courts, continued to occupy 
public hospitals, and declared that they will disregard any 
firings ordered by Minsa.  On January 24, the Managua court 
of appeals sided with the medical workers' union on all 
issues, declaring both the Minister of Labor's ruling and the 
subsequent Minsa firings as null and void.  Both the 
Ministers of Labor and Health reluctantly accepted the 
ruling, but Margarita Gurdian claimed that it did not reverse 
the firing of the nine union leaders; she insisted that the 
court's action only blocked additional firings.  Unless 
ongoing negotiations between Minsa and the union resolve the 
labor conflict, the various legal issues and appeals will 
eventually have to be resolved by the Supreme Court. 
 
COMMENT 
- - - - 
 
¶7. (SBU) On the political level, numerous other 
Sandinista-affiliated unions are also threatening strikes and 
violence in an apparent effort to intimidate the government. 
The principal FSLN teachers union (ANDEN) is publicly 
predicting  strikes for early February and Sandinista 
transportation cooperatives are demanding fare increases, 
while several other major unions--representing agricultural 
workers, university students and additional medical 
workers--are all threatening street violence if their various 
demands are not met.  Whatever the (often dubious) substance 
of the various unions, demands, political observers are 
speculating that Daniel Ortega and the FSLN leadership are 
beginning their campaign of election-year rabble-rousing. 
Even independent Sandinista dissident/presidential candidate 
Herty Lewites has described the threatened strikes as 
politically orchestrated by Ortega.  Ortega is likely 
"responding" to President Bolanos, recent call for a 
referendum to decide the fate of the various FSLN-driven 
constitutional reforms approved by the National Assembly 
during 2005. 
TRIVELLI