VZCZCXRO7133
RR RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR
DE RUEHOR #0623/01 1281335
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081335Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY GABORONE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3187
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RHMFIUU/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0302

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GABORONE 000623 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR MUNCY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PHUM BC
SUBJECT: INFIGHTING, LACK OF CAPACITY HOBBLES BOTSWANA LABOR 
MOVEMENT 
 
REF: (A)  05 GABORONE 1605 (B)  04 GABORONE 1607 
 
¶1.  Summary:  The majority of trade unions represented at 
May Day celebrations in Gaborone have dismissed their 
umbrella body, the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions 
(BFTU), as worthless.  Unionists accused the government and 
employers of destabilizing their organizations by 
instigating factional infighting.  Government officials 
responded, warning unions not to become involved in 
politics.  Meanwhile, public workers' associations are 
slowly taking advantage of new labor laws allowing them to 
register as trade unions.  Despite recent labor law reforms, 
Botswana's labor movement remains a weak advocate for 
workers' rights.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
BOTSWANA FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS IN TROUBLE 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2.  Botswana's largest trade union, the National Amalgamated 
Local and Central Government and Parastatal Manual Workers 
Union hosted May Day celebrations in Gaborone attended by 
roughly 500 workers.  Dissatisfaction with the Botswana 
Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) emerged as a key theme 
during the day's deliberations.  Representatives from 
various unions and workers' associations proclaimed the BFTU 
"hopeless" and "as good as dead".  Pelotshweu Baeng, 
President of the Botswana Unified Local Government Service 
Association (BULGASA), complained that the BFTU had failed 
to assist public sector workers' associations to register as 
trade unions, forcing BULGASA to send delegations to consult 
with unions in South Africa.  The General Secretary of the 
Manual Workers Union rhetorically asked Minister of Labor 
and Home Affairs Moeng Pheto why the GOB continues to engage 
the BFTU when it no longer represents them, implying that 
the government prefers to have an ineffective body as the 
official representative of the labor movement. 
 
¶3.  BFTU's Acting General Secretary Patrick Chengeta later 
expressed to Emboffs his dismay over this criticism.   He 
explained that the Manual Workers Union and seven other 
unions were currently suspended from the Federation for 
failure to pay monthly dues for three consecutive months, in 
accordance with the BFTU constitution.  He insisted that the 
BFTU was willing and able to provide assistance to 
associations to register as unions but claimed that none had 
sought its help.  This inaction, he said, reflects a 
lackadaisical approach that is a major impediment to the 
labor movement.  The Federation's primary problem, he said, 
is lack of resources.  If members refuse to pay their dues, 
the organization cannot afford full-time professional staff, 
and therefore will not have the capacity to aggressively 
defend and promote the rights and interests of workers. 
 
¶4.  A subsequent conversation with Assistant Commissioner of 
Labor Ms. Sissy Seemule confirmed that the Government does 
work with the BFTU as the representative of labor in 
domestic tripartite structures and takes BFTU 
representatives with it to international labor events, such 
as the annual ILO conference in Geneva.   If some unions 
were to establish a rival umbrella body, as some had 
suggested, Ms. Seemule would have to make a recommendation 
to the Commissioner of Labor on which body was the most 
representative of the labor movement.  The Department of 
Labor would have to change its regulations, but not any 
laws, in order to replace the BFTU with another umbrella 
organization as the official representative of labor in 
tripartite structures. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
WORKERS CRITICIZE GOVERNMENT LABOR & ECONOMIC POLICIES 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶5.  Condemnation of the GOB's labor and economic policies 
constituted the primary content of May Day speeches in 
Gaborone.  The National Chairperson of the Manual Workers 
Union accused Minister of Local Government Margaret Nasha 
and Minister of Education Jacob Nkate of fomenting 
factionalism within his organization in order to weaken it 
(REF A).  This resulted in the creation of a rival union, 
the Botswana Government Workers Union (BGWU), which will 
compete to represent the same employees and which, he 
suggested, will provide the Government with an opportunity 
to play workers off against each other.  He similarly 
accused Debswana of interfering in the Botswana Mine Workers 
Union in an effort to install pliable persons in the union's 
leadership (see para 10).  According to Eric Ditau, of the 
 
GABORONE 00000623  002 OF 003 
 
 
Botswana Federation of Secondary School Teachers, the 
Department of Labor had fasttracked the registration of the 
BGWU but had unnecessarily prolonged the registration of 
other associations as unions, implying preferential 
treatment for organizations seen to be allied with the 
government. 
 
¶6.  Union representatives also criticized economic policies, 
including privatization and devaluation of the Pula.  Simon 
Kgaoganang, Secretary General of the Manual Workers Union, 
denounced privatization as a threat to job security and the 
strength of unions in Botswana.  The June 2005 devaluation 
of the Pula had depressed the real incomes of workers, he 
said, and triggered escalating inflation.  The government's 
decision to adjust the salaries of civil servants by 8% 
across the board only reinforced the extreme income 
inequality in the country. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
GOVERNMENT WARNS UNIONS TO STAY OUT OF POLITICS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶7.  Minister of Labor and Home Affairs Moeng Pheto countered 
the unionists' complaints observing that the government has 
recently ratified and implemented ILO conventions to respect 
the rights of workers and abides by the principles of 
tripartism.  Pheto complained that unions have failed to 
educate their members about labor laws, resulting in 
confusion and failure to fully take advantage of their 
rights.  Despite clear ILO principles enshrining the right 
of unions to participate in politics, Minister Pheto advised 
unionists against electing representatives who have 
political motives.  Speaking at a May Day event in 
Mahalapye, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mompati Merafhe put 
his admonition in stark terms.  He reportedly stated that 
the government suspected trade unions of supporting the 
opposition parties and advised workers to "remove politics 
from trade unions and we will cooperate with you," implying 
that the government might not cooperate with the unions 
otherwise. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
GOVERNMENT WORKERS SLOW TO REGISTER AS UNIONS 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  Assistant Commissioner of Labor Seemule insisted to 
Emboffs that the Department of Labor works with unions 
consistently and fairly.  Contrary to unionists' accusations 
of unreasonable delays, Seemule stated that most public 
workers associations have not even begun the process of 
registering as trade unions.  Barring any serious 
objections, BOFESETE will become the first association to 
successfully register as a union by the end of May.  The 
Botswana Teachers Union, she said, is the only other 
association that has made significant progress toward 
registering as a union. 
 
¶9.  The Botswana Civil Service Association (BCSA) Deputy 
General Secretary says his association, potentially one of 
the largest and wealthiest unions in Botswana, is on course 
to register as a union.  Currently, the BCSA is working on 
union by-laws, which must be submitted with a constitution 
when the Association applies to register as a union.  They 
expect to complete the registration process by the end of 
August. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
COURT SETTLES BOTSWANA MINE WORKERS UNION DISPUTE 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶10.  The High Court has finally delivered judgment between 
two factions of the Botswana Mine Workers Union, settling a 
dispute that stretches back to 2004 (Ref A). Soon after the 
election of a new National Executive Committee (NEC) in 
September of that year, the old NEC refused to hand over 
their office.  It called the new NEC illegitimate because 
some of its members had been fired by Debswana following an 
August 2004 strike (Ref B) despite the fact that legislative 
amendments had eliminated the requirement that union 
officers work in full-time in the relevant industry. Since 
that date, the old NEC also kept all subscriptions from the 
new NEC making it impossible for it to operate without 
funds.  BMWU members accused the management of propping up 
the old NEC and using it to weaken the union. 
 
¶11.  In the High Court judgment, Justice Gaongalelwe ordered 
the old NEC to hand over all properties and assets as well 
 
GABORONE 00000623  003 OF 003 
 
 
as documentation to the new NEC.  The old NEC was instructed 
to provide full accountability to the new Committee of how 
subscriptions received since July 2005 were used.  The court 
also ordered the old NEC to pay all legal costs in the 
dispute.  If they fail to abide by the terms of the 
judgment, members of the old NEC are liable to imprisonment 
for six months.  The old NEC failed at the High Court on May 
2 in their application for a stay of execution of the court 
order while they appealed the judgment. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶12.  The labor movement in Botswana remains weak after 
decades of excessive restrictions by the government.  Due in 
part to the absence of a history of struggle for 
independence and in part to the ruling Botswana Democratic 
Party's declared distrust of unions, Botswana workers are 
not as well organized or militant as their neighbors.  Given 
that the government is by far the largest employer in 
Botswana, however, the opening of union membership to public 
employees could significantly empower Botswana's labor 
movement through an infusion of well educated, well paid, 
and articulate civil servants.  Mission has encouraged the 
Solidarity Center to increase its assistance to Botswana's 
labor unions during this critical transition period and will 
continue to use its own resources to promote respect for 
workers rights in Botswana. 
CANAVAN