VZCZCXRO5097
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHAB #0691 1801752
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 291752Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1514
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000691 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2016 
TAGS: ELAB PGOV IV
SUBJECT: UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS END STRIKE, SECONDARY 
TEACHERS SUSPEND THEIRS, GBAGBO PLAYS KEY ROLE 
 
REF: A. A) ABIDJAN 633 
 
     ¶B. B) ABIDJAN 688 
 
Classified By: DCM V. VALLE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Close on the heels of his success in 
resolving the impasse over the return of opposition deputies 
to the National Assembly (reftel), President Gbagbo 
reinforced his standing as a decisive leader by persuading 
striking university professors (reftels) to return to work. 
Secondary school teachers have also suspended their strike 
for two weeks after meeting with Gbagbo.  Only some primary 
school teachers in Abidjan continue to boycott classes 
although secondary teachers have threatened to go back on 
strike if their negotiations fail to yield any progress 
within two weeks.  The (perhaps only temporary) resolution of 
the strikes eliminates or at least postpones an unwelcome 
distraction for the Prime Minister and lessens the chances of 
student-led demonstrations.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Gbagbo met with leaders of the Coordination Nationale 
des Enseignants du Superieur et des Chercheurs (CNEC), the 
group of university professors that has spearheaded the 
illegal strike, on June 21.  The President offered the group 
no additional concessions beyond the modest ones previously 
offered by the Prime Minister, which allowed for extended 
retirement conditions and additional research allowances. 
Nevertheless, after CNEC members met on June 23, the 
professors decided to return to work. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The coordinator of CNEC, Professor Flavien Traore, 
told us that the organization is continuing negotiations with 
an interministerial commission and that it has not ruled out 
a resumption of the strike in the future.  CNEC has submitted 
a list of more than ten grievances, the most important of 
which calls for a salary increase.  According to Traore, the 
President and Prime Minister have told the CNEC that they 
want to address the issue of civil servant salaries globally 
rather than respond to only one group's demands while others 
are also clamoring for an increase. 
 
¶4.  (U) Professors have now resumed classes and are 
scrambling to make up for lost classes.  As each university 
faculty is autonomous, Traore said each one will decide 
whether to meet during the normal summer recess of 
August-September in order to start the new academic year on 
time in October, or whether to wait until October to resume 
classes, in which case the new school year would not begin 
until January 2007.  Other alternatives are also possible. 
For example, according to Traore, the Faculty of Medicine 
will hold classes until August 31, which will allow them to 
complete the year before going on vacation. 
 
¶5.  (U) University professors have also agreed to participate 
in the administration of Baccalaureat exams for secondary 
school graduates in July and August.  These exams are a 
prerequisite for attending university. 
 
¶6.  (U) Various unions representing secondary school teachers 
have also suspended their strike after meeting with President 
Gbagbo on June 20.  The teachers' demands have not been 
satisfied but they have agreed to allow for two more weeks of 
negotiations.  If there is no progress in that time, they 
have threatened to resume their strike.  This leaves only 
some primary school teachers still on strike, as a result of 
which a number of primary schools in Abidjan are closed.  In 
addition, private primary and secondary school owners, who 
had previously threatened to shut down their schools unless 
they were paid the subsidies the government owes them, appear 
to have been mollified for now. 
 
¶7.  (C) Comment:  The abatement in teacher strikes is good 
news and lessens the possibility of violence by disgruntled 
students and agitators fomenting unrest for political ends. 
The university professors at least, who had seized what they 
perceived to be an opportune moment to press for salary 
increases and other benefits, finally appear to have realized 
that the government was not prepared to yield to their 
demands.  No doubt they also felt pressured as well by 
unhappy students and their parents.  It is not clear at this 
point whether the secondary teachers are serious about 
resuming their strike if, as seems likely, they fail to 
obtain additional concessions from the government.   In any 
case, the return of the university professors to work and the 
at least temporary suspension of the secondary teachers' 
strike offer a welcome respite for Banny, who can ill afford 
to spend time on these relatively minor distractions. 
However, it is President Gbagbo who has been strengthened by 
his role in enticing the teachers back to work without 
offering them additional concessions. 
Hooks