VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSN #2051/01 2301824
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181824Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3481
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 002051 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ES ETRD PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR:  PROGRESS WITH LABOR MINISTRY IN KEY 
CASES 
 
¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY:  In the span of less than a month, El 
Salvador's Ministry of Labor has made moves to establish the 
official status of the airport maintenance workers union 
(SITEVMAIES) and the telecommunications workers union 
(SITCOM).  The former case had proven controversial and 
attracted international attention, while the latter had 
languished in a state of limbo for three and a half years. 
The resolution of the cases demonstrates an atmosphere of 
greater openness and flexibility on the part of Minister 
Espinal compared to his predecessor, although Embassy 
pressure and independent legal decisions have often proved 
useful in breaking bureaucratic logjams and getting the 
Ministry to "do the right thing".  El Salvador also stands 
poised to ratify ILO Conventions 87 and 98; further 
developments relating to ratification will be reported 
septel.  END SUMMARY. 
 
BACKGROUND:  AIRPORT MAINTENANCE WORKERS UNION 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Fifty-one Comalapa International Airport 
maintenance workers representing 15 companies met May 13 to 
form a union, and on May 17 submitted their petition for 
union status to the Ministry of Labor.  The Ministry on May 
23 requested additional information regarding the workers' 
job responsibilities and the companies for which they worked; 
this information was duly provided the same week.  On June 9, 
the Ministry denied the union's legal status ("personeria 
juridica") on the basis of several legal technicalities, 
including the requirement that every company with workers 
belonging to a union have at least 2--but no more than 
25--workers represented; the Ministry also found that several 
of the workers' employers weren't properly-registered and 
incorporated companies.  On June 12, the workers filed an 
appeal asking that the Ministry review its decision.  The 
case attracted attention internationally, including that of 
the AFL-CIO. 
 
¶3. (U)  Labatt and Political Section FSN reviewed the 
Ministry's decision, and concluded that it resulted from an 
improper interpretation of Commercial Code Article 554 and 
Labor Code Article 209.  Labatt met with Minister Espinal 
June 29 to discuss the SITEVMAIES case; Espinal outlined that 
the Ministry's refusal of the union's status had occurred 
while he was away at ILO meetings in Geneva, but that now 
that he had returned, he would personally review the facts of 
the case.  At the meeting's close, labatt asked whether the 
Minister would be open to the idea of our preparing a 
chronological summary of the key facts of the case, annotated 
with our understanding of what would be the relevant points 
that would be applicable under Salvadoran law.  The Minister 
readily agreed to the idea, and the Embassy submitted such a 
summary to Minister Espinal on July 14 (although the Minister 
himself did not review this document until the following 
Monday, July 17).  A week later on July 24, the Ministry 
reversed itself and granted the union's legal status. 
 
BACKGROUND:  TELECOMMUNICATIONS WORKERS UNION 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U)  In March 2003, a group of telecommunications workers 
met to form a union (SITCOM), and submitted its petition for 
legal status to the Ministry of Labor.  In May 2003, 
then-Minister Nieto denied the union's petition, asserting 
that radio station workers were not part of the 
telecommunications industry, that at least two of the 
petitioning workers were actually management (and therefore 
ineligible for membership), and that without the disqualified 
workers, the union lacked the legally-mandated minimum of 35 
workers.  In June, SITCOM appealed the Ministry's decision to 
the Administative Dispute Chamber of the Supreme Court. 
During 2003, SITCOM President Angel Moreno was discharged 
from his job, SITCOM Secretary Jose Ayala was locked out of 
the workplace, and five SITCOM-affiliated workers were 
demoted to lower-level positions.  Labatt met with union 
officers on numerous occasions to discuss the status of the 
case. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  In March 2004 the Supreme Court asked the Ministry 
of Labor to submit documents outlining the basis on which the 
Ministry had denied the union's status.  On July 29, 2006, 
the Supreme Court's Administrative Dispute Chamber rejected 
the Labor Ministry's 2003 findings, but requested that SITCOM 
members resubmit documents and employment records as evidence 
in support of their petition to form a union.  Following the 
Supreme Court's decision, the Ministry has moved quickly to 
review the union's documentation, and Minister Espinal 
personally assured labatt August 18 that, judging from his 
preliminary reexamination of the case, the Ministry would 
almost certainly reverse his predecessor's decision, and 
 
SITCOM's official registration would be in order very soon. 
 
 
¶6. (SBU)  COMMENT:  These developments regarding SITEVMAIES 
and SITCOM are especially encouraging when viewed together 
with the Ministry's granting of union status to Acajutla port 
workers (STIPES) last July, and the Saca administration's 
willingness to undertake the legal reforms necessary for 
ratification of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 regarding freedom 
of association and the right to collective bargaining. 
Although the contrast between Minister Espinal and his 
predecessor is striking, it is nonetheless apparent that 
unionization in certain business sectors sometimes pits the 
Minister against influential private-sector backers of the 
ruling ARENA party.  It is likely that Espinal's 
ever-welcoming attitude toward Embassy intervention in such 
cases is due to the leverage--and cover--it provides him 
within the Saca administration.  END COMMENT. 
Barclay