VZCZCXYZ0010
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSN #2142/01 2432059
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 312059Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3607
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 3594
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0421
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 002142 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EIND ELAB ES ETRD PGOV PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR:  LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY RATIFIES ILO 
CONVENTIONS 
 
REF: SAN SALVADOR 1742 
 
¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY:  El Salvador's Legislative Assembly on 
August 24 voted unanimously to ratify International Labor 
Organization (ILO) Conventions 87 and 98 regarding freedom of 
association and the right to organize and bargain 
collectively, as well as Conventions 135 and 151 dealing with 
protection of workers' representatives and public service 
employees' right to organize, respectively.  Passage of the 
conventions follows years of debate regarding language in El 
Salvador's Constitution that appears to bar unionization 
among public-sector workers. The likely upcoming loss of 
European Union trade benefits was ultimately the driving 
force behind ratification.  The Saca administration, like its 
predecessor, already has extensive experience in dealing with 
highly-politicized and often-intransigent associations 
representing public workers.  It remains to be seen whether 
their unionizations will pose new challenges to governability 
in the leadup to the 2009 elections.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U)  In approving the ILO conventions, the ruling 
center-right Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party 
and their National Conciliation Party (PCN) allies were 
joined by the hard-left opposition Farabundo Marti National 
Liberation Front (FMLN) deputies and eight deputies from 
smaller center-left parties.  The unanimous approval of the 
conventions marked a rare show of cooperation and consensus 
in an Assembly normally characterized by a sharply polarized 
atmosphere.  However, the ratifications entailed amendments 
to Articles 47 and 48 of El Salvador's Constitution; the 
former had contained language that appeared to proscribe 
unionization among public sector workers, while the latter 
was amended to restrict strikes affecting essential public 
services.  Only ARENA, PCN, and the center-left Christian 
Democratic Party (PDC) voted in favor of the constitutional 
amendments.  (Note:  Under Article 248 of the Salvadoran 
Constitution, amendments to the Constitution require initial 
approval by only a simple majority, but must then be 
reapproved in the succeeding Assembly by a two-thirds 
majority.  End note.)  Notwithstanding uncertainty regarding 
future reapproval by a two-thirds majority in the Assembly to 
be elected in 2009, the conventions will enter into force 
immediately. 
 
¶3. (U)  Ratification of Conventions 87 and 98 was strongly 
opposed by the National Private Enterprise Association 
(ANEP), the Salvadoran Apparel Industry Association (ASIC), 
conservative leading daily El Diario de Hoy, and other 
influential actors.  The ultimate impetus behind Salvadoran 
ratification was pressure from the European Union, which had 
conditioned continued duty-free Generalized System of 
Preferences (GSP-Plus) importation of Salvadoran products 
into Europe on ratification of Conventions 87 and 98 before 
the end of 2006.  Anticipating that the country might not 
achieve such ratification, Spanish tuna processor Calvo in 
June laid off 600 tuna cannery workers (some 40 percent of 
their entire Salvadoran workforce).  This action received 
widespread attention in government and private sector 
circles, and in the media (see reftel).  In a lengthy June 28 
interview by leading daily La Prensa Grafica, Calvo Group 
General Manager Ramon Calvo outlined his view that in the 
absence of GSP benefits exempting Salvadoran tuna from 20.5 
percent duties, tuna originating from El Salvador would no 
longer be competitively priced in the European marketplace. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  COMMENT:  This and previous ARENA administrations 
had long feared official unionization of public-sector 
workers associations, because many such groups are widely 
acknowledged to be under the sway of hardliners in the 
opposition Farbundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). 
By way of example, the public healthcare workers' association 
STISSS began a strike in November 1999, ostensibly in protest 
of alleged government plans to privatize public healthcare, 
in which they were later joined by government-employed 
doctors.  The strike lasted until June 203 and paralyzed 
healthcare at many public clinic.  The government has 
already weathered the chalenging consequences associated 
with negotiating with what are already in effect 
public-sector unions.  By ratifying Conventions 87 and 98, 
they will now also reap the benefits thereof.  With 
nationwide presidential, legislative, and municipal elections 
less than three years away, the Saca administration will 
likely watch with great interest to see whether the 
opposition FMLN uses ratification of 87 and 98 to expand its 
influence among public sector workers by moving to unionize 
 
key government sectors. 
Barclay