VZCZCXRO8545
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHRY #0310 1531553
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021553Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3716
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

UNCLAS CONAKRY 000310 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PREL ASEC GV
SUBJECT: CONTINUED RUMBLINGS OF DISCONTENT AMONG UNIONISTS 
 
REF: A. CONAKRY 0292 
     ¶B. CONAKRY 0300 
 
¶1.  (SBU) According to labor union contacts, certain sectors 
of Guinean workers are increasingly unhappy with the CNDD's 
failure to address recurrent issues.  Taxi drivers banded 
together in a one-day strike last week, which was condoned by 
the transportation union even though it was illegal and had 
not been organized by the union (reftels).  The strike was 
called off when CNDD President Moussa Dadis Camara intervened 
and immediately reduced the annual road tax and relaxed 
recently ordered safety standards.  However, sources report 
that the taxi drivers are still not happy with the 
arrangement.  They reportedly plan to meet with Dadis at 1500 
on June 2 to further discuss their demands. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In the meantime, Guinea's teachers and health 
workers are likewise raising their voices.  Dadis met with 
the health workers union on June 1 to discuss that sector's 
grievances.  The discussion seems to have focused on contract 
workers who claimed that they have been working in public 
hospitals for more than ten years, but have not been 
officially hired by the GoG.  Dadis reportedly promised that 
the CNDD would look into the matter and find a solution. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Dadis had also planned to meet with the teachers' 
union, but then postponed the meeting at the last minute. 
Undaunted, union leaders met at the union headquarters and 
reportedly agreed to issue a pre-notification of intent to 
strike on June 10 if the CNDD fails to satisfy their demands. 
   The union's principal demand is that the GoG distribute 
long-promised allowances, especially to rural teachers.  The 
union claims that a $10 million World Bank grant given to the 
GoG in December of 2008 for this purpose did not make it into 
the pockets of the intended recipients. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶4.  (SBU) Dadis' prompt "settlement" of the taxi driver 
strike last week will likely encourage similar demands from 
other sectors.  As we saw in 2008, the May military mutiny 
led to the independent teachers' and police strikes in June, 
and then to the health workers' strike in October.  The 
teachers in particular have a record for choosing to launch 
labor strikes in June due to the timing of national exams. 
Last year's teacher strike caused the exams to be delayed by 
more than a week.  In the past, the GoG has offered a token 
financial incentive, such as payment of allowances or a tax 
break, along with plenty of eventually unfulfilled promises 
for additional compensatory measures.  Dadis is inheriting 
endemic labor problems and largely dealing with them on an ad 
hoc short-term basis, as they have been dealt with in the 
past.  As the CNDD's honeymoon period wanes and people 
realize that little has changed, these types of demands, and 
the civil unrest/violence that frequently accompany them, may 
increase.  END COMMENT. 
RASPOLIC