VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #0788/01 2301600
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181600Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7941

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000788 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/EPSC, DRL/ILCSR 
DOL FOR PCHURCH 
DEPT PLS PASS TO USTR FOR LAURA BUFFO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KJUS KDEM PHUM PGOV ECON GT
SUBJECT: UNCHARTED TERRITORY: USG DELEGATION TO GUATEMALA 
AND THE CAFTA-DR LABOR COMPLAINT 
 
REF: GUATEMALA 647 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: During the week of July 29, a USG delegation 
visited Guatemala to discuss next steps for the CAFTA-DR 
labor complaint.  The purpose of the visit was three-fold: to 
verify the achievements made to date in the five cases; to 
discuss the issues still outstanding in each of the cases; 
and to begin the development of a long-term workplan the GOG 
can use to address the systemic issues evident n the 
complaint.  The delegation, composed of thee officials from 
the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), 
one official from the Department of Labor (DOL), and one from 
State, as well as Embassy officers, met with representatives 
from the business, labor, and government sectors.  The 
meetings provided insight on the current situation in the 
country and allowed the USG representatives to address 
directly each of the sectors involved.  As a result of the 
meetings, the GOG agreed to continue to address the 
short-term issues specific to each case and to formulate a 
long-term workplan, a draft of which is to be to DOL by 
August 28th.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------- 
The Business Sector 
------------------- 
 
¶2.  Meetings with AmCham; the Coordinating Committee of 
Agriculture, Commercial, Industrial, and Finance Associations 
(CACIF); and the Commission of the Clothing and Textiles 
Industry (VESTEX) revealed that the business sector does not 
believe that strengthening the labor sector is a priority for 
them.  However, members of all three organizations did 
express their support for national law and insisted they 
encourage all of their members to comply with labor laws, 
including allowing labor and other inspectors to enter places 
of business.  Nevertheless, during the meeting with AmCham, 
the Executive Director discounted the International Trade 
Union Confederation's 2009 Annual Survey of Violations of 
Trade Union Rights that listed Guatemala as the second most 
dangerous country in the hemisphere for trade unionists.  She 
and the labor committee with whom the delegation met cited 
statistics from the Ministry of Labor on the increase in the 
approval of unions and used them as evidence of the GOG's 
support for labor.  The Labor Committee blamed many of the 
problems between the business and labor sector on the justice 
system, stating that corruption and slow case-processing 
embitters petitioners, and that the system needs a 
significant overhaul.  They claimed that many labor courts 
are overly sympathetic to the workers and make it difficult 
for the employers to make their case.  The committee also 
decried the labor inspectorate, saying the training of 
inspectors was inadequate and that many inspectors did not 
understand how businesses work.  AmCham expressed interest in 
being part of future inspector trainings, volunteering to 
train inspectors in corporate vision. 
 
¶3.  The managers at VESTEX were equally defensive, reminding 
the delegation it was not the responsibility of VESTEX to 
create or promote unions in the maquilas.  The meeting with 
CACIF was the least defensive. One of the members of the 
labor committee suggested two legislative proposals on which 
CACIF would like to work with the labor sector, and jointly 
seek congressional passage.  However, another member of CACIF 
commented that he felt the USG was punishing the entire 
private sector for a few cases of non-compliance. 
 
¶4.  In each of the private sector meetings, the delegation 
reinforced the purpose of the visit was to encourage 
Qreinforced the purpose of the visit was to encourage 
compliance with the commitments made by Guatemala under the 
CAFTA-DR, including enforcement of national law, and asked 
for continued support from the sector for systemic change. 
The delegation expressed its hope that there will not be 
another labor complaint from Guatemala. 
 
---------------- 
The Labor Sector 
---------------- 
 
¶5.  The delegation's meeting with FESTRAS, the Federation of 
Food Workers and Similar Professions, provided a look into 
the lives of the workers in the Avandia, Fribo/Modas Dae 
Hang, and INPROCSA cases.  Many of the workers reinstated at 
Avandia and Modas Dae Hang attended the meeting and shared 
with the delegation what they had experienced since 
reinstatement.  Their stories ranged from the positive (e.g., 
the workers at Avandia have received two of the four back-pay 
payments and are on track to receive the third in a few 
 
weeks), to the not so encouraging (e.g., the human resources 
manager at Avandia has encouraged the other workers to lock 
the reinstated workers in a room, pour gasoline on them, and 
light them on fire).  Common complaints from the workers 
include lack of access to the social security health care 
system, forced isolation from the rest of the workforce, 
unsanitary conditions in the restrooms and cafeteria, and the 
lack of follow-up from the inspectors.  The workers from 
INPROCSA have yet to be reinstated. 
 
¶6.  When asked for suggestions to address long-term, systemic 
changes, Rafael Sanchez, part of FESTRAS' legal team, 
emphasized it is important not to change the law but to 
develop and implement it.  He also told the delegation that 
the stories of the workers at Avandia and Modas Dae Hang are 
not unique to those two maquilas but are indicative of the 
treatment of workers in the majority of maquilas in the 
country. 
 
¶7.  The delegation also met with leaders from four of the 
major union collectives: the General Central of Guatemalan 
Workers (CGTG), the Confederation of Unions of Guatemala 
(CUSG), Syndicate Union of Guatemalan Workers (UNSITRAGUA) 
and the Guatemalan Movement of Unions, Indigenous, and 
Peasant Farmers (MSICG).  The union leaders expressed their 
frustration with the government, stating they believed the 
GOG was supporting only the unions that were politically 
aligned with the current administration and was denying the 
challenges facing labor law enforcement in the country.  In 
addition, pressure from the private sector to avoid workplace 
inspections has created a frustrating atmosphere for the 
union. 
 
¶8.  Throughout the conversation, the workers reminded the 
delegation that they had opposed CAFTA-DR from the beginning 
and wanted the USG to renegotiate it. 
 
--------------------- 
The Government Sector 
--------------------- 
 
¶9.  Vice Minister of Labor Mario Roberto Illescas was very 
responsive.  He told the delegation that he believed he had 
complied with the four points USTR General Counsel Tim Rife 
had asked him to follow up on during the meeting they had in 
Washington in early July.  He, nevertheless, volunteered to 
submit a draft of a long-term workplan to the Department of 
Labor within 15 days of the delegation's visit.  He told the 
delegation he would ask the MFA to convene the 
Multi-Institutional Committee on Labor to work on the draft, 
ensuring buy-in from the ministries that participate.  He 
updated the delegation on each of the cases, providing dates 
of inspections and collecting the documents that reflect the 
inspectors' comments.  He also volunteered that he feels the 
Ministry is close to a break-through in the INPROCSA case. 
He said it would be a few weeks until he knew more.  The Vice 
Minister also promised to follow up on reports that the 
reinstated workers at Avandia and Modas Dae Hang are being 
harassed, as well as the agreement the Ministry has with IGSS 
(the Social Security Institute). 
 
¶10.  Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lars Pira told the 
delegation the MFA acted as a kind of moderator in the 
multi-institutional process  and he was willing to support 
the development of a workplan as much as possible.  He said 
the MFA regularly meets and has good relations with many 
civil society actors.  However, he said labor union 
representatives had repeatedly refused to meet.  When pressed 
to elaborate, the Vice Minister declined, saying he did not 
want to get into the reasons for that. 
Qwant to get into the reasons for that. 
 
¶11.  In the meeting with the Ministry of Government's Vice 
Minister for Justice Donald Gonzalez, the delegation asked 
about the lack of arrest warrants in the Marco Tulio Ramirez 
case and the outstanding arrest warrant in the Pedro Zamora 
case.  In response, the Vice Minister shared with the 
delegation that, when it came to criminal cases, one of the 
biggest issues needing clarification was who has the 
responsibility for criminal investigations.  As it stands, 
once a crime has been committed, the National Civil Police 
(PNC) arrives to the crime scene and is to cordon it off. 
The Public Ministry is then to arrive to collect evidence. 
Once they have finished their report, they are to turn the 
case over to the judicial branch, which then issues arrest 
warrants.  The Vice Minister said it could take 2-3 months to 
issue an arrest warrant in any given case.  He did not 
address the two specific cases beyond saying he is working on 
 
them. 
 
¶12.  Minister of Economy Ruben Morales, Vice Minister of 
Economy David Cristiani, and Vice Minister of Labor Illescas 
met with the delegation jointly.  Minister Morales assured 
the delegation the GOG is in favor of CAFTA-DR and wants to 
continue the close relationship it has with the US.  He told 
the delegation he has been working with the Ministry of Labor 
to upgrade the MOL's laws and was more than willing to help 
with a long-term workplan.  During the meeting the minister 
confirmed that tax benefits for Fribo/Modas Dae Hang had been 
canceled since 2005, and he promised to look into whether 
INPROCSA was currently receiving tax benefits. 
 
¶13.  Supreme Court Magistrate Luis Fernandez Molina provided 
the delegation with the view of the labor situation from the 
judicial perspective.  He said that businesses are hostile to 
unions.  He attributed this to the common perception that 
unions seek to destroy business.  Fernandez also clarified 
the 24-hour regulation on reinstatement listed in the labor 
code.  He volunteered that although the regulation exists, 
many judges do not use it due to employer disgruntlement with 
the regulation.  Some employers have reported that workers 
abuse the process to seek reinstatement for people who were 
never employed in the first place.  Therefore, many employers 
are skeptical of reinstatement orders and frequently need 
more than 24 hours to verify that everyone on the 
reinstatement list actually worked at the business. 
 
¶14.  COMMENT: This visit allowed the delegation to gain 
insight from each of the sectors involved in the labor 
complaint and to see first-hand how the three sectors 
involved in the complaint seem to talk past each other. 
Different actors involved understand the seriousness of the 
complaint to different degrees.  The private sector remains 
dismissive of the complaint.  GOG attitudes reflected a 
feeling of substantial accomplishment to date and deferential 
compliance with USG requests.  While it is true the GOG has 
made significant steps in several of the cases, there is 
still much work to be done.  In none of the cases have all 
recommendations been implemented.  Nevertheless, the 
reinstatement of the workers at the Avandia and Modas Dae 
Hang factories is a significant step.  The workplan the GOG 
proposes to formulate will hopefully provide a tool with 
which it can begin to address systemic issues and track 
progress. 
 
McFarland