VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #3537/01 3481745
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141745Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1576
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS BOGOTA 003537 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
USTR FOR EISSENSTAT AND HARMAN 
DOL FOR ZOLLNER AND QUINTANA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EAID ETRD PGOV PHUM PREL USTR LAB CO
SUBJECT: JUDICIAL SECTOR WORKERS BARRED FROM STRIKING 
 
REF: BOGOTA 1751 
 
SUMMARY 
 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) On November 11 the Colombian Supreme Court ruled that a 
2008 strike by 38,000 members of the National Association of 
Judicial Branch Employees (ASONAL JUDICIAL) over remuneration and 
judicial independence was illegal.  The ruling has renewed debate 
over restrictions on the right of public sector workers to 
associate, negotiate, and strike (reftel).  It also gave the GOC a 
clear edge in ongoing discussions with ASONAL and other public 
sector labor groups.  ASONAL plans to present the matter before the 
International Labor Organization (ILO), and possibly the 
Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR).  End Summary. 
 
 
 
 
GOC INVOKES SPECIAL POWERS TO SQUELCH THE STRIKE 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Some 38,000 strikers (90% of the sector) paralyzed the 
judicial branch for 44 days in September and October 2008. 
Consequently, according to the Ministry of Interior and Justice 
(MOIJ), 2,700 suspects had to be released; 121,000 legal 
proceedings halted; and 25,000 court hearings postponed.  On 
October 7, 2008, the GOC unilaterally decreed $56.6 million in pay 
increases over two years (Decrees 3899-3902), claiming that was the 
most it could afford without endangering state finances.  This 
failed to induce ASONAL to lift the strike, however, and on October 
9 President Uribe declared a 90-day national state of emergency, 
giving the GOC special powers to fire and replace striking workers. 
The move broke the strike, though ASONAL continued to press its 
demands and threaten subsequent strikes. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) The MOIJ has met with ASONAL on eight occasions in 2009, 
with little headway according to ASONAL President Fabio Hernandez. 
The GOC's response has been firm and consistent: "We are in a 
financial crisis; there is no money."  In a September letter to 
ASONAL, Minister of Interior and Justice Fabio Valencia Cossio said 
that while the GOC remained open to dialogue, it had already 
fulfilled its promises to ASONAL.  Hernandez said the "financial 
crisis" has in part resulted from disproportionate GOC spending on 
defense and its ongoing war against the FARC. 
 
 
 
MOTIVES BEHIND THE 2008 STRIKE 
 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) Hernandez said ASONAL's top priorities since 2006 have 
been better remuneration and greater judicial independence.  The 
judicial sector budget, he argued, has lagged behind public demand 
for justice in pending cases, leaving workers (judges, prosecutors, 
and court staff) underpaid and overworked and creating bottlenecks 
in the system.  ASONAL has called for full implementation of a new 
salary scheme pursuant to a 1992 law that has only been partially 
enforced due to budgetary shortfalls.  Full implementation would 
require an outlay of $260 million, though ASONAL said it would 
accept an initial $99 million in worker bonuses "to kick-start the 
process." 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Hernandez told us that the executive branch interferes in 
judicial processes by cajoling workers with fixed-term contracts 
into supporting its interests.  Most judicial workers have 
 
fixed-term contracts renewable subject to periodic performance 
reviews, while political appointees dominate the sector's upper 
echelons.  As such, workers who refuse to toe the political line 
risk losing their jobs when their contracts expire, rendering them 
susceptible to political pressure.  ASONAL has sought indefinite 
contracts under the formula that "greater job security equals 
greater independence." 
 
 
 
WIDER IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The November 11 Supreme Court ruling upheld a lower court 
decision that the 2008 strike by ASONAL was illegal because 
judicial workers provide an "essential public service."  The ruling 
cited Article 56 of the Constitution and Article 125 of the 
Statutory Judicial Administration Law, which "guarantees the right 
to strike, except in essential public services as defined by law," 
and states that "the administration of justice is an essential 
public service," respectively. 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The ruling represents a clear victory for the GOC with 
implications for all public sector workers.  ASONAL's threat to 
shut down the judicial branch again was immediately deflated. 
Colombian law permits employers to summarily fire participants in 
illegal strikes (reftel), which impinges ASONAL's ability to 
mobilize workers.  Other public sector workers, prominent among 
them educators and healthcare providers, are also likely to shy 
away from strike brinkmanship.  Minister Valencia Cossio summarized 
the GOC point of view in a statement carried by leading daily El 
Tiempo on November 11: "The Supreme Court has reiterated what we 
have said for a year, that justice is an essential public service, 
and that strikes and collective bargaining are prohibited by law in 
the public sector." 
 
 
 
LABOR CLAIMS THE RULING WAS POLITICAL 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Supreme Court magistrates refused to hear the case, citing 
the inherent conflict of interest.  Instead, five 
specially-appointed "assistant judges" (private sector lawyers kept 
on reserve for such occasions) took the case.  Although the Supreme 
Court appointed the assistant judges, labor groups have suggested 
that they were Uribe loyalists. 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) Rhett Doumitt and Carlos Guarnizo of the AFL-CIO 
affiliated Solidarity Center in Colombia have criticized the 
court's failure to consider the full body of constitutional law in 
its ruling.  The court only invoked articles upholding the GOC's 
position, while ignoring others that contradicted it, Doumitt and 
Guarnizo suggested.  For example, Articles 53 and 93 of the 
Constitution provide that "ratified international agreements 
concerning employment form part of domestic legislation," and that 
"ratified treaties and agreements recognizing human rights and 
prohibiting their limitation in states of emergency shall prevail 
over domestic law."  As such, the Solidarity Center argues that a 
responsible analysis demands mention of ILO Conventions 98, 151, 
and 154 (all ratified by Colombia), which guarantee the rights of 
all workers, including in the public sector, to bargain 
collectively and strike. 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Reconciling domestic labor laws with ILO Conventions is a 
 
hotly-debated topic centering on rival interpretations of the ILO's 
definition of "essential public services."  The ILO defines 
essential public services as those whose interruption would 
"endanger the life, personal safety or health of a whole or part of 
the population," which provides a rationale for prohibiting 
strikes.  The GOC interprets this loosely to mean most, if not all, 
public services, preserving what it calls Colombia's "sovereign 
right" to consider the matter on a sector-by-sector basis.  The 
result is a near-complete prohibition on collective bargaining and 
strikes among public sector workers, according to National Union 
School Director Jose Luciano Sanin.  As such, labor groups advocate 
a more sophisticated interpretation on the premise that essential 
public services can still be rendered during a strike.  For 
example, hospital administrators should be allowed to strike if 
doctors continue to provide essential medical services.  Vice 
Minister of Labor Ricardo Andres Echeverri said the GOC is refining 
its definition of essential public services, but that it was 
complicated and would take time. 
 
 
 
ASONAL WILL APPEAL TO INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Hernandez confirmed that ASONAL will appeal the court 
ruling to the ILO, and consider taking the matter before the IACHR. 
Still, he acknowledged that the process would take years.  In the 
interim, ASONAL will continue to press its demands through the 
so-called "mesa de concertacion" (coordination roundtable) created 
by Presidential Decree 535 in February, 2009.  The decree 
guarantees public sector workers an audience for their grievances 
to appease public sector labor groups who complained that their 
employers refused to even meet with them.  Labor groups told us, 
however, that the mechanism lacks teeth because it does not 
obligate employers to actually negotiate. 
NICHOLS