US embassy cable - 04MANAMA236

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000236 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP 
CAIRO FOR STEVE BONDY 
LONDON FOR ETHAN GOLDRICH 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2034 
TAGS: ELAB, PGOV, PHUM, BA 
SUBJECT: BOYCOTTERS RIG LABOR UNION FEDERATION BOARD 
ELECTIONS. 
 
 
Classified By: By Charge D'Affaires Robert S. Ford for 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C)  SUMMARY.  Bahrain's two leading opposition societies 
colluded to fix the labor union federation board elections 
with the plan to use the labor movement as a political 
platform.  By ignoring standard democratic election and bylaw 
procedures, opposition parties realized their plans but also 
thwarted the board's ability to legislate, make decisions, 
and set a labor agenda.  Disillusioned by the opposition 
parties' machinations, several large unions are attempting to 
extricate themselves from this quagmire and are discussing 
the establishment of a second, non-politicized federation. 
National Democratic Action Society and Al Wifaq's resorting 
to non-democratic methods to gain control of Bahrain's union 
federation board raises serious questions about the 
societies' long-term commitment to democracy.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (U)  Even though the General Federation of Bahraini 
Workers (GFBW) notified several government agencies about 
holding its first ever federation conference, no government 
official offered to speak at the conference opening or 
sponsor a venue.  (NOTE:  It is normal in Bahrain for 
ministers to 'patronize' public events related to their 
ministries.  END NOTE)  The GFBW went ahead anyway and one 
hundred and forty-nine union delegates attended the 
conference, representing 39 labor unions from both the public 
and private sectors.  The purpose of the three-day conference 
was to ratify the federation's statute and bylaws.  GFBW 
invited the Arab Workers Union to guide election proceedings 
and to establish federation bylaws and operational procedures. 
 
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COOKING THE ELECTIONS 
--------------------- 
 
3.  (U)  GFBW Labor Consultant Dr. Mohammed Merbati told 
PolOFF that inviting the Arab Workers Union brought 
unexpected results. He believes that the Arab Workers Union 
came to the conference to ensure that a non-democratic 'Arab' 
federation be established, in line with the federations of 
Iran, Iraq and Kuwait. Standard democratic election 
procedures allow for each union member to vote for its own 
board and also to elect conference delegates to represent 
them at the foundational conference. (the number of each 
union's conference delegates is proportional to the size its 
union.)  To ensure a predominance of opposition party 
delegates, Al Wifaq and National Democratic Action Society 
(NDAS) requested that the Arab Workers Union forego the 
selection process of voting for conference delegates.  The 
Union complied and invited delegates directly from union 
boards, the majority of whom has affiliation with the two 
opposition societies. 
 
4.  (C)  Bringing the delegate selection process to light, 
"Al Ayam" published an article on January 11 also claiming 
that opposition societies clandestinely agreed to divide the 
GFBW board membership among themselves; 5 from NDAS and 6 
from Al Wifaq. Journalists accused both opposition societies 
of hijacking the elections and politicizing the trade union 
movement. However, on January 18, media reports subsided when 
the GFBW Central Council elected independent candidate Abdul 
Ghaffar Abdul Hussain its General Secretary.  Dr. Merbati 
explained to PolFSN that neither opposition society had issue 
with Hussain as General Secretary based on his experience and 
stature.  However, Al Wifaq member Adel Al Abassi told PolOFF 
he was angered to find out about Hussain's appointment. 
Hussain used to be a Shura Council member of the old regime. 
In the 1990's Hussain was named General Secretary of the 
GOB's National Labor Committee, precursor to the GFBW.  In 
that position, Hussain publicly accused Shi'a opposition 
leaders (many of whom are now leaders in Al Wifaq) of being a 
"bunch of terrorists."  Al Abassi surmised that Hussain 
tricked both Al Wifaq and NDAS labor leaders by telling both 
he was aligning with them. The other two independent 
candidates aligned themselves with NDAS to secure seats on 
the board. In the end press reports were correct: the 
election results established a central council with 5 NDAS, 6 
Al Wifaq, 1 independent, and 1 from National Democratic 
Congregation. 
 
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FEELING USED AND ABUSED 
----------------------- 
 
5.  (C)  A review of board committee positions reveal that 
NDAS holds the more prestigious positions on the board.  Al 
Abassi told PolOFF that unlike NDAS, Al Wifaq is not an 
expert in labor.  Al Wifaq colluded with NDAS not realizing 
that committee designations made a difference in the balance 
of power. An unauthorized Deputy Secretary General position 
was created at the outcome of the elections and given to Al 
Wifaq. Although Deputy Secretary General would appear to be 
the second-ranking position on the board, the position does 
not exist in the bylaws and has no authoritative power. Al 
Wifaq feels used by NDAS.  Both NDAS and al-Wifaq feel used 
by Abdul Ghaffar Hussain.  Now Al Wifaq is making an effort 
to woo the independent board members away from NDAS to try to 
rectify the imbalance.  Al Abassi added that it does not help 
that every Al Wifaq member on the board is a 'soft spoken 
moderate.'  He said there is talk among Al Wifaq board 
members that the decision try and dominate the labor federal 
board was a political mistake.  Some believe Al Wifaq can 
gain more ground politically by focusing on real solutions to 
actaul labor issues. 
6.  (U)  In a statement to the press, GFBW Assistant 
Secretary for Activities and Social Protection and member of 
 
SIPDIS 
the National Democratic Congregation Khalid Al Aradi resigned 
his position because of the NDAS and Al Wifaq collusion. His 
replacement, Al Menbar Islamiyya member Qassab also announced 
his resignation for the same reasons.  NDAS member Almousawi 
claims Al Aradi quit because he failed to get the prestigious 
Assistant Secretary position for Arab and International 
Affairs.  Both Almousawi and Al Abassi claim Al Aradi and 
Qassab took the opportunity to embarrass NDAS and Al Wifaq. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
GFBW GOING NOWHERE; SOME UNIONS HEADED ELSEWHERE 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
7.  (C)  With all the attention focused on getting opposition 
leaders in board positions, the conference failed to 
establish clear operational guidelines for the board.  Even 
though 8 of the 12 federation board members have over 100 
years of combined labor movement expertise and knew each 
other in the labor movement many years prior to joining 
political societies, the lack of established bylaws and 
operational procedures has paralyzed the federation.  Dr. 
Merbati claims that instead of creating a legitimate 
federation with a vision for the labor movement, the 
opposition socities crippled the federation, tossed out its 
credibility for the next 4 years, ultimately damaging the 
labor movement.  Shura Council member Faisal Fulad told 
PolOFF that union representatives from Batelco, Automotive, 
Petrochem, BenGaz, Ministry of Interior, Gulf Airline 
Stewards, and Alba contacted Dr. Merbati and himself to find 
a way to leave GFBW and start a new federation that has no 
political affiliations whatsoever. 
 
8.  (C)  COMMENT.  Opposition societies went to great lengths 
to rig the GFBW board elections, ensuring they were neither 
free nor fair.  This has resulted in many unions wanting to 
leave the GFBW and establish a second federation.  It also 
demonstrates their desire for a legitimate democratic 
federation. Although Al-Wifaq and NDAS colluded to gain 
control of the board, the emerging competition between them 
to wield board power revealed that there is friction among 
the political parties which boycotted the October 2002 
parliamentary election.  NDAS/Al-Wifaq have tarnished their 
image and certainly have raised serious questions about their 
long-term commitment to fair-play and democracy. 
FORD