US embassy cable - 04DJIBOUTI668

C O N F I D E N T I A L DJIBOUTI 000668 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/06/2014 
TAGS: PREL, ELAB, PGOV, DJ 
SUBJECT: MAY DAY EVENTS POTENTIAL SIGN OF IMPROVEMENT IN 
DJIBOUTIAN LABOR RELATIONS 
 
REF: (A) DJIBOUTI 530 (B) DJIBOUTI 460 
 
Classified By: Pol/Econ Erinn C. Reed for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) May Day celebrations in Djibouti City may be a 
sign that the Government is changing its position on 
labor relations between the Government and the 
legitimate national labor union.  Both the Union 
Djiboutienne de Travailluers (UDT) and the government 
created Union General Travailluers de Djiboutienne 
(UGTD) held rallies on 1 May to celebrate the Djiboutian 
Labor Day.  The significant event of this year's 
celebrations was the funding given by the Government of 
Djibouti to both unions to organize their rallies.  UGTD 
was given 1,000,000DF (approximately $5,600) and UDT was 
given 500,000DF (approximately $2,800).  Both rallies also 
received coverage on the local television news, though 
UDT received less time.  UGTD's rally was covered by a 
half-page column in La Nation, the government run 
newspaper, which ended by saying coverage of the UDT 
rally would follow in next editions. 
 
2. (C) Pol/Econ's conversations with UDT Secretary, 
Souleiman Djama and UDT Secretary General, Aden Mohamed 
Abdou, indicated that this gesture may be an improvement 
for the moment, but not for the long term.  Djama 
speculated that the Government's actions concerning Labor 
Day may be merely a play towards voters in preparation for 
the Presidential election next year or perhaps a show of 
positive steps in response to continued pressure from the 
international community to improve labor practices.  He 
continues that it was an improvement, but the motivations 
behind it were not certain.  Abdou was of a slightly 
different school of thought, saying that this gesture may 
have been a real step towards opening negotiations to 
recognize the legitimately elected UDT.  He also speculated 
that it may be a tactic to test the members of the UDT 
and to try to pull some to the government's side. 
Nevertheless, he said, this was a positive step.  The 
question was how long it would last. 
 
3. (C) Post believes that both Abdou and Djama's view 
on the apparent improvements have merit.  Reflecting on 
the long history of discord between the Guelleh 
administration and UDT, this sudden change in attitude 
seems to hide ulterior motives.  Time can only tell 
whether Guelleh's potential improvement turns out to be 
a genuine gesture of reconciliation. 
RAGSDALE