US embassy cable - 04CARACAS2695

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 002695 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS USAID FOR DCHA/OTI 
LABOR FOR I/LAB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2014 
TAGS: ELAB, KDEM, PHUM, VE 
SUBJECT: LABOR LEADERS WRESTLE TO MOVE PAST REFERENDUM 
 
Classified By: Abelardo A. Arias, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, for R 
easons 1.4 (d). 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) Organized labor is willing to test the GOV's call for 
dialogue in post-referendum Venezuela, but doubts President 
Hugo Chavez's sincerity.  Venezuelan Workers Confederation 
(CTV) Secretary General Manuel Cova believes his organization 
needs to re-focus on issues affecting the daily lives of 
workers, and plans to propose a common labor agenda for all 
unions to pursue with the GOV.  Labor expert Jesus Urbieta 
hopes Venezuela's unions can become more centralized, better 
coordinated, and more effective at negotiating sector-wide 
bargaining agreements.  The pro-GOV central National Workers' 
Union (UNT) lacks clear leadership and remains mired in 
factionalism.  End summary. 
 
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CTV Leader Sees New Political Reality 
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2. (C) Manuel Cova, Secretary General of the Venezuelan 
Workers Confederation (CTV) told poloff August 18 that if the 
opposition could not make a case for GOV fraud during the 
August 15 presidential recall referendum, the opposition 
would have to accept the new political reality that they are 
in the minority.  Cova said the referendum results should 
signal to President Hugo Chavez that the opposition is not 
politically insignificant, but rather a force representing 40 
percent of the population.  Cova doubted the sincerity of 
Chavez's offer to begin a dialogue with the opposition, but 
believes the opposition should make an effort.  He said the 
opposition's approach, including that of the CTV, has been 
too confrontational, too focused on the short-term political 
scene, and too distant from average Venezuelans.  He hoped 
the opposition's political defeat would lead to "new faces" 
in the opposition, and even suggested the consolidation of 
leftist opposition parties into a new center-left front. 
 
3. (C) Cova said he hoped the CTV would re-focus its efforts 
toward improving lives of Venezuelan workers.  He said the 
CTV called on all Venezuelan labor centrals two months ago to 
develop a common agenda for negotiating with the GOV.  The 
common agenda, he said, would be developed under the auspices 
of a Central University of Venezuela (UCV) project.  He said 
the CTV's first priority should be negotiating collective 
agreements for public sector employees.  He also said unions 
must challenge the GOV's dismissal of public sector employees 
who signed the presidential recall petition.  Public sector 
employees, he said, are especially disappointed and worried 
about Chavez's victory, causing them to wonder whether the 
purges of Chavez opponents in the bureaucracy will now begin 
in earnest. 
 
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CTV Labor Expert Sees Tough Times Ahead 
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4. (C) Jesus Urbieta, Director of the CTV's Labor Studies 
Institute (INAESIN), told poloff August 19 Venezuela's labor 
movement has been generally weakened under Chavez rule and 
will face more challenges in the future.  With private 
industry in decline since Chavez took office, he said, public 
employee unions have become relatively more influential on 
labor issues.  If pro-GOV candidates win the regional 
elections scheduled for September 26, he said, they will 
favor rival pro-Chavez unions in collective contract 
negotiations. 
 
5. (C) Urbieta, who holds an elected position on the 
International Labor Organization's (ILO) Administrative 
Council, said a sign of good faith by the GOV would be to 
accept the visit of an ILO direct contact mission to 
investigate various labor complaints in Venezuela.  Urbieta 
said the ILO made the request in 2003, but the GOV ignored 
it; a similar request for a mission was approved in June 
2004. 
 
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Chavista Labor Remains Divided 
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6. (C) The pro-Chavez National Workers' Union (UNT), formed 
in early 2003, has yet to hold elections to select its 
leaders, functioning instead under 21 "National Directors." 
UNT National Director Francisco Torrealba told poloff August 
18 the UNT is divided into two factions:  one controlled by 
himself and public sector union leader Franklin Rondon that 
seeks labor union autonomy from the GOV and another 
controlled by Orlando Chirinos and Marcela Maspero, whom 
Torrealba described as "Trotskyites."  These radical leaders 
frequently speak out in support of the GOV and, said 
Torrealba, and resort to intimidation tactics against 
Torrealba's faction for control of unions.  Torrealba alleged 
that Minister of Labor Maria Cristina Iglesias frequently 
sides with this radical faction in disputes among UNT 
members.  Torrealba said he hopes UNT can hold elections in 
November so that the labor central can act with one voice. 
 
7. (C) Urbieta said that labor is one area the GOV has failed 
to co-opt or create a viable parallel organization.  The 
GOV's labor agenda was largely stalled when the GOV-backed 
candidate for CTV president (present Education Minister 
Aristobulo Isturiz) was defeated in elections in 2001.  The 
Ministry of Labor responded, Urbieta said, by facilitating 
the registration of pro-Chavez parallel unions such that the 
UNT, launched in the wake of the national strike, now claims 
more than 600 affiliates.  Torrealba said he would welcome 
collaboration with the CTV in developing a common agenda for 
negotiating with the GOV, but was not hopeful for progress 
until UNT leadership issues are resolved. 
 
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Comment 
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8. (C) While it would seem this juncture provides an opening 
for organized labor to recover lost ground, the key actors 
are not prepared or not willing.  Chavez has failed to 
"revolutionize" the labor sector in the past and has not 
specifically raised labor in his post-referendum offers of 
reconciliation.  Manuel Cova talks about moving past the 
referendum, but key CTV leaders continue to focus on 
allegations that Chavez stole the election.  Years of 
political battle with the GOV have left the CTV out of touch 
with workers and created the opening for the UNT.  The 
pro-GOV confederation, however, has yet to consolidate its 
power and influence among unions, and could be further 
weakened if UNT elections are scuttled due to in-fighting. 
 
McFarland 
 
 
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      2004CARACA02695 - CONFIDENTIAL