US embassy cable - 05GUATEMALA162

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUATEMALA 000162 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, EAIR, ELAB, ASEC, CASC, MOPS, SNAR, GT, FAA 
SUBJECT: GUATEMALAN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS WALK OFF JOB 
 
1.  Guatemalan air traffic controllers walked off the job on 
January 11, shutting down  Guatemala's airports for 20 hours. 
 They were protesting the GOG's refusal to renew their 
employment contracts, which had expired December 31.  At 
least one commercial aircraft landed without tower assistance 
or runway lights.  The government found replacement 
controllers to reopen Guatemala City's and one other airport 
the following day, but three more airports remain closed. 
President Berger publicly fired the controllers and said 
charges would be filed against those responsible for turning 
off the runway lights with planes inbound.  Charges were 
filed against five controllers -- allegedly the ringleaders 
of the walkout -- who are currently free on bail. 
 
Air Traffic Controllers Walk Off the Job 
---------------------------------------- 
 
2. Guatemalan air traffic controllers (ATCs) walked off the 
job January 11 citing the lack of a formal contract for 2005 
and the failure to obtain further work-related benefits.  The 
walkout shut down all five government-run airports in the 
country, including Aurora International Airport in Guatemala 
City.  President Berger announced that all of the "striking" 
ATCs were fired and that charges would be pressed against 
them. 
 
3. The following day, the Government of Guatemala (GOG) 
received temporary support from Mexican and Salvadoran ATCs, 
as well as staff from TACA Airlines, who operated Aurora 
airport until January 19.  So far, eight Guatemalan ATCs have 
returned to work, augmented by five additional Guatemalan 
emergency replacement ATCs, and are operating Aurora 
International in the capital and Tikal airport in the north 
of the country.  The other three airports, serving San Jose, 
Retalhuleu, and Puerto Barrios remain closed.  The 
Directorate of Civil Aviation told us that upon arrival in 
the Aurora tower, the replacements found no aviation charts 
or data on lower and upper airspace management in Guatemala. 
Following a frantic request, this embassy's office of the 
National Geospatial Intelligence Agency provided the data. 
 
4. Five of the ATCs, including the officers of the Air 
Traffic Controllers' Association, were arrested for "impeding 
maritime or aviation security" and "endangering public 
safety" but are currently free on bail of 30,000 Quetzales 
(USD 3850) each.  They, and 47 other ATCs are currently 
staying together in a Guatemala City hotel owned by Joe 
Habie, owner of Tikal Jets, a bitter (but much smaller) rival 
of regional carrier Taca, which loaned replacement 
controllers.  Their leaders tell us that this is for their 
safety and to maintain solidarity amongst them. 
 
5. The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' 
Associations criticized the GOG's decision to fire, 
prosecute, and replace the Guatemalan ATCs, specifically 
noting that the replacement ATCs are not certified in 
accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization 
(ICAO) standards.  Local members of the Guatemalan Aero Club 
told us that the Guatemalan Civil Aviation Directorate had 
canvassed their members looking for anyone willing to work in 
the tower.  They told us that one of the volunteers was 82 
years old and that several of them had no formal air traffic 
control qualifications. 
 
Shutting Down the Airport 
------------------------- 
 
6. As the previous ATC employment contracts expired December 
31, 2004, the ATCs had been working without any legal 
employment status.  The ATC Association (which is not a union 
or a legally mandated bargaining agent) held a meeting at 
Aurora International Airport on the afternoon of January 11 
in which the membership proposed a walkout if a new contract, 
including several benefits that had been under negotiation 
with Jose Antonio Presa Abascal, Director of Civil Aviation, 
was not established immediately.  ATC representatives told us 
that one reason for the urgency was a rumor that the 
Directorate of Civil Aviation needed to achieve a budget cut 
that might result in terminating the positions of as many as 
six ATCs.  Presa told us that he had written each ATC to say 
that new contracts would be ready for signature by January 
15, and that the ATCs appearance at work in January 
constituted acceptance of the contract extension while 
negotiations continued. 
 
7. When no resolution had been achieved with Presa Abascal by 
early evening, he and two of the Association's officers went 
to meet with Minister of Communications, Infrastructure, and 
Housing Eduardo Castillo, who was attending an event at a 
local hotel.  The Minister reportedly offered a meeting with 
the associations' officers during the following week.  When 
the officers returned to Aurora International at 
approximately 8:00 pm to inform the association's membership 
of what had transpired, the members voted to walk off the job 
effective immediately.  They continued to operate the control 
tower until the last regularly scheduled passenger flight had 
arrived and then shut down airport operations. 
 
8. At approximately 9:00 pm a flight from Transportes Aereos 
Guatemaltecos (TAG) entered Guatemalan airspace from El 
Salvador bound for Aurora International.  ATC representatives 
maintain that they immediately warned the pilots that Aurora 
was closed and that they must return to Salvador 
International.  The pilots noted that they needed to contact 
their company for guidance.  (Note:  Conversations between 
the tower and approaching aircraft are recorded on audiotape 
and have been widely reported.  End note.)  The ATCs note 
that they warned them again at 35 miles out and once again at 
15 miles out.  The pilots continued their approach to Aurora 
International, however, and landed without the assistance of 
tower control or runway lights.  A letter of complaint by 
TAG's Chief Administrator claims that they were warned at the 
15-mile mark.  The TAG aircraft's non-approved landing is the 
basis for charges against the ATCs of endangering public 
safety. 
 
The labor negotiations 
---------------------- 
 
9. Guatemalan ATCs are government employees hired under a 
specific type of contract known as a "029" by the budget line 
item that authorizes such contracts.  As the government can 
terminate 029 contracts at any time, the ATCs had wanted to 
obtain full civil servant status in their new employment 
contracts.  Other demands included a general salary increase 
of 5,000 Quetzales (USD 640) per month, reclassification of 
supervisory positions with an additional salary increase, 
addition of at least six new positions to allow for a 
training float and to cover attrition, and the replacement of 
non-functioning equipment. 
 
10. Stated in the 2004 contract is the requirement that a new 
contract must be in place at least twenty days before the 
expiration of the existing contract, which occurred on 
December 31.  The ATCs told us that the absence of a contract 
by the statutory deadline of December 11 and by the 
expiration of the 2004 contract on December 31 demonstrated a 
legal failing on the part of the GOG.  The eleven days in 
January, ATC representatives continued, technically were a 
period in which the ATCs had no legal right to enter the 
tower to provide their services.  They note that they would 
have had no legal protections should an accident have 
occurred while they were working without a contract. 
 
11. The ATC representatives note that they did not ever refer 
to their actions as a "strike" because their contracts had 
expired.  As they were not formally employed, they had no 
position from which to strike.  (Note:  This point is 
important under Guatemalan law because all strikes must be 
certified by a labor court judge in order to be legal.  While 
the International Labor Organization's definition of 
essential services does not include transportation, President 
Berger has the right under Guatemalan law to terminate a 
strike that impedes essential services, including 
transportation.  Should the ATCs have continued a work 
stoppage either without a judge's certification or after a 
Presidential order to return to work, they would have been in 
violation of Guatemalan law.  End note.)  Nonetheless, 
Director Presa told us that his lawyers assured them that the 
charges against the ATCs for abandoning their posts and 
endangering air traffic were solid. 
 
12. In order to return to work, the association now demands 
that the GOG drop charges against the association's 
leadership, provide contracts for all of the association's 
membership, reclassify the jobs as permanent employment, 
replacement of faulty equipment, and appropriate training 
measures for new employees.  The GOG remains publicly 
committed to the dismissal of all of the ATCs who walked off 
the job; however, eight ATCs have returned to work after they 
signed statements saying that they had walked off the job due 
to intimidation by association leaders. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
13. It appears that the ATCs are, Director Presa's statements 
notwithstanding, on safe legal ground, but their actions on 
January 11 were ill conceived and counterproductive.  So far, 
the ATCs have demonstrated impressive solidarity, but we 
imagine that the government will lure additional defectors in 
order to strengthen its bargaining position.  Given the 
amount of time and training required to qualify and the lack 
of immediately available replacements, we would not be 
surprised if the GOG eventually rehired the majority of the 
ATCs other than the five currently facing charges.  The GOG, 
for its part, had an important role to play in this fiasco. 
The failure to resolve this issue, even by offering an 
identical contract to that of 2004, by either the December 11 
or December 31 deadlines was inexplicable. 
 
14. There may be more going on in this struggle than just a 
labor rights action.  Accusations and counteraccusations of 
corruption, criminal activity, anti-competitive practices by 
the airlines, and the possibility of future concessioning of 
all airport services are important factors that affect how we 
should view this struggle in a broader perspective. 
HAMILTON