US embassy cable - 05ABIDJAN716

UNCLAS ABIDJAN 000716 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY CAPTION 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, ELAB, IV, Ivoirean Govt Arrears 
SUBJECT: WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION - STRIKING TEACHERS IN 
COTE D'IVOIRE 
 
 
 1. (U) SUMMARY.  The Union of Secondary School Teachers 
(SYNESCI) is staging a 48-hour strike starting April 28 to 
protest non-payment of 2004 exam-correction allowances.  This 
strike comes just two weeks after a 72-hour strike by primary 
school teachers on April 11-13, also to protest non-payment 
of exam-correction allowances.  The government of Cote 
d'Ivoire has been confronted with an increasing number of 
strikes, threatened strikes, and non-payment protests in the 
past two months.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U) Secondary school teachers have not been paid for 
correcting the 2004 final exams, nor for their time 
proctoring the exams.  Other grievances include the increase 
in contributions teachers must make to health insurance. 
There are a total of 14,000 secondary school teachers, of 
which 10,000 are members of SYNESCI.  SYNESCI is requesting a 
total of USD 600,000 in payment.  This sum is to be 
distributed among the teachers according to the number of 
exams graded.  SYNESCI has also requested payment of USD 2 
per hour for proctoring the exam. 
3. (U) The announcement of the SYNESCI strike comes just two 
weeks after the union of primary school teachers (SNEPPCI) 
strike.  From April 11 through April 13, SNEPPCI staged a 
72-hour strike to protest non-payment of exam-correction 
allowances as well as to protest the non-payment of 
redeployment allowances.  Redeployment allowances were 
authorized for teachers who returned to northern, rebel-held 
territory.  Before the strike, the Ministry of Education 
offered a total of USD 418,000 to be divided among the 
teachers according to the number of exams they each graded, 
however SNEPPCI felt the amount was insufficient.  After the 
72-hour strike, the teachers returned to the classroom.  The 
union has given the government of Cote d'Ivoire one month to 
come up with a better settlement. 
 
4. (SBU) At both the primary school level and secondary 
school level, the teachers unions have divided along 
political affiliations.  SYNESCI, the secondary school 
teachers union, is actually splintered into two groups, one 
politically aligned with President Gbagbo's FPI party, and 
one aligned with the opposition.  The anti-government camp is 
the one that went on strike April 28.  The pro-FPI SYNESCI 
camp had planned a strike for May 2, but canceled it after 
announcing that the government of Cote d'Ivoire had partially 
met their claims.  Similarly, it was the anti?government 
union for primary school teachers, SNEPPCI, that went on 
strike April 11-13.  The pro-FPI union for primary school 
teachers, SAEPPCI, did not join the April strike. 
 
5. (U) At the government level, in early April employees of 
the Ministry of Finance threatened to go on strike to protest 
non-payment of their working allowances.  Employees are 
entitled to allowances associated with their jobs on a 
quarterly basis.   The strike was suspended until the 
beginning of May to allow for negotiations.  There have been 
no reports of any progress on these negotiations. 
 
6. (U) These strikes come on top of a March 29 "dance-in" 
strike by newly graduated police officers that brought 
Abidjan traffic to a standstill for three hours.  They were 
protesting non?payment of war bonuses and because they 
continue to receive student or recruit pay instead of full 
pay as police officers. 
 
7. (SBU) COMMENT.  The large number of bonuses and allowances 
that are not being paid indicates how shaky the 2005 budget 
is.  The government is already unable to pay allowances to 
teachers, police, military and government workers.  If 
revenues dry up much further the government may not be able 
to meet its basic salary payments as well. 
The 2005 budget bill assumes a normalized political 
situation.  The political situation is improving, and that 
could help revenues and eliminate war-related premium pay. 
Meanwhile, however, the number of disgruntled Ivoirians is 
growing, and under the best of circumstances this could 
present problems for President Gbagbo and his FPI party in 
this Fall's elections.  Should the peace process grind once 
again to a halt, these so-far scattered strikes could turn 
into more serious social unrest.  END COMMENT. 
VALLE