US embassy cable - 05KINSHASA1672

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001672 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB (TFAULKNER) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2015 
TAGS: ELAB, ECON, PGOV, SOCI, CG 
SUBJECT: TEACHERS' STRIKE: AN EMERGING DEAL, OR STILL 
BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE? 
 
REF: A. KINSHASA 1633 
     B. KINSHASA 1642 
 
Classified By: Classified by EconOff W.Brafman for reasons 1.4 b/d. 
 
1. (C) Summary: The GDRC continues difficult negotiations 
with teachers' unions to try to end the month-long teachers' 
strike and quell rising tension throughout the DRC, even as 
private and parochial school leaders call for their students 
to return to school. The Government continues to face 
pressures from two sides - the budget and teachers' unions. 
The GDRC has made what it says is its best and final offer; 
it is unclear whether teachers' unions will accept it, but 
government officials are optimistic.  Meanwhile, some parents 
of private school students remain hesitant to send their 
children to school in light of the continuing threat of 
violence against them.  End summary. 
 
NEGOTIATIONS THUS FAR 
--------------------- 
 
2. (C) During a meeting with Political Counselor, National 
Security Advisor Samba Kaputo outlined the negotiations thus 
far and GDRC's view of the progress. Before the October 1 
meeting between teachers' unions and President Kabila, Kaputo 
and others (including Tresor Kapuku, Vice Minister for 
Budget) met with school leaders to make a pitch that students 
have a right to attend school and also to outline plans to 
begin progressively improving the schools' infrastructure - a 
desperately needed program - using not only World Bank but 
DRC funds as well.  Kaputo said that the leaders judged this 
inducement to be sufficient. 
 
3. (C) Following this meeting, Kabila and other government 
officials met with leading union leaders and offered to pay 
teachers - in the Kinshasa province only - bonuses of USD 45 
dollars/month for the next three months, beginning October 
20.  There are no promises yet about 2006 payments. The GDRC 
will pay teachers outside Kinshasa less; the government 
determines these salaries on a two-tier basis - non-Kinshasa 
cities, and rural areas.  Kaputo emphasized repeatedly that 
this deal covers only teachers "primes" (bonuses). 
Government officials state that they are not in a position to 
give salary increases, because they would then have to raise 
the salary scale for all other civil servants, and there are 
insufficient funds to do so. (Note: Vice President 
Jean-Pierre Bemba told Ambassador October 4 that meeting 
teachers' salary demands of an increase to USD 200 could 
alone consume ten percent of the GDRC's entire annual budget. 
End note.)  Kaputo said that the IMF has also warned the GDRC 
of the severe budget impact if it met this demand. 
 
UNIONS' REACTION 
---------------- 
 
4. (C) Union leaders insisted on, and received Kabila's 
personal guarantee, that the GDRC would honor this agreement. 
 The unions also made a new demand, insisting on being party 
to the development of the 2006 educational budget.  Kabila 
agreed to this, and as a result a union committee will work 
with the Minister of Higher Education to develop next year's 
budget - including teachers' salaries. 
 
5. (C) Union leaders had assured the President that they 
would convince their members to accept the deal.  Kaputo, 
with some disgust, said that the union leaders are now 
running scared, following Monday's "drama" on the locally 
televised news.  After their meeting with Kabila, the unions 
convened with their members October 3 to get their approval 
of the government's offer.  The meeting did not go well, 
however, as violence broke out both inside and outside the 
venue, with several people hurling rocks and chairs.  The 
union leaders subsequently backtracked on their willingness 
to support the government proposal.  Kaputo claims that 
"other political elements" are paying agitators and highly 
disgruntled elements of the teachers' unions to cause 
trouble, because they want an "annee blanche", a year without 
school - as it could potentially derail elections. (Comment: 
More likely, Kaputo reflects the PPRD's fear of undermining 
Kabila's prospects of winning the elections. End comment.) 
He also said that likely suspects are the same as those who 
threatened violence leading up to June 30, such as Etienne 
Tshisikedi's UDPS opposition party and former Minister of 
 
SIPDIS 
Mines Diomi Ndongala (himself an aspiring presidential 
candidate.) 
 
PARENTS WEIGH IN 
---------------- 
 
6. (C) Kaputo and others, including Kabila, also met with 
parents' organizations and told the parents that it is 
unrealistic to expect that their contributions to teachers' 
incomes should suddenly drop to zero.  They will have to 
continue contributions that will decrease progressively. 
Kaputo said they agreed to this. (Comment: This was probably 
not a difficult argument to make, as many parents were 
dubious before the school year started that the government 
would completely eliminate school fees. End comment.) 
 
GOVERNMENT IS OPTIMISTIC 
------------------------ 
 
7. (C) Despite the current difficulties, Kaputo said the 
Presidency still hopes for a settlement by Friday, October 7. 
 He said that the agreement will have to be on the terms 
already proposed, as nothing further is possible.  Kaputo 
also told PolCouns that the GDRC had scheduled another 
meeting with the unions for October 5 at an undisclosed site, 
with better security controls. 
 
STRIKE SPREADS, VIOLENCE AND FEAR ESCALATING? 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
8.  (SBU) The media reports that teachers in Bukavu, South 
Kivu, have now gone on strike, partially in response to rocks 
thrown at teachers, and that teachers are striking in the 
Western city of Matadi and the Eastern city of Butembo. In 
Lubumbashi, public and Catholic school students  - whose 
teachers are striking - reportedly attacked students who 
continued to attend private school.  Both the Governor of 
Kinshasa and private and Catholic school leaders publicly 
encouraged their students to return to school in Kinshasa 
October 6, and the Governor of Kinshasa stated that he would 
assure students' security by providing police protection. 
EconFSN said that he and some other parents are going to wait 
until Monday, October 10 to send their children to school. 
He also said that he saw some children walking to school, but 
that they were not wearing their uniforms to try to avoid 
assault. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
9. (C) Kabila's personal engagement and the flurry of high 
level meetings demonstrates the GDRC's concern about the 
strike.  At Kabila's meeting with union leaders, the GDRC 
even took the unusual step of showing the budget to the 
unions so that they could understand the very real 
limitations confronting the government. The government 
clearly thought it had a deal, but overestimated the 
difficulty union leaders would encounter in securing their 
members' agreement.  End Comment. 
MEECE