US embassy cable - 05SANSALVADOR2940

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 002940 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2015 
TAGS: ELAB, ES, ETRD, PGOV, PREL 
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: GOVERNMENT MOVES TOWARD RATIFYING ILO 
CONVENTIONS 87 AND 98 
 
 
Classified By: DCM Michael A. Butler, Reason 1.4 (d) 
 
1. (C)  SUMMARY:  Longstanding international pressure on El 
Salvador to ratify International Labor Organization (ILO) 
Conventions 87 (freedom of association and protection of 
right to organize) and 98 (right to organize and collective 
bargaining) appears to have borne fruit; on October 25 
President Saca announced plans to amend the Constitution as 
necessary in order to facilitate ratification.  Elections 
scheduled for March 2006 facilitate the constitutional 
changes that will be required.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (SBU)  Article 47 of the Salvadoran Constitution 
guarantees the rights of freedom of association and 
collective bargaining for private-sector workers, while 
Article 221 specifically prohibits public and municipal 
workers from striking.  Most legal authorities believe that 
simply by modifying Article 47 to delete the word "private", 
the government could move to ratify 87 and 98, leaving 
Article 221 intact.  In practice, many workers' associations 
already exist to represent public-sector employees; some, 
such as the Social Security (ISSS) and teachers' 
associations, wield considerable power, and the Government 
already interacts with them as unions--but without strike 
authority.  Convention 98 contains safeguards in Articles 4 
and 5 that will allow the GOES to continue to prohibit public 
unions from striking. 
 
3. (SBU)  Under the EU's Generalized System of Preferences, 
El Salvador has until December 31, 2006 to ratify the 
Conventions in order for its temporary status as a GSP 
beneficiary to be made permanent.  Under Salvadoran law, 
constitutional amendments must be ratified by successive 
Legislative Assemblies; municipal and Legislative Assembly 
elections scheduled for March 12, 2006 provide just such a 
window of opportunity prior to the EU's deadline. 
 
3. (C)  COMMENT:  Under previous administrations, Ministries 
of Labor have apparently resisted moves toward ratification 
because of fears that the conventions would sharply limit the 
Ministry's power to control the establishment of unions, 
which are presently subject to a rather complex and 
legalistic process prior to being granted official status. 
Article 2 of Convention 87 states that workers may establish 
unions "without previous authorization", and Articles 3 and 7 
further proscribe government interference with workers' 
rights of association and organization.  These clauses would 
appear to justify previous administrations' concerns over 
loss of their prerogatives, and if they indeed put an end to 
El Salvador's excessively-bureaucratic procedures for 
registering unions, then so much the better.  END COMMENT. 
Barclay