EL SALVADOR:
Euros Buy Workers More Rights
Raúl Gutiérrez

SAN SALVADOR,  (IPS) - Ending a half-century of foot-dragging, the government of El Salvador has finally bowed to business pressure and ratified ILO agreements on workers’ rights to unions and collective bargaining -- but not without tacking on restrictions to the recently recognised rights.

Late last month, Congress unanimously approved a package of reforms to clear the way for ratification of International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions 87, 98, 135 and 151, a prerequisite to maintaining preferred tariffs granted by the European Union (EU).

Since July 2005, this Central American country has benefited from the Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) scheme, which that allows Salvadoran products to enter the EU duty free.

Faced with the prospect of paying tariffs of 20.5 percent if the Salvadoran government failed to ratify the conventions, Spanish tuna canning giant Grupo Calvo spearheaded a campaign to force the government to comply with the EU conditions.

Last July, the Calvo company threatened to close its local plant if El Salvador did not ratify the conventions, stating that its competitiveness would drop significantly without the tariff preferences, and laid off 600 workers in preparation for a pull-out from the country.

Grupo Calvo, which has operated in El Salvador since September 2003, has exported 20,500 tonnes of tuna so far this year and has invested 118 million dollars in this country -- more than any other European investor over the past five years.

Ramón Calvo, CEO of Grupo Calvo, spared no effort in lobbying the Salvadoran government. In late June he travelled to San Salvador from Spain, spoke with cabinet members and held meetings with the congressional Policy Commission.

Calvo, who is well aware how important his company’s investment is to the Salvadoran economy, had no doubt that the government would act on his demands. He told the local press: "They can’t afford to let us leave," and "The country has already made it through the hard part, what’s stopping them from completing the easy part?" referring to the ILO conventions.

Congress approved amendments to the Civil Service law that give workers associated with the police, the legal system, the armed forces and other "sensitive areas" the right to collective bargaining and freedom to organise (conventions 87 and 98), but also introduced regulations circumscribing trade union activity.

"This guarantees workers’ rights, while imposing checks on those who might abuse their rights through unreasonable negotiation, or exploit them for political purposes," Luis Mario Rodríguez, Secretary of Legal and Judicial Affairs, told the local press.

"Unions do more than organise strikes, they also have the right to negotiate collective contracts," said congressman Héctor Dada Hirezi, of the opposition United Democratic Centre party.

The amendments to the Civil Service law authorise the establishment of more than one union per institution; for example, in the health sector, doctors, technical staff and other workers could each have separate unions.

Meanwhile, conventions 135 and 151 guarantee protection for union representatives and establish labour relations standards in public administration.

But Congress ignored the demands of labour activists for recognition of the right of trade unions to join federations which could in turn come together in confederations. It also failed to explicitly forbid management from interfering with unions.

Article 48 of the constitution was also amended to expand the list of sectors that do not have the right to strike, which already included the armed forces, the police and the health sector.

Dada Hirezi said the ILO conventions should have been ratified a long time ago. "An incomprehensible gap in our legislation has been rectified now that public employees can legally unionise, which is a basic right in any democracy," said the lawmaker.

Some 100,000 workers will gain the right to form unions when the conventions take effect next year.

The congressman acknowledged that there is still work to be done, but added that while "Not everything was achieved, this is definitely a positive step. The restrictions that remain can be overcome in the future."

Gerardina González, director of the regional ILO office based in Costa Rica, called the ratification "an important step towards the modernisation of labour relations in El Salvador’s public sector," but recognised that the application of the conventions depends on the dynamic of each country.

"We see this as a hopeful step…although we are aware that no single regulation is a panacea for all of the problems facing a country," she said.

Ricardo Calderón, secretary general of El Salvador’s Workers’ Confederation, told IPS that the ratification of the conventions "is a historic and far-reaching step" that will benefit "workers who do not currently have the right to unionise," and are only able to organise in associations.

Calderón also said that the track records of various governments show that the conventions were "not necessarily accepted voluntarily or in recognition of workers’ rights," alluding to the pressure brought on by the EU conditions.

Historically, labour-management relations have been tense and antagonistic in El Salvador. After the military coup in 1930, unionised workers were subject to summary dismissals and persecution, as unions were considered part of a "slippery slope towards communism."

During the 1980-1992 civil war, unions existed largely underground, and many members were arrested, tortured and murdered. Some members, victims of forced disappearance, are still missing.

And an atmosphere of mistrust continues to prevail, despite the signing of the 1992 peace agreement.

Just two years ago, in November 2004, Salvadoran Gilberto Soto, an organiser with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the U.S. truckers’ union, was killed under still-unexplained circumstances when he came to offer support to his counterparts in El Salvador.

More recently, an editorial in the ultraconservative El Diario de Hoy newspaper declared last July that ratification of the ILO conventions amounted to giving in to "blackmail (from the EU) and handing control over the public administration to the most backwards forces."

Given this history, Calderón said the ratification is a step forward in the struggle, and that "what is needed now is the enforcement of the conventions, free of management interference."