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Venezuela: report of a TUC delegation in May 2006

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Report of a General Council delegation, May 2006
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Congress in 2005 agreed that the TUC should organise a trade union delegation to meet and build links with Venezuelan trade unionists as part of its solidarity with the Venezuelan people and opposition to outside interference in the social achievements of the government. After consulting with unions, it was agreed in October that the General Council delegation should be balanced, representative and accountable and include a spread of unions. This document reports on the visit of a TUC General Council delegation to Venezuela, 21-26 May, led by Deputy General Secretary Frances O'Grady. Other members of the delegation were: Barry Camfield, Gail Cartmail and Jeremy Dear of the General Council; Keith Sonnet, Deputy General Secretary, Unison; and Simon Steyne, TUC. Liam Craig-Best and Mariela Kohon of Justice for Colombia provided interpretation.

The purpose of the delegation was, in line with the Congress resolution, primarily to learn more about the Venezuelan trade union movement, and express solidarity with the people of Venezuela against the threat of external US intervention in their affairs and in support of the redistributive pro-poor policies introduced by the Chavez government. It took place a week after President Chavez made a private visit to London, during which he addressed a private meeting of trade unionists including many General Councillors. The delegation spent time in Caracas and the major industrial city of Valencia; visiting the main oil refinery; an integrated workers' cooperative and its clinic; and meeting the national and, in Valencia, local leadership of the CTV and UNT trade union confederations (including the various UNT factions); the labour minister; the deputy leader of the National Assembly and the British Ambassador. The delegation also attended the opening sessions of the continental conference on the repayment of social debt and of the UNT congress, and was received for a private meeting and informal dinner with ministers by President Chavez.

Receiving the report, the TUC Executive Committee agreed that the TUC should continue to maintain contact with the various strands of the Venezuelan trade union movement and continue to encourage union interest in developments in Venezuela. The TUC will continue to raise the concerns expressed in the Congress resolution with the British government, for example through the FCO-TUC advisory council. Means to strengthen practical links and support, for example union training, will be considered too.

trade unions in Venezuela

The Venezuelan trade union movement is divided into five national confederations: CTV, UNT, Codesa, CUTV and CGT and many independent unions. The delegation was able to meet only the CTV and UNT during the visit. Membership figures are hard to establish.

The ICFTU-affiliated CTV, according to its own claims and the ILO, is not fully recognised by the Government, the National Electoral Commission (CNE) having refused to recognise the results of its leadership elections in 2001. The CTV, which has 25 regional federations, 48 national sectoral unions and some 1000 workplace unions claims to have had 1.3 million members in 2001 but says that has fallen due to informalisation.

The UNT, established after the coup in April 2003, mainly by CTV members dissatisfied with the stance of the CTV leadership, supports the Government of President Chavez. UNT representatives claimed that trade union penetration had increased from around 12 per cent to about 18 per cent. [1] The UNT claims membership has grown well in excess of that of CTV. The UNT does not yet have an elected leadership and there are deep divisions about when elections should be held which led to the suspension of the UNT Congress after the TUC delegation had left. Currently the UNT is run by a collective leadership drawn from the various factions [2] . At the beginning of the conference it was reported that there were 2500 registered delegates from about 1000 union branches, 22 regional organisations and 13 national federations.

Meetings with the CTV

The delegation met Manuel Cova, CTV General Secretary, and national CTV leaders. They explained their views of the problems facing the country: while the Chavez government had adopted a pro-poor discourse, it had failed to deal with continuing high unemployment, informalisation of the economy, low wages and lack of social security. Despite its oil wealth, Venezuela had been poorly governed for fifty years. The CTV welcomed important social changes that had occurred under the new government such as land distribution and the 'misiones' - the social programmes on health, education, literacy and housing that have much improved the lives of poor Venezuelans - but were of the view that they represented oil-funded state charity and were no substitute for a healthy, more diversified economy based on decent work for all. They (and the UNT) also expressed concern about high levels of violence: there have been 60,000 murders in the last seven years. They were deeply concerned about increased informalisation and precarious employment, claiming that 800,000 workers were being employed by bogus co-ops under what amounted to contracts for services. The opposition to such 'bosses' cooperatives' was shared by the UNT.

They said they had always tried to work with the other confederations, but political differences - the CTV had been in alliance with the ruling Accion Democratica - had become more acute. They complained of interference in their elections by the CNE - Cova noting also, as President of a construction workers union, that 13 months after its elections, the results had still not been recognised by the CNE so the union could not sign collective agreements. The same had applied, but for three years now, to CTV affiliates in public administration, health service and education, in which salaries had been increased by Presidential decree without negotiation, nor had there been any social dialogue on minimum wages. However, these claims were hotly contested by the UNT and the government.

In response to questions about CTV involvement in the 2002 coup, Cova claimed that the CTV had been under attack from the Government long before the coup. He said that President Chavez had publicly threatened to abolish the CTV and replace it with an official organisation, and in 1999 the National Constitutional Council had tried unsuccessfully to dissolve the CTV. He also referred to the findings of the Inter-American Committee on Human Rights about a list of Venezuelan workers who had been blacklisted because they had supported the recall referendum against President Chavez. Although the President himself had called for the list not to be used, public authorities were still doing so. As regards the 16-year prison sentence imposed on the CTV President, Carlos Ortega, Cova said that he had been imprisoned for leading a political strike, but the delegation could not find out why he had not, instead, been charged in connection with the coup. Cova denied any CTV involvement in the coup, but the TUC delegation was shown evidence which contradicted that.

While the CTV's elections had not been recognised by the CNE, they said, the pro-government UNT, which had still held no leadership elections, was recognised. They believed that trade union work was difficult for all organisations, including the UNT, but also that the government was constructing a corporatist system using the UNT as an intermediary - though they did not describe the UNT as a state organ. Some commentators have also described the former alliance between Accion Democratica, the CTV and Fedecamaras, as corporatist. The CTV's present view though was that Fedecamaras was taking advantage of their weakened position, noting that the Government was engaging in dialogue with the employers' confederation - even though it had helped lead the coup.

The delegation met regional leaders of the CTV in Carabobo province who said that their offices had been occupied and expropriated in March 2005. Despite court rulings they had not been able to reclaim the building, which now housed an adult education mision. The local leaders said that even when the CTV won elections in local workplaces steps were taken to remove them from office or substitute their union with another. A former PDSVA (state petroleum company) employee - General Secretary of the electricity workers union at the El Palito Oil Refinery - had been among the 23,000 permanent workers dismissed following their strike in early 2002 against the replacement of the senior management with military figures allied to President Chavez. They had lost their tied housing and their children had been removed from the company schools. The workers had had no redress through a tribunal, and had lost back pay, were without social security and claimed their pensions were being withheld.

Meetings with the UNT

The UNT presents a different face. While most of the CTV leaders we met were male, white, middle-aged or elderly, the UNT, while still having a mainly male leadership, was younger and ethnically diverse. They had a vision of a UNT that would organise in the informal as well as the formal economy and in the private sector as well as in the state and parastatal sectors. UNT representatives were supportive of the 'Bolivarian Revolution', but defended trade union autonomy, and most took the view that the CTV would disappear because it represented the old system which was not supported by the mass of working people. They criticised the CTV for supporting Fedecamaras' desire for a more flexible labour market, continuation of temporary contracts and opposition to the law on 'Solvencia Laboral', a law which was described to the TUC delegation as a national registry of companies which required certain social obligations to be met before the provision of government grants, contracts etc. They also claimed that the CTV was present in all social dialogue meeting.

All were eager for people around the world to understand better what was happening in Venezuela and keen to develop relationships with the TUC: they believed they could learn from the TUC's experience. Some were eager to develop links with the new international trade union body while others said that ICFTU-ORIT had played a direct role, through the CTV, in the coup and wanted debate with all international trade union organisations. Some echoed the CTC-Cuba's declared desire to transform the WFTU into an alliance of trade unions and social organisations opposed to globalisation. The TUC delegation pressed the issue of union freedom and independence of unions from both government and employers at every meeting and, while they were obviously strongly supportive of Chavez, were satisfied that the UNT recognised the importance of this.

The delegation met with local UNT leaders in Carabobo. Before the introduction of the new constitution under President Chavez, they claimed, attempts at organisation had been met by dismissals. The new organisation had grown in two-and-a-half years from ten unions to 150, mostly in private companies. The old CTV leadership had been overthrown in elections or referenda. They were organising in large companies - present were representatives from Ford, Chrysler, Goodyear, petrochemicals, food and drink and paper companies, as well as a teacher union representative - but also in SMEs and in the informal economy. They said that, for years, there were no elections in the tyre and car-manufacturing sectors - Accion Democratica had beaten up workers who tried to organise and the regional secretary said he had witnessed an election in which the first act had been to place an automatic pistol on the table. Thanks to President Chavez, the right had been pushed out, there was a new leadership, moves towards democracy and the growth of grass-roots unions. In the last 18 months they had called eight legal strikes (a number of hurdles have to be overcome before a strike is declared legal). They shared concerns about bogus co-ops and were critical of the lack of progress in workers' control and co-management - in which, they said, management sometimes hand-picked so-called worker representatives. While President Chavez had called for workers' control, other parts of the Government claimed that was inappropriate for 'essential' services. This regional union had members in several major multinational enterprises which are unionised in Britain and they were keen to develop links with unions in those companies.

other meetings
El Palito oil refinery

The delegation paid a brief visit to El Palito, one of Venezuela's three main refineries and a main site of the dispute in the sector which rocked the country December 2002-February 2003. A presentation was given about a redistributive social development programme for workers in the company and the surrounding area. The programme for the 'social district' had provided 4000 medical consultations, paediatric and obstetric and gynaecological services, 15,000 prescriptions and 100 tonnes of food sold at cheap prices. 55,000 people were about to complete secondary education. The present industrial relations arrangement was described as partnership 'to avoid the need for strikes'. Regarding the strike/lockout, the Sinupetrol-UNT representative in the refinery said those dismissed had not been fired, but had left their posts. They had been allowed one year to find new housing and schools. It was said that, in the past, staff had been employed purely on the basis of CTV membership regardless of their skills. While anyone could apply to work at the refinery - which had significantly reduced its staff, described as previously including thousands of supernumerary employees - no-one who had taken part in the strike would be re-employed and there were no longer any CTV members on the payroll.

Nucleo de Desarrollo Endogeno 'Fabricio Ojeda'

The delegation visited an integrated 'endogenous development' centre near Caracas - a workers' cooperative complex including a garment and shoe factory producing for state contracts (including shoes for children attending the new integrated comprehensive schools), a polyclinic, library, small market garden and subsidised supermarket. A nursery school was to be added. The co-op provided employment mainly for women from the local barrios. It was run by workers' committees with rotating responsibility for management and supervisory tasks but without any trade union presence as yet. The delegation noted inadequate health and safety in the shoe factory where workers were using solvents, but not all were using the masks that had been supplied. This was one of a number of such projects throughout the country, increasing the amount of formal, decent work.

Other meetings

Wide-ranging discussions were held with the Labour Minister, Ricardo Dorado. In particular, the delegation asked about freedom of association and the prospects for national reconciliation. The Minister emphasised that Venezuela was seeking a way out of neoliberalism, in which the needs of the majority would be satisfied. He said that, before 1999, unions were both repressed by government and undemocratic and greater space must be opened for the trade union movement to organise, especially in the private sector where there was little respect for trade union rights. He presented the view that where union elections had not been possible after 1999, the workers had set up parallel unions, so there were now many new unions in companies. He described the old corporate system as a monopoly which had 'kidnapped' the union leadership. Only the employers and unions had engaged in social dialogue and they had legitimised the destruction of the social security system. Now up to seven unions were permitted to organise in the same workplace. With regards to the oil dispute he said that there had been an attempt to sabotage the oil sector and that those responsible were prosecuted under the law. The schools from which the children had been removed, he said, were available to children of the 23,000 managers in the company. He also said that the Ministry was working to ensure that those workers dismissed who were not involved - women on maternity leave, or those on holiday or sick leave - would be able to return but that 'saboteurs' would not be reinstated. He said that they had not been dismissed, they left, but that they did have a right to the social security to which they had contributed. He said that the old CTV leaders had been guilty of electoral fraud and had become rich, which was why the government wished to see the accounts and supervise elections.

A brief meeting with the Vice-President of the National Assembly gave the delegation an opportunity to hear more about the constitution - based on five pillars of the executive, legislature, judiciary, attorney general and people's defender, and electoral power. The Assembly has 166 members from different factions but all supportive of the Government, as the opposition withdrew from the last elections in December 2005. The Government aimed to establish a participatory as well as a parliamentary democracy, of which the communal councils law and the devolution of power and budgets was an important part. They spoke of a 'parliament of the street', in which MPs return to their constituencies weekly to discuss legislative proposals with the elected communal councils. Concerns were expressed about possible externally-provoked destabilisation around the elections due in December 2006.

The delegation was warmly received for an informal meeting and dinner with President Chavez at the Miraflores Palace, in which the President expressed his gratitude for the TUC's support for Venezuela's sovereignty and a desire to strengthen links - not least with the Mayor of London. The delegation also met the British Ambassador, Donald Lamont, who also attended the dinner with the President. He expressed concern that the good news about Venezuela was not widely enough known, though, despite serious crime levels, foreign investment continued to increase. He believed that a major challenge for the country was to find a balance between investment in social programmes and diversification of the economy to provide more decent work.

conclusion

Venezuela is undergoing significant change. For many among the mass of poor Venezuelans the change in their daily lives as a result of government social programmes is fundamental and it is the main way in which the country's oil wealth is being redistributed. The TUC delegation took the view that positive progress is being made. But the former ruling elite - who still appear to be living in considerable comfort - remain opposed to these developments. There is huge popular support for President Chavez's government's desire to demonstrate that 'another world is possible'. On the trade union front, if the UNT can elect an accountable leadership and maintain unity, it does seem probable that it will become the dominant trade union force in the country, while the CTV's decline is likely to continue.


[1] The Labour Ministry presented to the 2006 ILO Conference annual figures of collective agreements signed between 1999 and 2004. In 2000, the CTV was still signing 94 per cent of CBAs, while 5.7% were signed by organisations not affiliated to a national confederation and 0.3% were signed by Codesa. In 2002 the split between CTV and non-affiliated unions was about 50/50. By 2003 the CTV proportion had fallen to 25% while the newly established UNT had 74% (covering 900,000 workers). In 2004 the UNT had 45% (covering 348,000 workers), the CTV 22% and non-affiliated unions 33%. These figures themselves provide no reliable indication of membership as the CTV's bargaining rights have been restricted in recent years and CBAs cover non-members as well as members.

[2] The three largest are that led by Marcela Mastrepo (former leader of the CTV Christian Democrat faction); the 'Class, United, Revolutionary and Autonomous Current' (C-CURA) led by Orlando Chirino and Stalin Perez; and the Bolivarian Workers Front (FBT) led by Jacobo Torres, an official employed in the Chancellery, which is the trade union wing of President Chavez's Fifth Republic Movement and claims to be the single biggest current now in the UNT. In addition, the CUTV, linked to the Communist Party of Venezuela, is linked with a smaller faction in the UNT - the Workers' Class Current and the TUC is aware of reports that the CUTV will merge with the UNT.

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