Venezuela Moves Forward with Controversial Labor Plan

 
The question of workers' rights is often debated as a matter of human rights, and many people consider unions to be an essential democratic prerogative. These positions are being put to the test in Venezuela, where a national referendum on December 4 authorized the dismissal of the country's union leadership. The present leaders will be replaced with temporary officials and the government will hold new union elections in six months.

Despite the extremely low turnout (20%), the government of President Hugo Ch�vez is moving ahead to implement its victory in the "Trade Union Referendum." A little more than 65% of those voting supported the government's position to remove the current leadership and hold new union elections in the framework of Ch�vez's Bolivarian Revolution. The process has been roundly condemned as antidemocratic and in violation of the international conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO). It is sure to bring serious confrontations between labor, social and business groups throughout the world as governments are pressured to take stands against this action.

The international trade union movement, the ICFTU, sent a high-level delegation to Caracas on the eve of the vote. The visitors, who included union leaders from Europe, Africa, Japan, Canada and the United States, as well as Latin America, issued a public statement declaring that democracy in Venezuela "is under serious threat from the authoritarian actions of its government, as can be seen from the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice to approve the initiative by the Venezuelan government which is manifestly unconstitutional and, as the ILO stated, in violation of this UN institution's Conventions 87 and 98, and from the denial of other fundamental public rights." The declaration went on to "ask the 148 organizations affiliated to the ICFTU worldwide and its membership of 156 million workers, as well as the affiliates of the International Trade Secretariats to launch a campaign in their respective countries to denounce the undemocratic and anti-union measures of President Ch�vez and his government, and to take action to protest at these violations."

As a result of the referendum, Venezuela has joined Myanmar (Burma) and to some extent Colombia in becoming an international labor pariah. Shamefully, despite having worked closely with the Venezuelan trade union movement for years, the Venezuelan business community has decided to take advantage of the situation. Vicente Brito, head of the most representative of the employers' groups that have participated at the highest levels of the ILO, argued that "despite the high abstention, the referendum must be recognized and the process carried forward without any conflicts" (El Universal, 12/05/00).

The next step in the process will involve the government placing the labor unions, federations and confederations in the hands of committees elected by workers. (A month ago, Ch�vez tried but failed to negotiate an end to the petroleum workers' strike with just such a group of "supporters"). In the meantime, Venezuela's National Electoral Council is preparing to announce guidelines for the direct election of union, federation and confederation officers in the next month. Many observers worry that the Ch�vez government will manipulate these already questionable electoral processes to favor supporters from its Movimiento Quinta Rep�blica and the Fuerza Bolivariana de Trabajadores, the official trade union group.

As the last organized segment of society free from government control, the unions were a logical target for Ch�vez's effort to remake the political map of the country. But while many Venezuelans agree with his accusations of corruption in the unions, the workers, especially in the state and public sectors, have rallied around their organizations and have shown an increased militancy. The current administration has been unable to meet expectations for improved wages and living standards, lending more fuel to the protests.

What will the protests mean? Will boycotts of Venezuelan oil and other products occur? What will Venezuela's trade union leaders do? The president of the National Center of Workers (CTV), Federico Ram�rez Le�n, has stated that he will have to be dragged dead from his office if the government tries to take over his organization. Many others feel as strongly about their own organizations. The fear of violence is well founded, and any incidents will only push the situation to further extremes, both at the national and international levels.

Confronted with this reality, we can only assume that the Ch�vez government will seek to defuse the controversy, as it did the petroleum workers' strike a few months ago. But given the unpredictable nature of the regime, no one can be sure.