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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Ivory Coast
Index
Labor
In the 1980s, approximately 100,000 full-time workers
in the
regulated sectors belonged to trade unions. Union
membership was
highest among white-collar workers, professionals, civil
servants,
and teachers. All unions except the National Union of
Secondary
School Teachers of Côte d'Ivoire (Syndicat National des
Enseignants
du Secondaire de Côte d'Ivoire--SYNESCI) were part of a
government-controlled federation, the General Federation
of
Ivoirian Workers (Union Générale des Travailleurs de Côte
d'Ivoire-
-UGTCI), which counted approximately 190 affiliates. Its
secretary
general from its founding until 1984 was Joseph Coffie, a
veteran
of the PDCI and trusted companion of President
Houphouët-Boigny. In
1988 the secretary general was Hyacinthe Adiko Niamkey.
From its inception, the UGTCI saw itself as a
participant in
development rather than a combatant on behalf of labor. In
that
role, the UGTCI supported government efforts to promote
unity and
development, justifying its stance as helping to continue
the
struggle for independence. The UGTCI did not object to the
state's
development policies, and its leaders participated in
government
policy debates, thereby becoming, in effect, instruments
of
economic development.
Not surprisingly, the UGTCI exercised little political
or
economic clout. Strikes were legal, but principals first
had to
complete a lengthy process of negotiation, during which
any work
stoppage was illegal. Moreover, demands on its members by
UGTCI
leadership seeking more efficient production counted more
than
workers' complaints. At the same time, the UGTCI exercised
a
modicum of autonomy in protests over wages and the pace of
Ivoirianization. In response, the guaranteed urban minimum
wage had
been raised several times since the mid-1970s. However,
wages were
not keeping pace with inflation.
Wildcat strikes or other unsanctioned job actions were
not much
more productive. In dealing with job actions, the
government first
exploited the media to gain sympathy for its position and
then
confronted strike leaders with overwhelming force. Usually
the
government softened its position by rehiring most of the
workers
previously dismissed and by compromising on peripheral
matters.
Underlying problems remained unresolved or were settled in
accordance with government intentions. In 1985, after
16,892
parastatal workers, many of whom were highly paid
professionals,
staged a job action to protest deep wage cuts, the
government
threatened to fire all workers who refused to honor the
government's deadline and to replace them with unemployed
university graduates. Eventually the government fired 342
holdouts.
At other times, the government dissolved the refractory
union, thus
depriving any strike of legitimacy and the union of any
recourse.
Data as of November 1988
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