Call # 259 May 2003

Burkina Faso, like many debt-ridden countries, is subjected to the demands of the international financial institutions (World Bank and the International Monetary Fund). In a country where three-quarters of the population are illiterate, access to medical care and education(1) are threatened more than ever. The most essential sectors of the economy, controlled until now by the state, are being transferred to the private sector. Cotton production, for example, is seriously threatened(2), while sugar cane production has already been privatized. It is the workers in this sector who are paying the price. As soon as their firm was privatized, the most active unionists were dismissed, in contravention of labour regulations.

SOSUCO, the Société Sucrière de la Comoé (Comoe Sugar Company), is established in Banfora, the capital of Comoé province, the Burkina Faso waterfall area. The company, the second largest employer in the country after the state, has 1,218 permanent workers, in addition to some 400 seasonal labourers and 3,000 to 5,000 daily workers. Sugar cane is grown on 4,000 of the 10,000 hectares it owns. Before privatization in 1998, the Burkina Faso state held 85% of the company’s shares. Today, bought out by the group IPS, a subsidiary of AGAKAN, the sugar company is faithfully applying the rules of the liberal economy.

From the outset IPS’s bid to buy out the national company SOSUCO provided for a number of retrenchments. Owing to mobilization of workers and the different unions present in the company, that initial bid was refused. In theory the second bid guaranteed all workers’ jobs.

The consulting firm Ernst and Young, responsible for auditing the former national company, concluded that it was healthy. Yet, noting a strong trade union tradition, it recommended replacing that with a policy aimed at developing a new corporate culture. The newly-appointed managing director proclaimed himself "general secretary" of all the firms’ unions. He announced the end of demand unionism and its replacement by a participatory unionism. From then on, Burkina Faso’s labour laws and the sugar company’s internal regulations were flouted more and more often. Workers were dismissed with no regard for legal procedures.

Privatization and repression

On 20 October and then again on 18 December 1998, staff representatives sent letters of complaint to the general management. Neither were answered. On 15 July 1999, to force management to break its silence, the workers organized a demonstration outside the factory. At 6 a.m. the next day the factory was occupied by police and eight leaders of the different unions(3) were officially notified of their dismissal. Since then trade union meetings have been banned on the factory premises and a long legal battle has begun.

The dismissed workers first appealed to the local Labour Inspection service which demanded their re-employment. To avoid applying this decision, on 13 August 1999 the employer transformed the dismissal into a temporary suspension and simultaneously lodged an appeal with the Labour Ministry. The Ministry upheld the Banfora inspector’s decision.

On 18 August 1999 the International Confederation of Free Unions expressed its indignation about the schemes against the SOSUCO employees and asked the President of Burkina Faso to quash the disciplinary measures.

Time acts against the law

Convinced that it had time on its side, the company appealed to the Administrative Court which dismissed the case. It then decided to use its last remaining argument and appealed to the Court of Cassation. This court usually pronounces judgement at the latest three months after receiving a case, but this case has now been pending for two years, four years after the events.

Faced with this serious infringement of workers’ rights, the Burkina Faso government has been asked to react on several occasions, by local and national trade union branches. In their demands during national demonstrations, all the country’s unions regularly ask for swift processing of labour conflict cases under way, especially the Banfora case.

The B-CGT is continuing its action and, along with other union organizations, is undertaking new initiatives at government level to ensure that this case is not shelved. The union activists awaiting the court’s decision have already suffered a lot and none of them have been able to find work. It is urgent for the legal proceedings undertaken to reach a conclusion.

(1) Burkina : trop c’est trop, Call n°229 of 21 December 2000

(2) Afrique de l’Ouest : sauvons le coton, Call n° 243 of 18 January 2001

(3) Several trade unions are represented in the SOSUCO : CGT-B, the ONSL, the CSB, the USTB. The CGT-B is in the majority, as in many other firms in the area. At the time of privatization, all the different unions grouped together under an umbrella organization to defend their workers’ interests more effectively.

Unions and citizen movements in Burkina Faso

Of Burkina Faso’s 12 million inhabitants, only 250,000 are wage-earners.

But the unions and especially the CGT-B have always played a key role in strengthening a civic spirit independent of the government authorities.

Between the CGT-B, the Mouvement Burkinabè des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples, and the Association Nationale des Etudiants du Burkina, very close ties exist in the framework of the struggle against impunity and for the improvement of living conditions in the country. Yet arbitrary transfers and disciplinary sanctions against the militants of these organizations are rife.

Extend cooperation between unions and associations

In February 2003 a joint Peuples Solidaires and CFDT Brittany Regional Union delegation went to meet organizations defending economic and social rights.

A delegation of Burkina Faso militants will travel to France next autumn to formalize the partnerships formed during that interaction.

For further information on the international sugar trade

www.sucre-ethique.org

Protest letter

Mr. Badini Boureima

Minister of Justice

01 BP 526

Ouagadougou 01

Burkina Faso

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Dear Sir,

I have been informed by Réseau Solidarité (10, quai de Richement, 35000 Rennes, France) of the unusually long delay at the Burkina Faso Court of Cassation in reaching a decision concerning the breach of the employment contracts of SOSUCO trade unionists on 16 July 1999. These dismissals were cancelled by the labour inspector, a decision confirmed by the Labour Minister. Yet the unionists’ former employer lodged an appeal with the Court of Cassation over two years ago. Since the said Court normally passes judgement within two or three months, it is surprising that this important case concerning the protection of workers’ rights is still pending.

I therefore urge you to fulfil your duty by ensuring that the functioning of this Court upholds the Rule of Law, especially with regard to workers’ basic rights.

Looking forward to receiving news on the results of your intervention,

Yours faithfully,

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