U.S. Union Delegation Takes on Workers' Rights in Colombia

CWA President Larry Cohen and other members of a labor fact-finding delegation visiting Colombia this week deplored workers' rights abuses and continuing violence against unionists in the country in speaking to reporters in Bogota on Wednesday. 

They declared that the Bush administration's proposed trade deal with Colombia won't pass the U.S. Congress until it is rewritten to protect union activists – 1,165 of whom have been murdered over the past two decades.  "We see no chance that the trade deal will pass in the United States, period," Cohen was quoted in a Reuters news report.

The delegation blamed the continuing anti-labor policies of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a Bush ally, for the decline of unionization.  "This is not just about the death of union members.  It's about the death of unions in Colombia," Cohen stated.

"Colombia is the only country in this hemisphere with lower collective bargaining coverage than the U.S., with only 1 percent of workers in Colombia having bargaining rights," Cohen said. "This represents the nearly total destruction of a labor movement that had 15 percent coverage just 15 years ago. In Colombia, even in basic industries such as telecom, most workers have been reclassified so they have no employee status."

The U.S.delegation met with Colombian union and labor federation leaders, participated in a vigil for slain union activists, and also met with President Uribe and other government officials, whom they pressed for labor law reforms and stronger action to investigate and curb the killings of unionists by right-wing paramilitary forces.

Joining Cohen were Linda Chavez-Thompson, retired former executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, and representatives of the United Steelworkers.