Reply #3: International Labour Conference silent on Colombia [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

International Labour Conference silent on Colombia

PSI deeply regrets that the situation in Colombia will not be discussed within the
Committee on the Application of Standards, now taking place during the 96th session of
the International Labour Conference in Geneva. Given the continuing seriousness of the
situation in Colombia, PSI is disappointed and saddened that employer and government
representatives to the ILC did not accept that Colombia be included in the final list of
cases to be discussed.

Colombia had appeared on the preliminary list of cases to be examined during the
conference, in relation to violations of ILO Conventions 87 (Freedom of Association) and
98 (Collective Bargaining).

Colombia holds the record of being the country in which the most men and women
have been murdered as a direct result of their trade union work. In 2005, 70 trade
unionists were assassinated. In 2006, the figure rose to 72 trade unionists. Acts of
violence against trade unionists further include kidnappings, attempted
assassinations, disappearances, threats, detentions, tortures and forced
displacement, all in a climate of impunity.

A report produced by the International Confederation of Trade Unions (ITUC) in
November 2006 highlighted the fact that in practice, few workers in Colombia can
enjoy their fundamental rights to form and join a union, to bargain collectively and to
strike, despite the fact that those were all enshrined in Colombia’s 1991
Constitution. Employers’ illegal anti-union acts usually go unpunished while the
government’s practices during restructuring and privatisation of public companies
can only be considered deliberate anti-union strategies.
(snip)

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