Read this article in:
11 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 15/1998
Colombian electricity workers' bargaining rights are safeguarded under an agreement signed on Tuesday in the presence of the country's President, Ernesto Samper Pizano.
The new accord was signed by the electricity workers' union Sintraelecol, the CUT trade union confederation, the Minister of Labour and the Deputy Minister of Mines. It effectively ends recent Colombian government attempts to annul current collective agreements in the power sector and to curb electricity workers' basic union rights (see ICEM News release 12/1998).
Sintraelecol said the agreement was due to the "resolute support of the workers, whose backing is making it possible for Colombia to develop industrial trade unionism in order to confront the neo-liberal model and defend our rights."
The Colombian electricity industry currently faces extensive restructuring and privatisations. The 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) had strongly urged President Samper to intervene in order to protect the electricity workers'rights. In a recent message to the President, the ICEM argued: "The best way of guaranteeing the supply of electricity to all citizens at a reasonable price and to maintain a qualified, motivated workforce is to establish a proper regulatory framework and a national collective agreement to cover all the companies in the sector, both existing and future entrants."
Now that the principle of collective bargaining has been secured, negotiations are continuing today on the content of a new electricity sector collective agreement, reports ICEM Latin America and Caribbean Regional Coordinator Roque da Silva. He is currently in Colombia for consultations with Sintraelecol and other unions.
The new accord was signed by the electricity workers' union Sintraelecol, the CUT trade union confederation, the Minister of Labour and the Deputy Minister of Mines. It effectively ends recent Colombian government attempts to annul current collective agreements in the power sector and to curb electricity workers' basic union rights (see ICEM News release 12/1998).
Sintraelecol said the agreement was due to the "resolute support of the workers, whose backing is making it possible for Colombia to develop industrial trade unionism in order to confront the neo-liberal model and defend our rights."
The Colombian electricity industry currently faces extensive restructuring and privatisations. The 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) had strongly urged President Samper to intervene in order to protect the electricity workers'rights. In a recent message to the President, the ICEM argued: "The best way of guaranteeing the supply of electricity to all citizens at a reasonable price and to maintain a qualified, motivated workforce is to establish a proper regulatory framework and a national collective agreement to cover all the companies in the sector, both existing and future entrants."
Now that the principle of collective bargaining has been secured, negotiations are continuing today on the content of a new electricity sector collective agreement, reports ICEM Latin America and Caribbean Regional Coordinator Roque da Silva. He is currently in Colombia for consultations with Sintraelecol and other unions.