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ICEM’s Colombian Affiliates Band Together to Fight Contract, Agency Labour

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15 August, 2011

 

ICEM’s six Colombian affiliates – Sintraelecol, Sintracarbon, Sintravidricol, Unión Sindical Obrera (USO), Fenaltec, and Sintracarcol – escalated their coordinated struggle against Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) at a seminar held from 26-28 July in Bogotá.
Attended by more than 200 representatives, the seminar welcomed delegates from Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, and Spain. The ICEM was represented by its Director of Industry and Corporate Affairs Kemal Özkan, while regional leadership of other Global Union Federations – International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), UNI, and Public Services International (PSI) – as well as the FNV national centre of the Netherlands attended. A number of local union and NGO representatives were also present.


Organized and coordinated by ICEM Colombian Coordinator Carlos Bustos, the meeting was opened by Özkan, who highlighted ICEM’s global campaign against Contract and Agency Labour. Attendees also listened to presentations from major Colombian national confederation leaders, including the presidents of CUT, CTC, and CGT. All underscored the need to pay close attention to the measures that the union movement as a whole must take to end all forms of precarious employment.

They also spoke of the need to establish mechanisms by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the ITUC’s Americas regional arm, the CSA, to eliminate precarious employment and the scourge of poverty that it creates.

International delegates as well as Colombian union representatives saluted the meeting with messages of their actions against irregular employment.

The phenomenon of precarious employment is seen in transformation of technological advances, rapid globalisation, industrialisation, expansion of capital, and competitive measures and increasing capital accumulation by only a few. This makes impaired working conditions possible, most participants agreed.



In Colombia, unemployment reached to 12.8% in February in 2011. In 2010, the figure of underemployment was 32.6%, while the informal sector employs some 58% of all workers. Union density, however, remains at less than 4% over the last several years.

High rates of unemployment are presented as an excuse for the increased irregular forms of employment. In such high unemployment, employers try to reduce working conditions, and use the refrain “there will always be someone waiting for the job."

As stated by Carlos Bustos, the seminar aimed at to characterize the phenomenon of precarious employment in Colombia, particularly in sectors where ICEM affiliates are active, and it achieved a full exchange of experiences from the legal, economic, political, and social points of view. The successful experiences achieved by USO, Sintravidricol, and Sintracarbon attracted much attention, since these unions have managed to recruit workers who are on non-regular employment contracts.

Finally, a joint declaration (read the Spanish language version here) was developed and approved. It exhibits firmness and decisiveness by participating organizations to tackle Contract and Agency Labour issues.