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12 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 37/2002
On September 16 over 800,000 workers participated in a National Day of Action organized by the Colombian trade unions including ICEM affiliates. Demonstrations and strikes took place throughout the country. The unions were protesting against a decree adopted by the new Colombian President, Alvaro URIBE, introducing more 'flexibility' in working relations. This will inevitably lead to many redundancies, as well as reducing salaries and cutting pensions.
Activists and ICEM Vice-President Paul Lootens
demonstrate in front of the Colombian Embassy in Brussels (Photos: Lieven Vanhoutte, AC-CG)
In a letter to President Uribe, ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs warned against the kind of crisis that has hit other Latin-American countries: 'You must desist from the intention to cut rights obtained by workers through a tradition of struggle. Your proposals will inevitably lead to lower wages for the workers and this will in turn paralyze production as no-one can afford it.' Higgs further expressed the full support of the 20 million-strong ICEM for the Day of Action in Colombia and urged President Uribe to fully guarantee the democratic rights of Freedom of Assembly and the Right to Organize.
Acts of repression were reported in many regions. ICEM's Belgian affiliate La Centrale Générale FGTB - De Algemene Centrale ABVV had sent an observer. This activist witnessed several serious acts of repression and was himself briefly detained.
In their continued support to Colombian workers, La Centrale Générale FGTB - De Algemene Centrale ABVV (AC-CG), participated in a demonstration at the Brussels Colombian embassy on September 16 to coincide with the actions in Colombia. Demonstrators expressed their support for the Colombian workers' struggle for democracy and trade unions rights. AC-CG's Federal Secretary and ICEM Vice-President, Paul Lootens, handed the Ambassador an appeal to the Colombian President. In his letter, Lootens insisted that the Colombian President should 'encourage a political solution to the internal armed conflict, guarantee the constitutional right to expression and mobilization and fully protect the human rights of the struggling workers'.
ICEM will continue to monitor the situation in Colombia and to support actions in favor of peace, democracy and trade union rights.
For the full text of Fred Higgs' letter to President Uribe (in Spanish), click here.