17 January, 2012Thanks to national and international trade union solidarity, the Ecopetrol president has reinstated USO president Rodolfo Vecino and revoked the ten-year ban on holding office also placed on him by the company.
COLOMBIA: The president of the Colombian Oil Workers' Union (USO), Rodolfo Vecino has been reinstated by the company's president, who has reversed the decision made by the company's Internal Control Office. The ban on holding office has also been revoked.
Ecopetrol dismissed union president, Rodolfo Vecino in December 2011. Ecopetrol also banned the trade union leader from holding office for ten years. This was the culmination of a disciplinary procedure against the USO president that began in 2010 after he participated in an event also attended by the Polo Democrático candidate for the governorship of Bolívar department.
The final decision was in the hands of the company president, Javier Gutiérrez Pemberthy, who was expected to confirm Vecino's dismissal and punishment.
Meanwhile, Colombian and international unions, such as the ICEM and the IMF were following the situation and giving their solidarity support to their USO colleagues in order to put pressure on the company to make a decision in favour of the trade union leader.
The ICEM Colombia office informed the international trade union movement of the Ecopetrol president's decision to reinstate Vecino. Carlos Bustos of the ICEM, said: "this decision is the result of the national and international attention given to the case, including by ICEM. This again shows that unity and solidarity between workers is crucial in the struggles that we face".