15 March, 2010As arranged last year, trade union representatives of Tenaris workers have visited Cartagena, Colombia, in solidarity with their SINTRATUCAR colleagues, who are currently faced with a difficult situation.
COLOMBIA: An International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) delegation of Tenaris delegates and union representatives of the Tenaris Workers' World Council visited Colombia from February 26 to March 2 this year, in solidarity with workers at the Tubos del Caribe plant in Cartagena.
The visit to Colombia was decided at last year's meeting in Bergamo, when Jairo del Río, SINTRATUCAR president, reported on the workers' problems with company management at the Cartagena plant and the many death threats received by members of the union executive.
The delegation was composed of trade union representatives of workers at Tenaris plants in Argentina, Canada, Brazil and Italy and an IMF Latin American and Caribbean region delegate. The delegation had a meeting with the Manos Muertas Foundation, which works with women who have occupational diseases, and visited a crèche that the government wants to privatise in a workers' neighbourhood.
A meeting was held to discuss the working conditions of Tenaris workers in various countries as well as the situation of Colombian workers. This meeting was attended by 160 SINTRATUCAR workers.
The delegation also visited the Tubos del Caribe plant. However, inside the plant, the delegation had to remain on the minibus it was travelling in and was not allowed to enter the production facilities. It was therefore unable to see conditions in the facility at first hand or have any direct contact with the workers there. Company management argued that access was not possible on safety grounds, given the unavailability of the appropriate safety equipment for the visitors. The delegation withdrew to outside the factory gates, where it expressed its dissatisfaction with these restrictions but used the opportunity to meet workers who were arriving for the afternoon shift and workers who were leaving the plant.
The World Council condemned the death threats against the SINTRATUCAR executive committee. It said that the rule of law is incompatible with restrictions on trade union freedoms, including workers' rights to choose their own union representatives and stand for election themselves. Finally, SINTRATUCAR expressed its appreciation of the solidarity offered by the delegation.
The delegation resolved to:
- Continue its support and solidarity for SINTRATUCAR;
- Write to Sr Rocca and the Colombian government, calling on them to guarantee the safety of SINTRATUCAR leaders;
- Organise an Internet campaign calling for guarantees for the safety of SINTRATUCAR leaders;
- Write a declaration of support for anyone dismissed from the Valentín Alsina plant and against the use of contract workers at all Tenaris plans;
- Organise activities on April 28: International Workers' Memorial Day.
- Organise the next meeting of the council in São Paulo during the week commencing November 22, 2010.