Colombia: no halt in murder of trade unionists and violation of trade union rights

A further three trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia in recent months. The ITUC has firmly denounced and condemned these assassinations.

Brussels, 27 June 2007: A further three trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia in recent months. The ITUC, which has three affiliates in Colombia, the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT), the Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT) and the Confederación de Trabajadores de Colombia (CTC), has firmly denounced and condemned these assassinations.

William Cabuyales Díaz, President of the Sindicato de Agricultores del Cabuyalk and a member of the Regional Executive of FERTRASUCCOL, Ana Silvia Melo de Rodríguez, a representative of SINDIMANUELA, affiliated to the CGT, Andrés Melán Cardona, a representative of SINTRATEXTIL, affiliated to CUT and Raúl Enrique Gómez Velasco, President of FETRALNORTE, were murdered for defending trade union rights.

In Colombia, the murder, harassment and threatening of trade unionists are everyday events. In spite of this, during the latest International Labour Conference of the ILO, the Colombian government and employers worryingly succeeded in stopping Colombia from being classed among the world’s worst violators of trade union and human rights.

The ITUC stressed the need to also examine the impact of this violence on trade union rights in Colombia, including freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. One example is the situation affecting employees of the Olímpica supermarket chain, which is determined to do away with the union of some 3000 workers, another is that at Coolechera, where employers have been blocking the signing of a collective agreement for four years.

In a letter to the authorities the ITUC called on the Colombian government to carry out an exhaustive investigation into each of these murders, to arrest the authors and perpetrators and have them tried before a competent, fair and impartial court, to punish them in accordance with the law, and to take every step to guarantee the full exercise of trade union rights.

Founded on 1 November 2006, the ITUC represents 168 million workers in 153 countries and territories and has 304 national affiliates.

For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 621 018.