In Medellin the delegation had the honour of sitting down with a number of different unions.
Public Service Workers (Sindicato Trabadore Deptales Antioquia)
This union formed in 1945. In 1997, Alvaro Uribe became premier of Antioquia, and began to support private security cooperatives, which quickly developed into paramilitary groups. During Uribe's reign, he fired 900 public service workers, leaving membership of the union at only 600. Following in Uribe's footsteps, the next premier fired an additional 500 members, leaving the union with only 100 members today. Many of these members, after being fired, were taken from work by police officers.
The matter has been taken to the International Labour Organization, which ordered that a number of the workers previously fired must be rehired but the government pays little attention to this. The union is now in another legal battle to have another member, who was illegally fired, reinstated.
The overall perception is that the government, at the national and provincial levels, is trying to annihilate the union movement and have resorted to murdering and threatening union activists as a way of achieving this goal. The brothers and sisters asked that we take this information home and share it, and added that the dignity of Canadians should not be used to exploit Colombia through free trade agreements.
Municipal Workers
The Union of Municipal Workers of Antioquia was created in 1970 – and at it's peak had 1850 members in fifty different locals. Today, the union represents only 370 workers in 32 locals. The government attempted to pressure workers to quit their jobs in order to be rehired in cooperatives. When a large number of those workers refused, paramilitaries began to threaten them, resulting in a number of members being displaced, and seventy members being murdered. Of the seventy cases, not one charge has been laid.
In one area, seven workers were murdered in their workplace -- terrorizing their colleagues in an attempt to stop the union. In another case, a number of garbage men were killed while on their routes.
Many of the communities serviced by the union are in isolated areas that are converged upon by armed groups, military, and police. This has resulted in workers quitting their jobs in order to escape from threats and intimidation.
Like so many other situations in which workers have been fired, this union has also experienced the illegal firing of 23 workers in 2008. Despite a court ruling to rehire the workers, the employer continues to avoid doing this. This again reiterated that there is little respect for the court process by the government.
These workers stated that the Colombian government has no respect for ILO standards or court rulings. This union, like so many, has been labelled as being sympathetic to guerrilla groups. With little credible space within their own country to denounce the situations that they live on a daily basis, OPSEU was again thanked for creating a link between union brothers and sisters so far apart.
Liquor Board Union
In 1998, this union had 720 members in the province of Antioquia. Following the illegal firings initiated by Uribe when he was premier, the union now is made up of only 250 members.
Similar to the high profitability of Ontario's liquor store sales, the sale of liquor in the province of Antioquia accounts for $1 billion pesos per year. This results in roughly $800 million pesos of profit in one year. Ultimately, there is no reason to privatize an asset that results in so much money returning to public hands. Despite this, Uribe initiated the privatization of the board. In 2002, Uribe divided the board amongst a group of politicians, supporters, and friends. In 2006, a piece was sold off to an individual officially linked to the paramilitaries and drug trafficking groups. Despite there being a law suit with regards to the sale to this individual (known as “the onion dealer”), little is expected in terms of a satisfying outcome.
To sum up, what previously only resulted in 7% of total revenue returning to private hands, now results in 22% of revenue returning to private hands. The price for this has been the murders of eight union members as a result of their union activity and denouncing the actions of the government.
The message was clear from this union: continue to oppose the free trade agreement!
OPSEU Attends a Protest Held by ADIDA and CUT
Our afternoon was filled with a public demonstration held by the central trade union organization, CUT, and the Provincial Teacher's Union (ADIDA). The demonstration, of about 5000 people, was a magnificent show of the strength and determination of union brothers and sisters, who, despite the many threats directed at them, continue to fight for what they believe in.
ADIDA, CUT, ANTHOC, COMOSOC
A meeting was also held by ADIDA, CUT, ANTHOC, COMOSOC, and members of community organizations. During this meeting, ANTHOC (Union of Health Care Workers) shared with us stories of the pressures put on union members to quit their jobs and avoid participation in union activities. We heard of mass illegal firings, threats and intimidations by paramilitary groups, as well as forced displacements. We heard the story of one union member who was taken from work at the hospital, only to be found dead the next day. The body showed signs of having been tortured. This was done in the name of privatizing health care.
A memorial to 76 teachers killed in the struggle
We also heard the stories of women who have been displaced by paramilitaries. We heard of how children are forcibly recruited by the army and paramilitary groups from poor neighbourhoods. We heard about how these children are placed on trucks and taken to stadiums where they are asked for proof of having completed the mandatory military service. We heard the stories of their mothers, who run along behind the trucks to try to ensure that their taken children are safe and that they will be returned to them; and we heard of how these women are often the victims of sexual harassment and sexual violence by the military.
In attempts to save their children from this misery, many women uproot their families and move into shanty towns – where they have no access to hydro, water, health care, or education. The women often turn to domestic work, begging, or prostitution to provide for their families.
Members of Christians for Peace shared stories of shootings taking place in their neighbourhoods, and the struggle to prove who was responsible for these actions. As communities approach police to report paramilitaries being present in the neighbourhoods, police advise the communities that the paramilitaries have been demobilized and, therefore, do not exist. It was reported that fighting these groups was comparable to fighting a ghost.
Amidst all of this was the news that only the day before a young woman had been shot while in bed by a stray bullet that pierced the cardboard wall of her home; and only three days before, a member of Christians for Peace had been murdered. Also, in the last 16 days, 15 families had been displaced as a result of the ongoing violence in the neighbourhoods. Gangs and paramilitaries simply move into the homes of the displaced and use them to store weapons or for their own shelter.
In one community, children are being shot by guns with silencers a mere two blocks from the police station. When police arrive at the scene, they ask first if the child is dead – as this creates less work for them. He described being a “prisoner in [his] own neighbourhood” and how these gangs and para groups make it unsafe to even cross certain streets. And, although these terrorists can be seen sitting in local cafes having a cup of coffee, police appear to be unable to capture them.
Another brother added that these groups have entered community schools in order to kill children in the presence of their peers. Many communities have accepted police states in an attempt to clear the neighbourhoods of terrorism – but, again, nothing has changed.
The president of ADIDA discussed the attempt to privatize education: from pre-school to post-secondary. He also made it very clear that Colombia and its people need a safe space where they can descent. With a government in which 30% of congress has links to paramilitaries, the people have little opportunity to safely show their disagreement with the policies, legislation changes, and abuses of the government.
ADIDA is a union not untouched by the horrors of the human rights abuses in Colombia. Over seventy faces of murdered ADIDA activists lined one wall of the building. Since 1986, a total of 260 teachers have been murdered from ADIDA. The affect has been not only on keeping members from being active within the union, but has also resulted in high drop-out rates amongst students, after seeing peers victimized in classrooms by terrorist groups.
ADIDA members spoke of the unlawfulness of the government. They asked that we support them in the struggle to stop the free trade agreements between Colombia and Canada, and that we share their stories abroad.
With statistics like this from CUT alone in 2009:
- 23 trade unionists murdered
- 13 trade unionists have received death threats
- 1 has had an attempt on his life
- 1 has been displaced
OPSEU is committed to do all that we can to ensure that these stories are carried wide and far.
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