Colombian Workers Continue to Face Widespread Violence, Human Rights Violations, Members of Congress Hear From New Report
WASHINGTON—Three years to the day after the U.S.-Colombia Labor Action Plan (LAP) was signed, workers in Colombia remain repressed through widespread violence and other human rights violations, according to a new report. The National Labor School (ENS) found that the limited reforms agreed to as part of the LAP have failed to produce meaningful results in protecting Colombian workers’ internationally recognized rights, including the right to be free from threats and violence, or in prosecuting recent and past murders of trade union leaders.
The Congressional Monitoring Group on Labor Rights in Colombia (CMG) was formed after Congress approved the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement to monitor implementation of the U.S.-Colombia LAP and ensure that it adequately protects Colombian workers’ fundamental labor and human rights. Members of the CMG, including Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), issued the following statement in response to the ENS report:
“Today’s report reminds us that we have a very long way to go in successfully implementing the LAP and ensuring that workers can safely and freely exercise their fundamental rights. We urge President Santos to ensure and guarantee that the limited reforms that have been accomplished by the Ministry of Labor do not go unfinished.
“In addition, we urge the new U.S. Ambassador to Colombia Kevin Whitaker to make the LAP a priority and seek advancements and results. In particular, we urge him to highlight illegal forms of hiring, the use of collective pacts by companies that undermine unions, and the problem of impunity.”
ENS’s findings echo the conclusions of a report released last October by Reps. Miller and James McGovern (D-Mass.) about the implementation of the U.S.-Colombia LAP. Miller and McGovern, both members of the CMG, visited Colombia in August 2013 to examine the implementation of the LAP and its impact on the ground. They subsequently compiled a report that detailed weak enforcement of existing labor laws and continued violence against labor leaders in Colombia.
For more on Reps. Miller and McGovern’s October 2013 report, click here.
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