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We have known for years about the dangers of being a trade unionist in Colombia, of the murders of organizers and labor officials. The murders have increased in frequency in the years since the US negotiated a trade deal with Colombia. They are well documented.
Now, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has put names to the tragedy. In a letter to President Obama, Trumka says that 22 union activists have been killed in Colombia this year, including 15 since a so-called “Action Plan” designed to crack down on union violence was instituted in the country. All of their names are in a fact sheet at the end of the letter.
Trumka added that six Catholic bishops have been killed in Colombia in 2011. The Bishops Conference of Colombia believes the killings occurred because of “their courageous commitment… with the prophetic denunciation of injustice and the cause of the poorest in the country.” He concludes:
Simply put, Colombia should not be rewarded with a trade agreement until it develops a proven track record of ensuring that workers can exercise the fundamental rights of free association and collective bargaining; preventing violence against union leaders and other social justice advocates; and bringing to justice those who perpetrated such crimes. Providing Colombia with unfettered access to the U.S. market, and beneficial terms for investment, government procurement, and other commercial areas without requiring sustained and measurable progress toward protecting human rights will undercut our leverage to encourage Colombia to follow up its promises and intentions with effective actions.
Incidentally, in The Hill story on Trumka’s letter, right-wing commenters called the murder of 22 trade union activists “a good start,” along with other abhorrent or ignorant remarks.
In addition to sanctioning murder in the eyes of the world, the Colombia trade agreement will cost America up to 55,000 jobs at a time when the country can ill afford it.
The so called “free” trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea could come up for a vote in Congress next month.
23 Comments
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Right wing commenters? Looks as if one guy said something like that and now the post has been removed.
Well, that post has been removed, but the level of right-wing, anti-worker blather and anti-union propaganda is still frightening. No wonder the working and middle classes in this country vote against their own interests, they have been pickled in a pro-corporate brine served up by the media.
There was quite a bit of it, apparently. Go here.
The comments to “The Hill” are appalling, DDay. One wonders if members of Congress take ANY note?
Again, fatster, thank you for being able to re-appear the disappeared, however despicable …
Civilty … where have you gone?
DW
It would be nice if the AFL-CIO would send the President a list of all the labor leaders murdered by the Panamanian government and its proxies. If its good enough for Colombia, it should apply equally to Panama.
The problem is that the AFL-CIO has often been more likely to collude in supression of left/labor activity than promote it, in many countries, for decades, working with the CIA and USAID to stop the development of socialism–which, duh–often goes hand in hand with left/labor activity.
See:
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA/CIO_without_CIA.html
And:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Institute_for_Free_Labor_Development
And:
http://users.crocker.com/~acacia/text_labor_cia.html
And these two books, mentioned in the wikipedia article:
Carew, Anthony (February 1998). The American Labor Movement in Fizzland: The Free Trade Union Committee and the CIA – Central Intelligence Agency. Labor History.
Waters, Robert (2005-03-15). The World’s Longest General Strike: The AFL-CIO, the CIA, and British Guiana. Diplomatic History.
There’s a REASON that capital doesn’t like labor, and sometimes kills labor leaders–it doesn’t just happen in Colombia. Obama doesn’t WORK for labor; he just lies to it to get elected.
My goodness, Trumka sends a sternly worded letter. Bring me my smelling salts, Viola.
Ya know, workers really are the ENEMIES of the PTB.
It would be nicer still if a list of all the U.S. workers murdered in the history of the U.S. labor movement were made available to O.
And while at it, perhaps a list of all nonwhites who have been murdered by PTB. O should appreciate that one. /s
That would be a start.
and he might also send Obama this:
“WHEN the first accusations emerged in 2005 linking Jorge Noguera, the former chief of Colombia’s intelligence agency, to right-wing paramilitary death squads, Álvaro Uribe, then the president, said he’d put his “hands in the fire for him”. Mr Uribe named Mr Noguera consul in Milan to remove him from the fray of the allegations. By 2007, however, the evidence against the former spy chief had mounted, and he had to return to Colombia to face criminal charges.
On September 14th Mr Noguera was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was convicted of allowing paramilitaries to infiltrate the intelligence service, known as DAS, and giving them confidential information, including the names of suspected leftists who ended up on death-squad hit lists. His involvement was specifically cited in the murder of Alfredo Correa de Andreis, a sociologist.”
http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2011/09/paramilitaries-and-colombias-government
Obama does not give a crap if workers get killed. he is killing innocent people in pakistan, libya, iraq etc. he is killing on the down low in africa. he is killing people here by reducing them to serfs. so he does not give a toss about some workers in columbia. In fact this agreement will help speed up the killing process, as more corporations use militia to get rid of pesky workers that demand fair conditions and threaten profits.
Actually, it is best that all the Republican negative vibes come out now. Perhaps the reverbs will prevent them from winning it all in 2012; more likely, the reverbs serve as a warning of what will happen after they win and get into office in 2013. Generally, activists Republicans are a violent bunch, whether they do or don’t get their way (NRA, reload, targeting — all that and more). Be prepared to watch your back…we could end up with a nationwide Dallas.
Soooo, now that we can see more than that one comment what have you got to say?
6 Catholic bishops dead how many Priests and Nuns?
Trumka said something? Really? Obama’s response: SO????
The attitude will probably be – let that be a lesson to ‘em. It should serve as a cautionary tale.
Bastards.
This will give AG Holder something to do while he’s not prosecuting Wall Street. His “claim to fame” is his defense of United Fruit’s paramilitary goons that murdered union leaders and other “dissidents” in Colombia years ago.
couldn’t have put it better myself. would like to say your post sounds harsh but it don’t. it just sounds like the way it is.
So this means Trumka and the AFL-CIO will stop supporting Zero?
Of course not.
This just shows the contempt the Dem Elites have for Unions. Sadly the Unions don’t return the favor. Unions should not support any Democrat that votes for a free trade treaty with Columbia.
Did he also include Eddie York on the list? He was killed by UMW members in WV while Trumka was in charge… something tells me he did not because unions don’t commit violence and are very peaceful. Of course the UMW settled, so I guess buying your way is not just limited to corporations.
http://keywiki.org/index.php/Richard_Trumka
Please. It’s ColOmbia, not ColUmbia.
Too bad for you and your hero Rush that that’s a lie.
They should do a helluva lot more than simply refusing to support any Dims who vote for the trade agreements. They should actively campaign against them. Do a commercial with interviews and footage of the various atrocities, and scroll those names. Then be sure to very clearly state that those who support the trade agreements support monstrous acts, and without doubt have blood on their hands.