SIPTU rep's solidarity visit to Colombia

The trade union delegation in Bogota

Anne Speed, Branch Secretary of SIPTU's Drinks and Wholesale Distribution branch, returned recently from a fact-finding trip to Colombia. An Phoblacht interviewed her on Tuesday last on her experiences.

Q You have just returned from Colombia as part of a trade union delegation. What was the purpose of the trip?

We are aware of Colombia as a country where trade unions struggle to exist, workers are assassinated with impunity and controversies have arisen about the role of multinationals in that economy. Our union has been a focus of calls for boycotting Coca-Cola because we represent hundreds of Coca-Cola workers in Greenore, Drogheda and Dublin. Demands of SIPTU to publicly support a boycott were in direct conflict with our responsibility to represent workers. We have tried to explain this to its advocates. We have been met with political sectarianism from some quarters.

Having twice met the one Colombian trade union, Sinaltrainal, which has called for the boycott, we felt a big responsibility to hear the stories of these and other workers in Colombia itself. We have been liaising with a London based Justice for Colombia campaign, that has significant trade union sponsorship. We joined their recent factfinding delegation to Colombia, co-sponsored by the British TUC.

What happened when you arrived?

Our delegation arrived amid signs of ever growing authoritarianism. A security official on Colombian TV called us "professional agitators". This harassment of visiting trade unionists was on a new scale. It gave rise to fears that future solidarity visits could be curtailed.

Seven British trade unionists were initially refused entry by the Colombian authorities. The two Irish delegates, myself and SIPTU Dublin region president, Jack McGinley, had required visitors' visas. British citizens do not require them. After a standoff at the airport, the seven-day visit was to be cut short to three, at which point our seven British colleagues would be expelled. At the same time the leading Trade Union activist in the Americas, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) Regional Secretary, Victor Baez, was refused entry, along with three other leading trade unionists from the region.

Some 36 hours later, we launched a protest at the Foreign Affairs Department, alongside the Colombian Trade Union Centres, CUT and CTC. We succeeded in forcing a wholesale retreat and a public apology. This was regarded as a victory by the Colombian trade unionists, as it keeps open free access for trade unionists from outside.

How was the trip organised?

We were met at the airport by Congress member Wilson Borja, who has survived 16 attempts on his life. Borja is a former public service union leader.

A few days into our visit, the army major convicted of attempting to murder Borja walked free from the army bunker in which he was supposed to be held. Two days prior to our arrival, the army had occupied the TV station and had locked out the workers.

Union leaders from CUT and CTC said that the Uribe government had made strikes, collective bargaining and the setting up of new trade unions effectively illegal. So far this year, 15 trade unionists and activists have been murdered and a culture of impunity exists.

In fact, we spent the whole seven days we were there trying to get details of the alleged nine convictions of those responsible for killing trade unionists. At a meeting with the assistant attorney general, Andreas Ramirez, on the second last day, we were astounded to be told that these details were only available form the individual judges who had heard the cases.

What state is Colombia in today?

It has a population of 45 million in which 60% are below the poverty line and 15% live in absolute poverty. Half the population is under 30 and only four out of ten secondary level age children attend school. Unemployment, casualisation and the informal economy are al growing. We were told that there was paramilitarisation of whole villages, departments, and regions. There is a track record of systematic collusion between government, army, right-wing paramilitaries, landowners and drug traffickers.

Human right lawyers we met suggested to us that the government was pursuing a policy of mass detentions, particularly of agricultural workers, with the express purpose of 'separating' popular social movements from the guerrillas.

We were told that President Uribe was the only South American leader to support the US invasion in Iraq and the only friend he has in the EU is Britain. The US has economic, political and military interests in Colombia, as well as an interest in the country's socialist neighbours. Colombia was described as "the Israel of South America".

Who did you meet and what did they tell you that stood out in your mind?

The agricultural workers' union, Fensuagro, told us how their General Secretary, Luz Perly Cordoba, is in jail charged with the offence of 'rebellion'. She is held in a prison cell with ten other women that was built to accommodate two. Her comrades told us that 300,000 peasants had been victims of forced displacements, human rights violations and poverty. Seven in ten of all trade unionists who have been assassinated belonged to Fensuagro.

We also met the oil workers in Barrancabermeja, who are members of one of the oldest and strongest trade unions, the USO. They had just come through a major strike against privatisation of the refinery that employs around 6,000 workers. 253 of them were sacked and from 25 November last, these workers and their families would not have been entitled to any social security. The union is saddled with huge debts and it not in a position to support them. We saw a wall full of photographs of assassinated oil worker leaders and activists. Personal testimonies underscored the vital need for solidarity.

Did you meet Sinaltrainal and the other unions in Coca-Cola in Colombia?

Yes, we had two meetings on the Coca-Cola issue. First, we met with the South American representative of the Coca-Cola Corporation and with the regional senior management from the Femsa bottling company. We put a strong argument to them to respond to the call from Sinaltrainal for negotiations on their claims for reparations. We told the company that we expected them to resolve this issue and that unionised workers employed by Coca-Cola also expect this.

Following this, we met with members of the Sinaltrainal union in Bogota and shared information on our meeting with the Coca-Cola management. We discussed our differences on the boycott tactic. We confirmed our commitment to involving Sinaltrainal in discussion with Coca-Cola workers in unions affiliated with the International Union of Foodworkers, representing 12 million workers.

At our meeting with the CUT, they told us that they do not support the boycott tactic, which has little effect in Colombia itself. We are aware that Sinaltrainal's strategy is to build this campaign mainly in Europe and the US, in conjunction with anti-globalisation movements.

A discussion took place one week later in Rome, organised by the IUF, at which European Coca-Cola worker representatives were present. I was at that meeting. Edgar Paez, who was in Ireland recently, attended that meeting on behalf of Sinaltrainal, as did Carlos Ortiz from Sinaltrainbec, a Colombian Coca-Cola union that disagrees with the boycott tactic. Edgar Paez met with IUF affiliated Coca-Cola workers from Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Romania, Russia and Ireland. This was followed by a robust engagement with Coca-Cola management from Central Europe. The IUF is now working on strategies to assist in achieving a just resolution for Colombian trade unionists.

What happens next?

We are writing a report for SIPTU's national executive, including recommendations for further solidarity actions. We are also going send on the report and meet with the ICTU Global Solidarity Committee and the Human Rights sub-Committee of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee, hopefully early in the New Year.