by René Lavanchy
COLOMBIAN trade unionists will take to the streets across the country’s cities next week, in what they hope will be a giant protest against working conditions and the policies of President Alvaro Uribe.
It comes as two high-profile strikes in the judicial sector and the sugar cane industry are going into their second month and as the number of death threats reported against Colombian trade unionists has increased.
Tarcisio Mora, president of the CUT Colombian trade union federation, told Tribune that the marchers would have to overcome their fear of reprisals by right-wing paramilitaries: “We’re trying to get people to have confidence to go out into the street and the international community will watch out for any violence.”
“In this country, it’s easier to organise a group of delinquents than a trade union. For this reason, the day carries great importance. The world needs to understand.”
President Uribe has claimed the strikers are backed by left-wing guerillas, he added.
Colombia’s criminal justice system has been hamstrung by some 40,000 workers in the Asonal union, who have been on strike since September 3 after rejecting a pay rise amounting to 600 pesos (15p) a day.
A further 10,000 sugar cane cutters went on strike on September 15.
Mr Mora said less than half of eligible workers receive the minimum wage. “Here in Colombia, there’s exploitation of men, women and children. Children in the streets are exploited in an inhuman way and the government does nothing about it.”
Asonal president Fabio Hernández says he was the victim of an assassination attempt earlier this month, which the government denies.
President Uribe insisted last week he regarded the labour movement as “respectable”. He also says that the justice department’s budget has been nearly doubled over the past six years to boost its resources.
