6 February, 2012
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, Latin America/Caribbean Regional Vice-President Sergio Novais, and Regional Contact Person Carol Bruce conducted a mission to Ecuador, Colombia, and Costa Rica from 13 to 20 January 2010 to visit affiliates, make new contacts and attend a Social Dialogue conference in Colombia.
The ICEM mission started the round in Ecuador on 13 January and the next day the Electricity Workers’ Union was visited. This union was instrumental in creating the new confederation of public sector workers, which is made up of 70,000 members in the electricity sector, as well as in health, the oil industry, national telephone, public workers, education and transport. It took three years to build the confederation.
The most innovative factor about the confederation is a new approach, moving from protest to proposal. In the meantime, the realization has arisen that tripartite dialogue is necessary. The idea is to develop the state with workers’ participation. The confederation supports the process of the citizens’ revolution. It broadcasts a radio program to educate and inform workers. Steps are being taken to limit outsourcing according to the recent legislation.
ICEM can expect to receive an application for affiliation from the Electricity Workers’ Union of Ecuador in the near future.
The delegation arrived in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, on 15 January. The social dialogue conference was held the next day and the only employer that attended were two managers from the Carbones del Cerrejón mine, who praised the cooperation with ICEM which has enabled the mine to enjoy labor peace. The unions who participated were Sintraelecol, Sintragasquimed, Sintracarbón, Sintravidricol, Sintracarcol, Fenaltec and USO, as well as the IMF affiliate, Sintracerramotoso.
These conferences have been going on since 2004. One recurring theme is sub-contracting. The question is to know whether conflicts are solvable on the basis of dialogue and whether dialogue has contributed to collective bargaining. Social dialogue is an innovative process in a country marked by entrenched violence. The idea is to contribute to peace in Colombia.
Warda explained some of the Congress resolutions, especially concerning the creation of the new Global Union Federation. He stressed that Colombia would continue to be a priority.
Novais clarified that the value of social dialogue is to continue to speak and negotiate regularly with the other side, and not just during wage negotiations. He explained that ICEM is working on multi-Latinas in the region to get workers organized in those companies. One priority in the region is networks, and 12 networks are up and running. It will be up to ICEM to pass our values and experience on to the new organisation.
Philippe Potdevin from the Cerrejón mine offered ICEM the possibility to develop an agreement along the lines of a Global Agreement based on the Global Compact. This might be an incentive for other companies in Colombia to take a greater interest in social dialogue, and he also indicated that he would urge other companies to work together with ICEM.
Manfred Warda, Rodolfo Vecino, Carlos Bustos
Two conflicts were mentioned in particular. First was the conflict with Rudolfo Vecino, President of USO, which fortunately was solved favourably with his reinstatement just before the delegation arrived in Colombia. The second is still pending and refers to the ex-President of Sintraelecol, Danuil Gomez, who is faced with death threats. His employer Gas Natural has been asked to transfer him to Bogotá, otherwise his life is in danger in Córdoba.
Marcelino Lopez, also from Sintraelecol, is also at similar risk. Some companies apparently work openly or covertly with paramilitaries in the dirty war.
USO and Sintracerramatoso operate in areas that are controlled by the paramilitaries. It is very difficult for them to have access to workers. Union members are harassed and sacked and threatened and even killed, while many multinationals work with security companies that are linked to paramilitaries. The request is to organise a meeting for the unions in the energy and mining sectors to develop joint strategies to confront the government and to design a work plan.
USO considers itself faced with annihilation of the union. Ecopetrol is facing privatization, and in addition, because of sub-contracting, there are six times more contract workers than direct employees, or 10,000 direct workers to 60,000 contractors.
In conclusion, Warda summed up by proposing putting pressure on Endesa and Repsol to join the social dialogue process. His final comment, however, was a criticism of Colombian unions – something in their structures apparently stands in the way of women’s participation.
In the meantime, ICEM is attempting to put a forum together in Madrid where Spanish multinationals would pledge to reject violence in Colombia and to work toward eliminating the killing of trade unionists. The UGT Spanish foundation ISCOD is working with human rights lawyers in Colombia, and ICEM Colombia Coordinator Carlos Bustos will be invited to join them.
On 18 January, the delegation met with the board of Sitrapequia in San José, Costa Rica. The discussion focused on the importance of public-sector unions in Costa Rica and the difficulty of organizing unions in the private sector. One possibility will be the attempt to organise the Bridgestone/Firestone plant in San José, since there is an opening just now with the company manager for the Americas. This opportunity will be explored together with SUTNA, ICEM’s rubber workers’ union affiliate from Argentina.