Opposing view: 'A climate of terror'

[Omaha Steve]

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/04/opposing-view-a.html

Colombian unionists live in fear; Congress should reject agreement.

By John Sweeney

On March 6, tens of thousands of Colombians marched peacefully in the streets. Their goal was simple — to tell the world they would not stand for "crimes against humanity." For the participants, the march was not abstract. Friends and families had been kidnapped, found dead days later or never found at all.

After helping to organize the march, union members received death threats with skulls printed on them. Four union participants were killed in a week, one found in a garbage dump, his face marred with acid.

In Colombia, joining a union or advocating for workers' rights can be a de facto death sentence. This year is shaping up to be worse than the last. Union members are dying at a rate of more than one a week, with 17 slain to date, compared with 10 at this time last year. In 2007, 39 union workers were murdered, 11 were victims of attempted murder and 224 received death threats.

In the past two decades, 2,500 union members in Colombia have been murdered. Roughly 68 cases, or 3%, have resulted in convictions, though slightly over half of those convicted are actually in custody.

If workers in a country with a 55% poverty rate cannot be in a union without fear of death, how can they speak up for their economic freedom? How can they benefit from a free trade agreement?

That's why the AFL-CIO is opposing President Bush's Colombia free trade agreement. If we are serious about protecting workers' rights, we cannot ignore targeted murders and a climate of terror for unionists.

FULL story at link.