| UNIONS INVOLVED: Defending Public Services -
Canadian and Colombian Workers on the Front Lines - is a joint project of the Public
Service Alliance of Canada, the Canadian Union of Public Employees
and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. |
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| DORA LILIA GOMEZ & MARIA EVA VILLATE: The first phase
of the tour brought Colombian unionists to Canada in May 2004 - for example postal worker
and union executive officer Dora Lilia Gomez, and union leader and human
rights defender, Maria Eva Villate, pictured here with Public Service
Alliance members in Ottawa. |
 
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| MEETINGS WITH UNIONISTS:
The objectives of the Front Lines Initiative were to build knowledge, linkages and
solidarity between public sector unions in Colombia and Canada. In the second phase of the
project, participants from the three unions and the British Columbia Government Employees
Union traveled to Colombia in July and November 2006.We had intensive discussions with
over 60 union and human rights activists, who were clear and forceful on how privatization
was destroying the social fabric of Colombia. |
 
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| POSTAL
WORKERS: Postal workers described how the government liquidated the postal
service so that they could then lay off hundreds of workers and prepare AdPostal for sale
to a private company. |
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| MUNICIPAL MEMBERS: The executive of the union that
represents trash collectors in Cali noted how large companies are getting lucrative
contracts in the easy collection areas of the city. |
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| GARBAGE
COLLECTION: City workers didn't have the equipment nor the budget but were still
expected to collect 90% of the city's trash. |
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| HEALTH CARE OFFICIAL: A representative of the main health
care workers union spoke about the 10,000 jobs that have been lost in the last decade. He
noted how Spanish companies are taking over Colombian hospitals and how the Government is
under funding and allowing hospitals to deteriorate to justify their privatization. |
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| PUBLIC
SERVICE WORKERS: Workers in municipal, provincial and federal government offices
across Colombia spoke forcefully about the pressure of globalization and free trade
agreements on government. |
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| HUGE DEMONSTRATION: They invited us to participate in a
massive demonstration against privatization of public services on the streets of Medellin. |
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| MEDILLIN:
Over 10,000 workers - civil servants, bank workers, students, campesinos - marched to
protest the government's policies and practices. |
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| PUBLIC SUPPORT: This was a Thursday at mid-day and yet so
many came out, voiced their opposition, sang songs and greeted us warmly. |
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| GLOBALIZATION:
While political conditions in Colombia and Canada are very different, it is evident that
globalization is affecting all working people and we can learn from each other on how to
respond to privatization. |
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| SHARED CONCERNS: The Colombians shared their concerns about
how the government is using violence to transform the Colombian society into a pliable
extension of the global market. |
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| MILITARY
ON STREET: Colombia is the most dangerous place in the world to be a unionist.
They are targeted by paramilitary forces, claiming they are terrorists or jailed by the
government on trumped up charges which are dropped one or two years later. |
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| ANTI-RIOT POLICE: Thousands have been killed and many are
threatened and harassed because of their efforts to work for peace, expose corruption and
stop the sale of their public services. |
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| ROBOCOPS:
Millions of workers and peasants have been displaced from their homes and lands, and
insecurity grips the whole society. Government-linked paramilitary groups continue to
ravage people's lives even though there is a demobilization process in place. |
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| WOMEN'S ORGANIZATION: We met with a women's organization
helping victims of the violence - the Director told us about how one of her sons was
killed because of her work, and how a second son is in hiding from the military because of
his activism. |
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| TERRORIST
OR TENANT: Many rural people are being labelled terrorists because they want to
keep their land and agricultural way of life. We heard from many who described vivid
experiences of paramilitary forces beating the men and burning their homes. |
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| JHONNY DA SILVA: Another woman spoke about how her son was
shot by the anti-riot police forces. They attacked a group of university students who were
protesting the Free Trade Agreement with the US on campus in Cali., Student activist,
Jhonny was a victim of the aggression. |
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| FATHER
MURDERED: A young woman spoke to us about the murder of her father, a campesino
who was accused of being a political insurgent. Though he was never involved in the
guerrilla movement, the paramilitary killed him to frighten the people. |
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| HUMAN RIGHTS TRAINING: Despite the violence and terror,
Colombian unionists and activists are courageously working to protect public services and
human rights. One organization we met, is training people in how to identify and then
address human rights abuses. |
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| DEFENDING
HUMAN RIGHTS: This training is being funded from the CUPE Global Justice Fund and
through the British Columbia International Solidarity Committee. CoDev is facilitating
this partnership between Canadian workers and Colombians. |
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| WOMEN'S HOUSE: Others spoke about their efforts to help low
income women who have been laid off from their jobs. The women's arm of the Trade Union
Central of Colombia - the equivalent of our CLC - has set up a small loan fund to help
women start income generating projects. |
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| CHANGING
LEGISLATION: And yet other union members spoke about their efforts to lobby the
government to change or apply legislation that protects worker. |
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| PRIMER ON PRIVATIZATION: There was a great deal that we
learned from our Colombian counterparts. We needed to see what privatization was doing to
the country and we got a clear picture. Some of the main observations that relate to
anti-privatization work in Canada and Colombia included; |
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| BARB
MOORE: Privatization is an attack on the basic human rights of citizens in
Colombia and in Canada, though conditions in both countries are different. |
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| KEVIN MARCHAND: The struggle against privatization and for
human rights is a long term project to build a democratic and socially just Colombia, as
it is in Canada. |
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| GRACE
ARSENAULT: When workers were first told of the privatization, they often thought
the change was going to be positive. It was only later they saw the destruction. |
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| DARRELL KELLY: To deal with the attack on services and
public service jobs, the unions have collaborated with human rights and civil society
organizations. The campaign against privatization needs a politically motivated
membership, if there is to be any success. |
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| MARIE
MAKHAN: Many of our contact said, that fighting privatization and globalization
in Canada, and strengthening our unions, is away of supporting the Colombian struggle for
peace and justice. |
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| EVERT HOOGERS: The effect of privatization is not just
economic - it affects all aspects of society as people are left to struggle for a
livelihood and security, without the basic of life that effective public services provide. |
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| TRACY
FALL: Public service unions are important to the social development in their
countries, as they provide essential supports for social development and democratic
relations, and as they defend public services against privatization. |
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| SOLIDARITY ESSENTIAL: In our brief tour we also saw how
union and social solidarity is necessary when the fabric of society is being torn apart
and basic human rights must be defended. |
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| COORDINATED
ACTION: At the end of the tour, we were more committed to stopping privatization
in Canada and taking firm action to support our brothers and sisters in Colombia. Universal human rights may sound like an impossible dream, but it's
certainly a dream worth pursuing. |
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TOUR CO-ODINATORS:
- Louise Casselman
- Barbara Wood
TOUR PARTICIPANTS:
- Barbara Moore - CUPE
- Darrell Kelly - CUPW
- Evert Hoogers - PSAC
- Grace Arsenault - CUPW
- Kevin Marchand - PSAC
- Marie Makhan - PSAC
- Tracy Fall - CUPE
- Dennis Lewycky - CUPE
|
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