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WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) delivered the following remarks at a press conference in opposition to the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Congresswoman Schakowsky joined Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), and Phil Hare (D-IL) and union and human rights leaders to speak out against the human rights abuses in Colombia.
“Like other members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, I am extremely committed to helping Colombia. I have traveled there several times, seen farmers struggling to maintain their businesses, trade unionists grappling with the fear of assassination, flower workers fighting against unfair labor practices, and talked to people throughout the country who hope that Colombia will prosper economically and socially.
President Uribe is in Washington again to join the Bush Administration’s call for approval of the Colombia free trade agreement and Plan Colombia. But neither the trade agreement or approval of another Plan Colombia will help the United States, or the citizens of Colombia. Those proposals will only continue failed policies that will destroy Colombian subsistence agriculture, encourage the growth of coca, and ignore Colombia’s tragic record of trade unionist killings. And they will only contribute to job loss and the increasing trade deficit in the United States.
President Uribe’s efforts are too little too late for congressional consideration of a free trade agreement with Colombia this year. Mr. Uribe has been in office since 2002. Five years later, Colombia retains the unwelcome distinction of having more trade unionists murdered than in the rest of the world combined. And the number of trade unionists killed in 2006 is higher than it was in 2005, up to 72 trade unionists murdered last year from the 70 murdered the year before.
Even more alarming is the failure of the Uribe government to prosecute those responsible for the murders. Although Uribe’s administration seems to have finally recognized that the continuing high level of violence against trade unionists in Colombia constitutes a major road block to U.S. congressional approval of the Colombia FTA, they have failed to stop the killings, or prosecute those involved.
According to an April 2007 report from the government’s Ministry of Social Protection, only 37 unionist murder cases have been resolved in the past five years, out of over 2,000 pending cases. A close examination of the report is even more disturbing: there have been only 10 convictions for the over 400 trade unionists murdered since Mr. Uribe took office. And the trends are negative: in the past two years, the annual number of convictions has declined by 25 percent. Only two convictions have been obtained for the 236 trade unionists murdered in the last three years. Just two.
Assassinations of trade unionists and the lack of prosecution of those crimes are the most obvious expressions of worker rights violations in Colombia, but not the only ones. One of Mr. Uribe’s first acts as President was to axe the government’s Labor Department, merging it with another department and sending a very clear message about his lack of commitment to worker rights. The new department, the Ministry of Social Protection, routinely rejects union applications for legal recognition while turning a blind eye to rampant anti-union behavior by employers.
Take one prominent industry: cut flowers. Despite many attempts in the past five years, workers have been unable to negotiate a single collective bargaining agreement between an employer and an independent union. Flower workers who seek to organize an independent union are frequently fired, threatened and discriminated against, aided and abetted by the Ministry of Social Protection. Ironically, flower exports to the U.S. receive duty-free benefits under the Andean Trade Partnership Act, benefits that are by law conditioned on Colombia taking steps to improve respect for worker rights.
The time for promises, pledges and even redeployment of resources is past. We cannot consider a trade agreement with Colombia without concrete results.
More broadly, the Colombian government must address the widening scandal of connections between the brutal paramilitaries and government officials, most from Mr. Uribe’s own party. 14 government officials have been charged with aiding paramilitary groups, with another dozen under investigation. Mr. Uribe must back the courageous actions of Colombia’s Supreme Court in opening investigations into these connections, and his government must provide protection to the judges, witnesses, and victims who are bravely helping to construct the truth. To help Colombia tackle this challenge, I support ongoing assistance to Colombia that is refocused on strengthening the justice system and supporting the victims of the conflict.
Mr. Uribe has come back to Washington too soon. Come back next year, Mr. Uribe, and let’s see what has actually been accomplished in investigating and prosecuting political and military leaders who have collaborated with brutal paramilitaries. Come back next year, and let’s see what has been accomplished in reducing the 98% plus rate of impunity, in dramatically lowering the level of violence against trade unionists, and in meeting international worker rights standards. The Colombian government can pay for all the high-priced lobbyists it wants to push for a US-Colombia free trade agreement, but until they take concrete steps to make Colombia a safe place for workers and to separate their government from paramilitary organizations, we will not waver in our opposition to the agreement.”
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