Chairman George Miller sent a letter Friday to Colombia’s President Álvaro Uribe, asking his government to address concerns that Colombia has failed to adequately address the nearly 2,700 murders of labor union leaders in his country. President Uribe will meet with Miller and other members of Congress this week in Washington.
“Our two ally nations should work together to help Colombia improve its
labor laws, decrease the ongoing violence, and finally put an end to
the impunity enjoyed by those who have perpetrated thousands of
anti-labor killings,” Chairman Miller wrote. “These challenges have
taken on heightened significance this year as the violence in Colombia
has escalated over 2007 levels.”
According to the Escuela
Nacional Sindical, an independent Colombian think-tank, nearly 2,700
Colombian union leaders or union members have been murdered since
1986. The overwhelming majority of these killings remain
uninvestigated by the Colombian Attorney General’s Office. In
addition, ENS statistics show that so far this year, more union leaders
have been assassinated than during all of 2007.
Last year
Congress approved $39 million to assist the Colombian government in
improving the rule of law and human rights. This funding included $5
million for Colombian prosecutors to address the backlog of murder
investigations. However, the Bush administration has delayed the
distribution of these funds.
“Many members of Congress are very
disappointed that the Bush administration has not transferred the funds
that we appropriated last year to the Colombian Attorney General’s
Office,” said Chairman Miller. “If the Bush administration had not
created these inexplicable delays, the Government of Colombia could
have already hired even more investigators and prosecutors, and
Colombia might by now be several steps closer to creating an effective
and sustainable system of justice to address the grave problem of
anti-labor violence.”
Chairman Miller traveled to Bogotá
earlier this year to meet with Colombian government officials, judges,
prosecutors, human rights advocates and labor union leaders. Since then
the committee’s staff have continued to conduct additional fact-finding
on Colombia’s efforts to improve its judicial system and the need for
further labor law reforms.
“One advantage stemming from our
Congress’ decision to postpone the vote regarding the proposed Colombia
Free Trade Agreement is that it has given my colleagues and me
additional time needed to assess whether or not Colombia has in fact
created an effective and sustainable system of justice to combat
anti-labor violence,” wrote Chairman Miller. “I hope that this ongoing
fact-finding work will allow Congress to provide helpful
recommendations to the next administration in the United States over
how we can further strengthen our nation’s relationship with Colombia
in such a way that promotes increased trade and higher labor
standards.”
Congress delayed the consideration of the Colombian Free Trade Agreement in April.
The Committee passed the
Paycheck Fairness Act today to help end the discriminatory practice of paying men and women unequally for performing the same job, by a 26 to 17 vote. The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, will strengthen the Equal Pay Act and close the loopholes that have allowed employers to avoid responsibility for discriminatory pay. Although the wage gap between men and women has narrowed since the passage of the landmark Equal Pay Act in 1963, gender-based wage discrimination remains a significant problem for women in the U.S. workforce. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. The Institute of Women’s Policy Research concluded that this wage disparity will cost a woman anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million over her lifetime in lost wages.
“This is a historic day in
the fight for equal rights for women. If we are serious about closing
the gender pay gap, we must get serious about punishing those who would
otherwise scoff at the weak sanctions under current law. Any wage gap
based on gender is unacceptable, especially during these tough economic
times. By allowing wage discrimination to continue, we hold down women
and their families while harming the American economy as a whole.” --
Chairman George Miller
“It’s
completely unacceptable that women continue to be discriminated against
in the workplace, receiving a fraction of the pay of men. We must
confront such discrimination head on and ensure that all Americans,
regardless of gender, receive an equal paycheck for equal pay for equal
work.” -- Rep. Lynn Woolsey, chairwoman of the Subcommittee on
Workforce Protections
On Thursday, July 24, the Committee will vote on legislation to help end the discriminatory practice of paying men and women differently for performing the same job. The Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 1338), introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), will strengthen the Equal Pay Act and close the loopholes that have allowed employers to avoid responsibility of discriminatory pay. Although the wage gap between men and women has narrowed since the passage of the landmark Equal Pay Act in 1963, gender-based wage discrimination remains a problem for women in the U.S. workforce. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. The Institute of Women’s Policy Research found that this wage disparity will cost women anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million over a lifetime in lost wages.
Markup on "H.R. 1338, Paycheck Fairness Act"
Thursday, July 24, 2008, 1:00 p.m. EDT