SOLIDARITY CONTRIBUTION WITH FUNTRAMIEXCO-COLOMBIA, AGAINST THE ILLEGALIZATION OF WORKERS’ STRIKES AND FOR THE PROMOTION OF A LABOR STATUTE.
Bogotá D.C., August 10, 2022
We, the UNITARY FEDERATION OF MINING WORKERS, ENERGY, METALLURGICAL, CHEMICAL, EXTRACTIVE, TRANSPORTATION, AGRIFUEL AND SIMILAR INDUSTRY OF COLOMBIA – “FUNTRAMIEXCO” with Legal Status No. 286 of July 1945, We propose, with your help, to initiate lawsuits against the employers and the Colombian State, who have outlawed 8 strikes of our affiliated organizations, violating the rights of organization, hiring and strike, as established in the National Constitution and ILO Conventions. As a result of these bans, 3,000 Mining, Energy and Metalworking workers have been fired from transnational companies: DRUMMOND LTD 2 bans in 2009 and 2013, DIMANTEC and TRATECOL (Gecolsa Caterpillar) 2 bans in 2013 and 2015, FENOCO (Drummond and Glencore) 2 bans in 2009 and 2013, CARBONES DE LA JAGUA-(GLENCORE) 1 ban in 2013, GENTE ESTRATEGICA-CERREJON 1 ban in 2012. Apart from these bans, strikes have also been made illegal in other unions, such as in Cerromatoso (BHP Billinton ) in 2015, VIDRICOL (Ross International Group) in 2016, ACERIES PAZ DEL RIO in 2016, etc.
In none of these strikes is there evidence of violence or contempt of the law by the strikers, as diligent employers argue. For Justice (Courts and the Supreme Court of Justice) the boss’s word is sacred, even if they lie.
LABOR STATUTE
We also present a proposal to solve the problem raised above. This is the Labor Statute defined in article 53 of the Constitutional letter of 1991 and that the Congress of the Republic never wanted to approve, despite the bills presented by the Unitary Central of Workers “CUT”, former senators Gloria Inés Ramírez and Piedad Cordoba. Now we propose to develop a work aimed at preparing and socializing with the workers a bill for the Labor Statute of guarantees and rights for the worker, in order to present it in this legislature of the new Legislative Congress, which will require enormous resources that we do not have. So we hope that with National and International solidarity we can undertake these two initiatives. We clarify that former senator Gloria Ramírez has been appointed as Minister of Labor of the Government of Dr. Gustavo Petro.
The path of the struggle for our rights is not easy, but we are fully convinced that each one of you can support our voice so that it is heard and show that it is worth defending our rights. For this, it has been decided to create a solidarity campaign where the contributions will be concentrated and channeled through the digital platform “Vaki” which will give us transparency of the resources collected and allows us to monitor the amounts contributed. This platform allows donations from 3,000 Colombian pesos ($1 USD) onwards, which allows anyone in any part of the world to support us. Every contribution will be valuable for the struggle we want to undertake. Together we can do a lot and it will be reflected in future victories. Your Contributions can be made through this link:
https://vaki.co/Funtramiexco-1
With feelings of appreciation and thanking you in advance for your valuable solidarity.
Fraternally,
NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF “FUNTRAMIEXCO”
JOSÉ JOAQUIN ROMERO M. – National President
JUAN MANUEL ROMERO D. – Secretary General
Source: WFTU