Dying for a Living: As Global Economic Crisis Continues,Union Activists in Many Countries Pay the Ul

[Judi Lynn]

Julie B. GutmanExecutive Director, Program for Torture Victims
Posted: September 5, 2010 11:48 AM
Dying for a Living: As Global Economic Crisis Continues, Union Activists in Many Countries Pay the Ultimate Price

On June 19, Ibio Efrén Caicedo, a teacher and trade union activist in Colombia, was murdered. He was the seventh unionized teacher killed this year in that country's Antioquia region.

Caicedo's murder was hardly an anomaly. More than 100 union activists were killed in 2009, according to a report released this summer by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). This represents a 30 percent rise over 2008, and reflects an increasingly aggressive stance toward labor organizing in a global economy still reeling from the collapse of financial markets two years ago.

As Americans mark Labor Day amidst a seemingly endless economic downturn, our national focus is understandably on the hard times faced by workers in this country. But as the preeminent world power, our moral obligations do not end at our borders.

Sadly, the U.S. too often turns a blind eye to the harassment, torture and killing of union activists, sending the wrong message to allies and opponents alike.

The ominous uptick in violence against union activists underscores the often overlooked relationship between human rights and workers rights. The right to collective bargaining is enshrined in numerous international covenants, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. While human rights and workers rights are not always synonymous, it is no coincidence that some of the nations with the most egregious record of human rights violations are also guilty of mercilessly persecuting labor activists.

A case in point is Colombia. Nearly half of the union activists murdered in 2009 lost their lives in this country, which has long been singled out by human rights organizations for its rampant kidnappings, beatings, torture and killings. Though much of the public attention has rightfully focused on the torture and murder of union activists at Coca-Cola plants in Columbia, labor leaders representing everyone from teachers to oil workers have also been targeted in the world's most dangerous place to be a union supporter.

More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-b-gutman/dying-for-a-living-as-glo_b_706149.html