Prepared by Megan Adam, Public Service Alliance of Canada
The tour was not only a chance to make stronger links with our southern counterparts, but a wakeup call to our future if global social justice and civil society movements do not continue the struggle to halt privatization pressures by organizations like the IMF and WTO.
This report will give a brief overview of our activities in Colombia as part of the Frontlines Tour. The four participating unions (PSAC, BCGEU, CUPE and CUPW) are the major representatives of public sector workers in Canada and we met with many of our counterparts in Colombia as well as their human rights and community partners.
This initiative in the PSAC is part of the ongoing work of the Social Justice Fund, and a component of the Make Poverty History campaign, incorporating the fight to defend quality public services such as health, education, welfare, clean water, sanitation and energy around the world.
Colombia has a long history of internal conflict, the most recent chapter beginning in the seventies with the rise in uncontrolled paramilitary organizations sanctioned by the government to attack the FARC. Decades of fighting have left over a half a million people dead, tens of thousands disappeared, and millions displaced from their land.
The current administration of President Uribe has promised to bring an end to the violence by curbing the paramilitary organizations through the use of a “peace” process, while simultaneously demonizing even the moderate left in order to silence opposition to regressive privatization measures. This has created an untenable situation for trade unions and their members in Colombia who are endangered by unofficially sanctioned violence, their organizations dismantled through laws and the destruction of their jobs and workplaces.
Colombia has the worst human rights records in the Western Hemisphere – a fact illuminated in numerous reports documenting political murders, forced displacement and kidnappings.
But underpinning these most overt forms of human rights betrayal is the absence of the basic necessities to sustain life. 63 per cent of Colombia lives in a state of poverty, with a full 8 million people living in absolute poverty, a situation further compounded by the insecurity created by lawless paramilitary organizations and violent police and military forces who act with impunity against the people.
Our delegation met with many who face these conditions daily, and at the start of our visit, three important organizations provided us an overview of the human rights situation.
First was a meeting with the Defensio del Pueblo (the Defender of the People), a government agency of lawyers and investigators tasked with investigating and prosecuting human rights abuses. There the Ombudsman told us that Colombia is still facing a humanitarian crisis, despite messages from other government sectors to the contrary – and that paramilitary violence is an ongoing problem in many parts of the country. In a later meeting with the union representing workers at the Defensio del Pueblo – ASDEP – we learned that despite the fact the government established these offices with the publicized goal of eradicating human rights abuses within four years, they are underfunded, unable to carry out even the most basic aspects of their work, and their lives are often under threat by those they seek to prosecute.
A later meeting at the Lawyers Collective provided us with a geographical history lesson on the intersections between paramilitary territory, rich resource-extraction zones and traffic corridors within the country. These factors fuel much of the internal displacement and violence against the people in Colombia. The Collective’s work with the National Victims’ Movement seeks to bring an end to the impunity the government has granted former paramilitary organizations despite decades of human rights abuses, and seeks redress in the form of reparations and land-return.
Despite the fact the Lawyers Collective is not affiliated with any illegally armed groups, segments of the government have accused them of being FARC-supporters – a deadly accusation that has forced them all into a “precautionary measures” program offering some limited security in the face of death threats.
As part of ongoing work to combat human rights abuses, the organization NOMADESC (funded in part by Canadian trade unions) is continuing to expand its program of human rights training among the trade union and community leaders across the country. In the town of Neiva, our delegation attended the graduation ceremony for some of the most recent participants in this training – where it was impressed upon us the continuing importance of this work in developing the base of human rights activists able to document and respond to abuses by the government and paramilitary organizations.
As one aspect of the human rights record – Colombia is regarded as the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist – with more union activists killed there each year than in the rest of the world combined. Although outright murders of trade unionists has declined somewhat in the last year, arbitrary arrests, threats, and harassment are on the increase – with a particular spike in attacks on women leaders. Every union we spoke to has lost leaders and members to political violence, and the ongoing erosion of jobs and public services has lead to the disappearance of 600 trade union organizations in the past five years.
Trade union partners we met with included the STPC (Postal Workers), ASDECCOL (Public Comptrollers), ASDEP (Public Defenders Employees), the CUT (United Workers’ Central), SINTRAEMCALI (Municipal workers in Cali), FENALTRASE (Public Service Workers Federation), the ENS (Labour School), and the Public Services International representative for Colombia. Each of these organizations shared with us the realities of public service work and the ongoing privatization aspirations of the Uribe government. A strong feature of the trade union movement in Colombia is its proximity to community organizations as a way of building support.
Every union we met took us to their community partners - organizations for human rights, women, poor people and indigenous communities. It is these linkages that unions such as SINTRAEMCALI have built to help develop overall community support in the trade union and public services struggles.
Ever-present among our trade union partners is the continuing violence against union members and their families.
SINTRAEMCALI workers showed us documentation to substantiate their ongoing belief that government intelligence forces actively collect information on trade union groups and leaders and share those with paramilitary organizations in order to orchestrate harassment campaigns and even extrajudicial killings. The postal workers from Ad-Postal (STPC) provided us with information showing the Uribe government is not only continuing to privatize the postal service, but is turning the privatized sectors over to “demobilized” paramilitary organizations and leaders who often continue to engage in criminal behaviour. To protest privatization is to protest the paramilitaries – a very dangerous situation to be in, as evidenced by the STPC’s president Porfirio who is currently exiled in-country and hiding following a complaint he made about paramilitary-controlled postal outlets being possible conduits for drug-trafficking.
The CUPW and PSAC have taken a special interest in the case of the STPC and Porfirio, have taken their concerns to the Canadian Embassy in Bogota, and are now examining support options.
Across the board, trade unionists we met with reported experiences of harassment, police violence on demonstrations and pickets, routine firings of union activists from the workplace, and extrajudicial killings and kidnappings. One potential support may come from an agreement signed in June between the Uribe government and the International Labour Organization which will see a permanent ILO-presence in Colombia established soon.
This presence is expected to assist with documenting information on human rights violations against trade unionists. While it remains to be seen how effective this presence will be, some activists fear Uribe will regard it as little more than a photo-op for his administration. There is a role for international organizations to keep the focus on Colombia and pressure on the ILO to provide real fact-finding missions and assistance through UN channels.
The importance of international solidarity in supporting Colombia’s trade union organizations was stressed in each meeting – not only through contributions of money – but also by the continued provision of an international human rights presence in the country through sponsored delegations and volunteer programs.
Perhaps one of the worst aspects of the ongoing internal conflict is the displacement of millions of people over the last few decades, many of whom are poor indigenous communities or campesino farmers, forced by the government, the drug barons, or the ongoing fighting to flee to the cities where they live in untenable circumstances. Our delegation was very lucky to be received in three communities representing different aspects of the struggle to remain on the land and stay free from the conflict.
As a rule, arbitrary detentions of campesino and indigenous organizers is very common, and many people are arrested under the pretense of being associated with the FARC, held for several years in abysmal conditions awaiting trial and then released due to a lack of evidence. In many cases documented by human rights organizations and even the US government, it has been shown that the accusation of FARC-support has been unfounded from the outset, but it poses one way to imprison those who challenge the government or the paramilitaries.
People are pushed off their land for many reasons in Colombia: the production of cash-crops by multinationals; coca and opium development by the cartels; access to transit corridors throughout the country to transport goods and drugs; and, for the continuous extraction of resources such as oil, coal, precious gems and wood.
An additional pressure has been fueled by the United States in the form of Plan Colombia (now called Plan Patriota as it has been taken over by the Uribe administration), ostensibly started to eradicate coca production by fumigating the countryside with toxic chemicals. Human rights organizations have consistently shown that this program is not about eradicating coca as much as it is about defoliating the jungle in order to smoke out the FARC and other insurgents – in the meantime destroying the health and water supplies of communities in affected areas.
Our delegation was privileged to visit the community of La Maria, an indigenous reservation which seeks security of their culture and landbase and an end to government harassment.
On May 17th, 2006 they suffered a violent government attack during an encuentro (gathering) of indigenous communities that attracted up to 18,000 people from around the country. As part of the final day of the gathering, encuentro participants blockaded part of the Pan-American highway in protest of the continued refusal of the government to address their indigenous rights. This spurred a police action leaving one person dead, scores injured, and the infrastructure of La Maria destroyed.
Not only did the police move in to clear the road, but continued the assault on the community for up to 48 hours, dropping thousands of rounds of tear-gas canisters, setting fire to community property and individual homes, destroying food and medicine stores, and vandalizing their administrative offices. The Uribe government accepts no responsibility for the incident, although documentary footage makes evident it was government agents who carried out the attacks.
In the hills outside of the city of Medellin, in the barrio La Cruz, our delegation had an invitation to witness firsthand the devastation of displacement.
This barrio is one of the many shantytowns dotting the landscape around the urban centers of Colombia, demonstrating the disparaging poverty of the landless campesinos and indigenous. In La Cruz, sewage runs openly in the rutted dirt roads, the tin and scrap shacks are in danger of being swept away by landslides in the rainy season, and the paramilitaries rule with open threats and violence. This community has been lucky enough to be declared “legal” by the government, giving it the protected status an illegal community does not have.
On the next hill over we were shown the remnants of an “illegal” community of similarly displaced people who had been attacked by the government and had their homes burned. The tragedy of communities like La Cruz is that Colombia does in fact have enough land for all the indigenous and campesinos, but that so much is has been rendered unlivable due to internal conflict, fumigation, resource extraction and agri-business.
A further pressure on the human rights and justice front in Colombia has been the intersection of government privatization initiatives and the aspirations of paramilitary organizations.
Privatization in Colombia has become more aggressive since the introduction of Plan Colombia in 2000, which alongside an IMF loan, required further sell-offs of government-owned infrastructure and social services. Predictably, health care, education, municipal water and energy services, postal delivery and many other essential services have been eroded and attacked. Hospital workers in Colombia gave us the most recent news when we met in Bogota – Uribe had just declared that Colombian hospital facilities would now be considered “free trade zones” to be bid on by private contractors without regard for labour laws.
Almost ninety per cent of postal services are now in the hands of private “co-operatives”, and over the past decade thousands of public service workers have been fired. Unions and communities who have banded together to defend public services, often find themselves in danger from government-encouraged paramilitaries who seek their own profit in the privatization process.
Several of our Colombian contacts shared stories about the transfer of public service jobs to “worker’s co-operatives” owned by paramilitary leaders, a process encouraged by Uribe in order to “reintegrate” former paramilitaries into mainstream society.
Under these arrangements postal services, highway patrols, medical clinics, security services and maintenance contracts are being dismantled, decertified, and awarded to some of Colombia’s worst criminal agents. Because the paramilitaries benefit from the privatization process, they are eager to attack those who oppose it. Campaigners for public services are met with harassment, intimidation, and violence - including selective assassinations.
Despite the unbelievable amount of repression visited on those who oppose Uribe and the paramilitaries – Colombia is still a country where the spirit of social justice exists in the struggles of the people. It is these struggles our union movement in Canada must locate and support if we are to speak sincerely about global social justice in the face of our own resistance to privatization.
Certainly there have already been some successes through the Canadian union movement funding human rights and trade union organizing in Colombia, and this was acknowledged by all of the partners we visited.
These connections can only be strengthened with further tours, sponsorship of in-country projects, speaking opportunities for Colombians in Canada, and perhaps even an international union-sponsored human rights conference in Colombia (as suggested by an activist in Medellin). Colombia is ground zero for trade union activists; it is the job of international labour to bring what relief we can and to be inspired by sharing these struggles together.
6th, 2007 at 7pm
Please come and support and help us continue to build our direct people-to-people support in the face of increasing hardships and adversity facing the Filipino people.
Dear friends,
As you know, another tragedy has befallen the Filipino people: mud flows from the slopes of the Mayon volcano, triggered by heavy rains from typhoon Reming (international codename: Durian) buried at least eight villages in Albay province in the Bicol region. As of December 1, the mud flows have killed at least 338 people, more bodies are still being recovered.
Local officials have warned that the death toll could hit a thousand.
This is not the first time that tragedy has befallen the Filipino people. Here is an article from Bulatlat weekly magazine on environmental disasters in the Philippines.
In response, community organizations in Canada are seeking your expressions of support (both financial and material) for the people of Albay.
As overseas Filipino-Canadians and concerned Canadians it is vital to continue to build our direct people-to-people support in the face of increasing hardships and adversity facing the Filipino people.
If you would like to make a donation, please contact us by e-mail pwc@kalayaancentre.
net or call 604.215.1103.
Attention: Philippine Women Centre of B.C.
, (at Granville St. downtown Vancouver)
November 16th was chosen for the International Day of Action because of its highly significant nature. It was on November 16, 2004 when the infamous Hacienda Luisita Massacre occurred, where seven (7) workers and supporters were killed following a violent dispersal of the Hacienda Luisita strike by police, military and paid goons under the direct orders of the Arroyo government thru the Department of Labor and Employment.
This day would serve as a recognition and commemoration of the martyr-workers not only of Hacienda Luisita but of the martyr-workers in all the other workplaces and communities in the country.
More so, this day would serve as a testament to the continuing pursuit of the Filipino workers and people for economic and political emancipation.
On November 1, All Soul s Day, people all over the Philippines congregate at the burial sites of their ancestors to pay respect to their departed family and friends.
The Local Steering Committee of the Stop the Killings in the Philippines Campaign in Vancouver is organizing a march on November 1 as part of this tradition to pay tribute to the victims of political killings in the Philippines and to call for an end to the killings.
To date over 760 Filipinos have fallen victim to extra-judicial killings since Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo assumed presidency in 2001. This translates to an average of 145 extra-judicial killings a year under her administration. Since the first quarter of 2005, one person has been killed every two days.
They are workers, farmers, lawyers, teachers, students, pastors, priests, and human rights advocates. For the over 700 killed, all were unarmed citizens, and none of the killers have been convicted to date.
Please join Concerned Canadians and Filipinos in Canada in marking the 34-year anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines.
Now, 34 years later, the Filipino people are once again facing another iron-fisted president. Since 2001, there have been 750 extra-judicial killings, 184 forced disapperances, and more arbitrary arrests under Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration. These gross human rights violations have intensified under Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her military counter-insurgency campaign Oplan Bantay Laya (Operation Freedom Watch).
The overwhelming majority of the victims of Oplan Bantay Laya are leaders and members of progressive community organizations, like the Cordillera Peoples Alliance, trade unions, human rights groups, and political parties, like Bayan Muna (People First) asserting national freedom, social justice, democracy, and lasting peace in the Philippines.
Across Canada, Filipinos and Canadians will join the internationally-coordinated day of action on September 21 as part of the international Stop The Political Killings in the Phillipines campaign
The iron-fisted dictator Marcos was eventually defeated by the Filipino people and the solidarity of peace-loving people all over the world.
Now, 34 years later, the Filipino people are once again facing another iron-fisted president. Since 2001, there have been 748 extra-judicial killings, 184 forced disapperances, and more arbitrary arrests under Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration.
Yet, it Arroyo has not formally declared martial law.
Join us in a community forum with special guest speakers from the B.C.
Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines and relatives of some of the victims of political killings to learn more about the current state of democracy and human rights in the country.
For more info, contact Ted or Cora at 604-517-0029.
Dear President Macapagal-Arroyo and Secretary Avelino Cruz,
I am writing to express my grave concern over the unabated political killings here in the Philippines, especially the recent killing and attempted assassination of key leaders of indigenous peoples’ organizations and members of their families here in the Cordillera.
The attempted assassination of Dr. Constancio Claver, M.D.
in Tabuk, Kalinga which resulted in the death of his wife, Alice-Omengan Claver and wounding of a bystander, Janet Ewag is the most recent incident which took place in 31 July 2006. This happened just two months after the killing of Rafael Markus Bangit, (8 June 2006) which up to now remains unsolved. To date there are 73 indigenous persons subjected to extrajudicial killings since 2005.
Up to now not a single perpetrator has been identified and brought to justice.
On this same day that Dr. Claver was shot, two other political killings happened.
The League of Filipino Students provincial spokesman Rei Mon Guran was slain in Sorsogon province and Tanod tabloid photojournalist Prudencio Melendres, was killed in Malabon. The total number of political killings for just a period of one year is 705 people and there is a total of 182 enforced disappearances.
I condemn in the strongest terms those who are responsible for the attempted assassination and killing of these esteemed colleagues who have dedicated their lives to the defense and promotion of indigenous peoples’ human rights.
I call on your government to conduct a full investigation of these cases and bring the perpetrators to justice. The government is the body which should guarantee the basic right to life of its citizens and therefore it should exert all efforts to stop extrajudicial political killings. The fact that the government has not apprehended even just one of the perpetrators is appalling.
It is either the Police Force is totally incompetent or the perpetrators come from their ranks and, thus, are given protection. If your government cannot even ensure the basic right to life of your citizens, then you are failing in your responsibility and your obligations to international human rights law.
It is ironical to see the continuing gross violations of human rights happening almost on a daily basis, while the Philippine government claims with pride that it was elected as a member of the Human Rights Council and that it has an Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act.
It is also ironical that the attempted assassination of Claver and killing of Alice Omengan Claver and Markus Bangit happened at a time that the Second Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples has been launched and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been adopted by the Human Rights Council (despite the abstention of the Philippines). The Philippines signed on to the UN Convention on Enforced Disappearances at the same time.
Mrs.
President, you announced yesterday that you are giving 10 weeks to the Department of Justice and the Philippine National Police to jail suspects of at least 10 killings.. While this is a welcome move I hope it will not just result to coming up with fall guys and getting the perpetrators off the hook.
In addition to the Task Force Usig of the Philippine National Police, I believe a truly independent body with members who have integrity and possess impeccable reputations should be composed to investigate these cases. In relation to the Claver case and the killing of Markus Bangit you should heed the demand to thoroughly investigate PNP- Kalinga Provincial Director, Pedro Geronimo Ramos, for his possible role in these dastardly acts. He should be removed from his post while the investigation is going on.
It is also timely for your government to invite Professor Rodolfo Stavenhagen, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People to conduct a follow up visit to see how his recommendations from his 2003 visit were implemented. I also request that you invite Dr. Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial and Summary Executions.
I look forward to seeing justice for Dr. Constancio Claver, Alice Omengan-Claver and Rafael Markus Bangit and their families and all other indigenous leaders and activists who have been killed and displaced from their communities.
I also look forward to seeing an independent and effective investigation body to look into these killings and come up with recommendations on how best to stop similar incidents from happening in the future.
The United Nations Permanent Forum will be closely monitoring the developments and we hope we can receive updates from the relevant authorities.
Yours sincerely,
from Monica Urrutia, PSAC Regional Representative
Hi all,
Many of you know that I am very active in the Filipino community. As the press release below states the political killings in the Philippines keeps increasing, so the Filipino community and our supporters and allies are also stepping up starting off with weekly actions at the Philippine consulate.
International condemnation seems to be one of the few things the current Philippine President responds or reacts to. With that in mind I am sending this out to those within the PSAC and the labour movement whom I ve met or worked with and ask for your support.
We have them scheduled to kick off this Friday, August 11, and will be held every Friday until October 27th. Today s vigil will be from 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm but keep in touch for future ones because we might make them start a little later in order to accommodate those who want to participate after their work. update: vigils will take place from 5-7PM, starting August 18th.
We are requesting cut flowers to symbolize how the lives of these progressive activists have also been cut short and will no longer bloom.
The urgent actions usually come with a suggested letter format.
Thanks for your continued support, more power to us all!
In Solidarity, Monica Urrutia,
For immediate release, 9 August 2006 - Media Advisory
Vancouver, B.C.
- Responding to the intensified use of political repression in the Philippines under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo through killings of activists, church people, journalists, judges and other unarmed civilians, local Filipino groups alongside Canadian supporters will launch plans for weekly Friday afternoon vigils during a press conference on Friday, 11 August 2006, 10:30 a.m. at 451 Powell Street, Vancouver.
The local Filipino community will announce goals to step up its protest actions demanding that Vancouver-based Philippine Consul General Minerva Falcon publicly condemn the undeclared state of martial law in the Philippines. Organizers argue that although the primary duty of the Philippine government is to protect the life of the people, the Arroyo administration has hardly done anything to address the extrajudicial killings effectively.
As of 1 August 2006, 717 Filipinos have fallen victim to extrajudicial killings since Arroyo assumed presidency in 2001.
Since the first quarter of 2005, one person has been killed every two days. They are workers, farmers, lawyers, teachers, students, pastors, priests, and human rights advocates. For the over 700 killed, all were unarmed citizens, and none of the killers have been convicted to date.
One of the latest attacks involves the shooting death of Isaias Sta. Rosa, 47, a pastor of the United Methodist Church in Albay, Bicol who was also a member of a leftist farmers’ group, outside his home last Thursday, August 3. Other recent victims include the killing of Alice Claver, and the attempted murder of her husband, Dr.
Constancio “Chandu” Claver and their seven year-old daughter, Cassandra, who were ambushed on 31 July 2006 in Tabuk, Kalinga. Dr. Claver is the Chairperson of Bayan Muna-Kalinga (People First), a progressive political partylist.
Alice was an active member of Cordillera students organizations.
The Friday, August 11 press conference will feature speakers from the British Columbia Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, the Philippine Women Centre of B.C.
, and the Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance. They will highlight some of the stories of women, youth, as well as human rights workers themselves who have been victims of politically-motivated killings.
The weekly vigils will take place in front of the Philippine Consul office, 700 West Pender (at Granville), every Friday beginning on August 11 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.
m. until October 27. The vigils will include mock tombstones with the names of victims, candle lighting, offering of flowers and dramatizations to honor the many who have died for their conviction for social change.
There are an estimated 500,000 Filipinos in Canada, making them the fourth largest visible minority group in the country. Filipinos are the third largest visible minority group in B.C.
and the second in Vancouver.
Filipino community members in Toronto and Montreal are also holding protest actions, information drives, and petition signing as part of the Stop the Killings in the Philippines international campaign, building up to September 21 internationally coordinated protests to mark the anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law under former President Marcos and a fact-finding mission to the Philippines on the state of human rights in November.
For information on the growing international campaign, please visit and
For Filipino-Canadian participation in the Stop the Killings in the Philippines campaign, please visit or call Sheila Farrales at 604-215-1103 or email
Education International, the global organization representing education workers, is deeply concerned about the current situation in Lebanon and the impact it is having on innocent civilians, including many children.
EI has issued a statement on the situation which it has published on its website and brought to the attention of the international community.
Both of EI’s members in Lebanon have requested EI solidarity assistance and any humanitarian aid possible.
LabourStart.
org is responding to these pleas for help by issuing an urgent action appeal to member organisations seeking financial support for the teachers and their families who have been adversely affected by the situation. EI itself has made available immediately an initial amount of 20.000 EUR from the EI Solidarity Fund, which is being forwarded to EI affiliates in Lebanon, to provide humanitarian support to teachers and their families.
The funds will be provided on an equal basis to the Teachers Syndicate of Lebanon (TSL) and the Ligue des Professeurs de l’Enseignement Secondaire Public du Liban (LPESPL). EI is asking affiliates to ensure that the funds are allocated to those teachers and their families affected most adversely by the current military activities.
EI is also in contact with international humanitarian aid organisations seeking their immediate assistance for Lebanon and encouraging them to make contact with our affiliates.
Via email: Costa Rica has long stood out in Latin America as a peaceful and democratic society. Its President, Oscar Arias Sanchez, is a Nobel Peace Prize winner. It s not the kind of place you d usually find LabourStart calling for a global campaign but that s exactly what we re doing today.
Costa Rica is now the kind of country where trade union leaders have their lives threatened, union offices get raided by armed men, and courts are mobilized in an effort to break unions. All this takes place in the context of the struggle by unions against CAFTA the free trade agreement between several Central American countries and the USA.
Costa Rican unions are appealing for a large number of email protest messages to be send to the country s president and other leaders.
Please lend your support to this campaign today: and send an email message to the Costa Rican government. Via : Nothing stays fresh forever. Not food, not news, and not online campaigns.
Online campaigns have their own typical life spans. In the first few days, they often succeed in mobilizing large numbers of people to send off messages of protest. After that, support steadily diminishes.
After a few weeks, only a trickle of messages if even that reaches the target employer or government. This sends the wrong message, we think.
That s why at LabourStart we tend to suspend campaigns that haven t reached a satisfactory end after 90 days.
We don t want employers and governments to think that people have forgotten.
But this week, we re making an exception to our rule and we have a very special request to all of you.
As always happens in these cases, the response initially quite large has dropped down considerably.
Now only a trickle of messages are reaching the Indonesian government. Possibly, some bureaucrat there is telling his boss, Don t worry we hardly hear any more about those jailed unionists. We can let them rot.
The world has already forgotten them.
But we have not forgotten them. The union chairperson, Robin Kimbi, and the regional secretary, Masry Sebayang, got two years in prison.
Fourteen months terms were given to union leaders Suyahman, Safrudin, Akhen Pane and Sruhas Towo.
Their crime was to exercise their mandate as union leaders. They are prisoners of conscience.
We have not forgotten them, and we will not let this issue drop.
Last week, Amnesty International called on its members around the world to raise their voices in protest against the jailing of the Musim Mas trade unionists.
And unions around the world are taking up the cause.
The Nestle European Works Council, representing 80,000 company employees, has written to the company to express concern over the possible presence of Musim Mas palm oil and oleochemicals in Nestle products.
The German Food and Allied Workers NGG and the Dutch FNV Bondgenoten have echoed the public call by the Unilever European Works Council for Unilever to distance itself from Musim Mas and publicly reveal its sources for the palm oil in company products.
And the global union federation representing food workers, the IUF (at whose request we launched our campaign) has now begun to raise money for the struggle through its International Musim Mas Defense Fund.
Momentum is growing again. A three-month old campaign, no longer fresh , is attracting attention. The Indonesian government is going to have to start paying attention.
1. .
2.
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3. Spread the word in your workplace and union.
In the international trade union movement we do not forget those who languish in prisons for our cause.
This campaign continues.
Solidarity forever!
CALAMBA CITY, Laguna The Philippines is fast becoming the most dangerous place for labor unions after Colombia, a US-based labor rights advocacygroup said Tuesday as members of a 12-nation International Labor SolidarityMission fanned out to various provinces to investigate killings, abductions and other attacks on labor leaders and supporters.
Brian Campbell, an officer of the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF), said his group and the others were alarmed over the attacks on trade union leaders in the country, some of whom worked in factories owned by multinational corporations from the United States and Europe.
ILRF is a group of lawyers based in Washington, D.
C., which helps families of murdered union leaders file criminal cases against corporations suspected of complicity in the killings.
The spate of labor killings in the Philippines now matches the notoriety of Colombia, which is the most dangerous country for labor unions, Campbell told the Inquirer shortly after he arrived here as part of a group that is looking into recent attacks on labor leaders in the Southern Tagalog region.
The Philippines is becoming one of the worst countries that I ve (visited). What is more disturbing is that it takes less and less to provoke the killings, he said.
Last week, Gerry Cristobal, president of a union in a semiconductor firm in Cavite province, was critically wounded in a shooting involving an intelligence operative in Imus town.
Militant groups said that, contrary to what the police had earlier reported, it was Cristobal who was ambushed.
Campbell and the other members of the solidarity mission hope to increase pressure on the Arroyo government to act swiftly on the murders of labor leaders.
Campbell said the ILRF was currently involved in at least 12 cases where it represents workers on a banana plantation in Guatemala and a German-owned coal company in Colombia.
Campbell said in some countries he had visited, corporations with mother companies in the US and Europe were suspected to have been involved in ordering the slayings of union leaders.
The people in the US don t have a full understanding of how it is like to be a worker in the Philippines, he said. It is important that they know what the companies, which they believe are good citizens, are doing here.
They should understand that there is a dark side to this globalization and capitalism.
Among the countries with representatives on the solidarity mission are the United States, Belgium, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The mission was organized by the local Center for Trade Union and Human Rights, the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research, and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers.
Some of the other teams have already arrived in Bulacan, Tarlac and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), while others were on their way to Compostela Valley and the island of Negros, according to mission spokesperson Daisy Arago.
They will talk to the victims and survivors of politically related incidents of violence including those who experienced harassment, abduction and torture because of their trade-union and political activities in their factories and communities, added Arago, who is also executive director of the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights.
The delegates will visit the families of those who were killed and gather first-hand information on the circumstances around the killings.
We aim to unmask the perpetrators of these heinous crimes which killed more than 60 unionists, labor leaders and advocates since 2001, Arago said.
Arago said the success of the mission would depend on the cooperation of the authorities.
We expect harassment from local military and police forces but we are determined to push through with the work, she told the Inquirer in a
telephone interview.
Aside from the killings, disappearances and abductions, the mission members will also document torture and violations of privacy and intrusions into the workers homes and families.
The mission is expected to present its report in Manila on May 7. Mission members and local labor rights advocates are to meet with the Commission on Human Rights the following day, Arago said.
In Tarlac province, the killings to be investigated are those of Ricardo Ramos, former president of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union; Tirso Cruz, a leader of the United Luisita Workers Union; Bayan Muna-Tarlac secretary general Florante Collantes; and Tarlac City councilor Abelardo Ladera.
In Bulacan province, the mission will investigate the murders of Federico de Leon, provincial chair of the Anakpawis Party; Rogelio Concepcion, union president of Solid Development Corp.; and Francisco Paraon, who was illegally detained, interrogated and tortured on Christmas day last year.
In Calabarzon, the delegates will focus on the killings of Nestlé Philippines union president Diosdado Fortuna, Alliance of Concerned Teachers national council member Napoleon Pomasdoro and Honda Workers Union president Romeo Legazpi.
In Negros and southern Mindanao, the mission will study the plight of sugar and banana plantation workers, respectively.
They will also look into the murders of at least four leaders of the National Federation of Sugar Workers, a Kilusang Mayo Uno affiliate in the
sugar industry.
Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada / the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance (UKPC/FCYA), a grassroots community organization for youth of Filipino ancestry will hold a fundraiser for the victims of the recent mudslide on the Philippine island of Leyte. The disaster has claimed an estimated 1,800 lives.
“Pinoy Poetiks” will be held on February 25, 2006 8:00 pm at El Cocal Restaurant, 1037 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC.
Pinoy Poetiks will be a night of music, poetry, and spoken word, an open-mic event where Filipino youth can bring their thoughts, speak their mind, and of course, get creative. All proceeds will go the victims of the mudslide.
Pinoy Poetiks is an opportunity for Filipino-Canadians and friends of the Filipino community to bridge artistic expression and financial relief for this tragedy”, said Carl Cortes of UKPC/FCYA.
UKPC / FCYA criticizes Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for not taking measures to prevent such tragedy. UKPC / FCYA says that the Canadian bidding for logging permits in the Philippines is one of the biggest, and the Arroyo regime defends policies of liberalization that “allows foreign big companies and their local partners all the freedom to plunder our forests and natural resources and exploit and oppress the Filipino people,” said Cortes.
“Pinoy Poetiks will feature the works of Carlos Bulosan, a Filipino migrant worker who wrote of the personal and collective experience of Filipino migrants during the 1930’s in America.
The majority of Filipino youth in Canada are products of forced migration, and we relate many of our experiences as young Filipinos abroad to Bulosan’s writings,” said Cortes.
“As the progressive Filipino youth in Canada, we continue to struggle for our Motherland’s future – for its genuine development and equality.” Cortes adds.
Via email: As you know, another tragedy has befallen the Filipino people the Mudslide Tragedy that happened on Friday, February 17th in Southern Leyte, Philippines.
An initial report that there are over 1,800 death toll, and still there are more victims waiting to be rescued. However, due to slow rescue operation and worsening weather condition, there are more deaths expected. This is not the first time that another tragedy has befallen the Filipino people.
We will send you updates on the situation as they become available in our website, . In particular, we will try to send you articles analysing the root causes for such a tragedy.
In the meantime, the groups in the Kalayaan Centre are seeking your expressions of support (both financial and material) for the people of Leyte.
If you would like to make a donation, please contact us by e-mail or call 604.215.1103.
Attention: Philippine Women Centre of B.C.
In solidarity,
Philippine Women Centre of B.
C., Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance, Filipino Nurses Support Group, SIKLAB (Overseas Filipino workers organization), B.C.
Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Sinag Bayan Cultural Collective
For immediate release: February 19, 2006
A network of progressive Filipinos in Canada is gathering donations for the victims of the recent Leyte disaster that claimed an estimated 1,800 lives.
As the progressive Filipino Canadian community in Canada we extend our deepest sympathies to the families of those 1,800 people killed in the mudslide in Guinsaugon, Leyte, Philippines, said Cecilia Diocson, Chairperson of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC).
We call on Filipinos in Canada and other Canadians to gather what financial support they can to help in the relief and recovery efforts of this tragedy, said Roderick Carreon, Chairperson of SIKLAB – Canada (Advance and Uphold the Rights of Overseas Filipino Workers).
Filipinos are the fourth largest visible minority group in Canada, numbering close to 400,000.
“This is a case of simple government neglect,” says Diocson. “Even the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said yesterday the landslide was a tragedy waiting to happen,” she added.
Diocson criticized Philippine President Gloria Macapgal-Arroyo s anti-people policies that have aggravated and not solved the chronic economic crisis in the Philippines. She said more government spending is directed towards servicing the foreign debt than badly needed social and economic programs. An estimated 88% of the population lives in poverty.
According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the region has been the scene of natural disasters since 1749, when a volcano in the area erupted. Since 1991, four deadly landslides and floods have also struck the region and claimed thousands of lives.
At the same time, we question claims by the Philippine government that the mudslide was mainly due to illegal logging, states Carreon.
The real reason for the tragedy and others like it are the large-scale logging operations mostly by foreign-owned companies which have caused massive deforestation and environmental damage all over the Philippines, he added.
Carreon pointed to government policies of liberalization that, “give foreign companies the right to plunder the nation s natural resources at the people s expense.”
The group is setting up a trust fund in the Vancouver area to accept donations to be coursed to the disaster area.
Donations can be made out to the Philippine Women Centre of BC (please signify donations FOR LEYTE DISASTER), for donations of $25 or more can also be made to SAPED-PCDI c/o 451 Powell Street, Vancouver, BC, V6A 1G7 and a tax receipt will be issued.
For more information, please contact:
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