Last night at the third and final Presidential debate we finally got to hear about labor / human rights in Colombia; something that most union activists already knew at least a little something about.
The Colombian Free Trade Agreement is vehemently opposed by almost all of labor in the United States – and for good reason; labor leaders in Colombia are assassinated on an average of one a week. There is either one assassination or assassination attempt on a union organizer/leader every month under the President Uribe administration.
NOTE: The above two graphs are the beginning of the diary; they are repeated beneath the fold. The post was published this morning on this page at UnionReview.com. You are invited to cross-post this to your site, elaborate on the story and spread it around as though you wrote it yourself.
Last night at the third and final Presidential debate we finally got to hear about labor / human rights in Colombia; something that most union activists already knew at least a little something about.
The Colombian Free Trade Agreement is vehemently opposed by almost all of labor in the United States – and for good reason; labor leaders in Colombia are assassinated on an average of one a week. There is either one assassination or assassination attempt on a union organizer/leader every month under the President Uribe administration.
I (and others) have written about this before on UnionReview.com, JoesUnionReview.blogspot.com, DailyKos.com and many other sites (simply do a Google/Yahoo search; or any other search for Col FTA) (I found some links to the posts on UnionReview.com and will drop in at the bottom of the story). Many of us have urged online activists to take on the subject and write about it – expand the readership on an item many just don’t know the full details on.
As one activist in the sea of labor organizers and leaders in this country, I was fortunate enough to sit down and meet a number of Colombian Union Leaders earlier this year; it was at that round table discussion that I was personally convinced that we, as the United States, could not and should not endorse this Agreement; and how I wish John McCain or Sara McPalin would have been there ...
The Unions in DC invited a group of Colombian Union Leaders to tell their story, meet with people on Capitol Hill and set forth their plea for assistance. When the group came to my union there was an empty chair in front of a name tag. I looked over at the empty chair and became curious as to why the invited unionist was absent. I no sooner learned that the man was in hospital back home, he had been violently/viciously stabbed the week prior (he was at a community event with other union workers); he was doing his job!
Through an interpreter we were told that the very workers who were in front of us, every one of them, have a tag on their head. We were told their lives are now in double jeopardy as the Uribe government surely knew they were in the States. The images floated in my head – perhaps they will get off the plane and get shot at right there and then; maybe it would only be days until one of them were hospitalized, jailed or brutalized – if not simply killed. My heart sank. If I were not born to the US and instead had a fate of being born to Colombia, in the same line of work that I have dedicated my life to, I too could be dead.
Think about that for a minute. Let’s say you are a bus driver, an attorney, a school teacher or a nurse ... Let’s say you show up to your union meetings, are a member in good standing, and are driven to do more for your colleagues; you become an activist eventually elected to union office – your ambitions clear – even honorable – your work helps hundreds if not thousands of others in your trade; you are good at what you do, passionate about your work ... and ... along comes a Trade Agreement the president wants to pass with the United States. It is known you are not at all for the agreement; your compadres will be mistreated, underpaid, overworked, unfairly used – and to get your voice silenced – you are killed, removed, shot at and stabbed. This is not fiction – this is not creative writing class or English 101 reading; and though it is tragic with a serious Machiavellian – type; this ain’t Shakespeare either, this is even more serious.
So. When McCain brought up the Colombian Free Trade Agreement last night, I cringed. I was almost nervous as to how Obama would respond. Barack Obama’s record shows that he is not in favor of the Agreement without stipulations in place to protect labor leaders and workers. I felt like I was watching a suspense movie for a minute knowing what the villain has been up to; will it be revealed?
Alas, Obama said the right thing – stuck to HIS guns, and discussed the issues we have been talking of all year (and many speaking/writing of this longer than that). The screen was split and McCain’s eyes rolled and his creepy smile was evident. I yelled at the television set and thought ... Iago’s plan is a bust, he was just revealed on national television; Othello is going to have a different ending after all.
I am not certain I am 100% opposed to all trade agreements – I am, however, opposed to agreements that, in the end, leave workers in the US unemployed and workers in other countries dead, hospitalized, maimed, etc. That is not Free Trade and it sure as hell ain’t Fair trade.
Think about this as you go to vote in a couple weeks. If you are an active union worker, an organizer, or even just wear your union’s gear ... you are a mark in Colombia. Think about this as you go to vote in a couple weeks: What I just described is not only OK for the McCain camp, it is categorically endorsed.
Added Stories of Interest
See Video: Labor Comes Out to Protest Colombian Free Trade
http://unionreview.com/...
Another trade union leader killed in Colombia, why does our administration insist on Colombian FTA?
http://unionreview.com/...
COlombia Free Trade Agreement off the fast track
http://unionreview.com/...
(With many many links on this issue at the bottom of the story)