FENSUAGRO Signs Historic Partnership Agreement
News from Colombia |
on: Monday, 5 December 2011
On November 12th FENSUAGRO, the Colombian agricultural workers’ union, signed an historic partnership agreement with Workers Uniting (the world’s first international trade union made up of UNITE the Union and the United Steel Workers (USW) of the US and Canada) which binds them together in order to confront the “grave situation facing Colombian trade unionists.”
The “Partnership for Life” agreement means that FENSUAGRO is now a sister union of Workers Uniting and any attack on a FENSUAGRO member will be treated as though it is against a member of Workers Uniting. The agreement commits the organisations to writing a joint letter to the leaders of Ireland, Canada, the UK, the US and Colombia in which they will make it clear “that an attack on a member of FENSUAGRO will be treated in the same way as an attack on a member of Workers Uniting.”
The campaign for Colombian trade union and human rights will continue until there is a “clear and verifiable” improvement in the situation, and the new union also commits to supporting the campaign for a peace process in Colombia. Workers Uniting will support the work of FENSUAGRO in organising agricultural workers in Colombia, as well as supporting the work of its human rights department.
From the signing of this agreement FENSUAGRO delegates will attend all Workers Uniting meetings and events, and together the organisations will work to identify common interests and multi-national corporations in which the unions have members in order to engage in joint activities.
The agreement was signed in London by Aidee Moreno (Fensuagro Human Rights Director), Len McCluskey (Unite General Secretary) and Leo Gerard (International President of the United Steel Workers).
