Workers Uniting Protests at Recent Killings
News from Colombia |
on: Wednesday, 25 January 2012
On January 24th Unite the Union and the USW wrote to President Santos regarding the two recent killings of trade unionists in Colombia. They wrote as leaders of Workers Uniting, the global union, which has a partnership agreement with FENSUAGRO, the Colombian agricultural workers’ union, one of whose members was tortured and killed by Colombian army troops on January 9th.
In their letter Len McCluskey and Leo Gerard express their “deep anger and sadness” at the news of the killings of two Colombian trade unionists who have been “brutally murdered in recent days.” The letter emphasises that one of the trade unionists, Victor Hilarion, was a member of FENSUAGRO, and therefore Workers Uniting treats the killing as that of a member of their own organisations – “We consider an attack on a FENSUAGRO member as if it were one of our own members.”
The letter calls on President Santos to immediately order an investigation into these brutal crimes, and release all trade unionists from prison (there are currently dozens of trade unionists imprisoned in Colombia) and provide security protection to Colombian trade unionists.
To read the letter click on the document above right.
