Esteban Barboza, general secretary of the SNTT (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Rama, Servicios de la Industria del Transporte y Logística de Colombia) union, said: “We hope that the peace will be permanent and that means for compensation will be established to address the suffering that has taken place. We hope too that all Colombians, united together, will enjoy genuine freedom, including trade union freedoms.”
Following the signing of a ceasefire between the Colombian government and the FARC rebel group on 23 June, ITF Americas regional secretary Antonio Fritz said he looked forward to a stronger, unified trade union movement in Colombia, as it had a major role to play in consolidating the ceasefire and charting a new direction for the country.
Mr Fritz added that even though the breakthrough would not affect the draconian, anti-union tactics used by many Colombian employers, it would help remove the often literally fatal stigma of being a trade union leader or social activist.
Colombia is one of the most economically unequal countries in the world. Unions have long argued that freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are the key to tackling inequality, and that social dialogue must be at the centre of the process from the start.
