A state of impunity for murderers of trade unionists continues unabated in Colombia, in spite of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's recent claims of improvement. Mr. Uribe is visiting the US this week, advocating for approval of a pending free trade agreement with the US.
According to new analysis from USLEAP based on information provided by the Colombian government, convictions took place in only three trade union murder cases in the first half of 2007. Of the 236 murders of trade unionists that occurred between 2004 and 2006, the government has achieved convictions in only five cases. Nearly 400 trade unionists have been murder since Uribe's inauguration in August of 2002.
Keep reading the check out the press release from USLEAP and more information on this issue.
In the early morning hours of Sunday
September 23, Marco Tulio Portela Ramirez prepared to go to work at a banana
plantation in Izabal, Guatemala never made it to work. He was gunned down in front of his house by armed masked men. Marco was the secretary of culture and sport at SITRABI, the union for
banana workers in Izabal. His brother Noé Ramirez is the general secretary. He
leaves behind a wife and young children.
The union firmly believes this
killing is directly related to the work they have been doing to end the
intimidation and harassment of their union. Most recently the union intervened
with the Public Ministry and the Ministry of Defense in Guatemala in response to military
personnel who forcibly visited their office.
The number of murdered trade union activists rose to 144 from 115 in 2005
832 trade unionists were injured, tortured or beaten
About 5,000 workers were arrested and 500 were jailed
Colombia continues to be the most dangerous country for union organizing, accounting for more than half of the world's total of trade union murders in 2006
The Philippines continues to be a major cause of concern as at least 33 unionists were killed in "an orgy of extrajudicial violence"
Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum Godiva Chocolatier is currently floating on the market looking for a parent company. The company is owned
by Campbell Soup and insiders say that the soup company is looking to sell Godiva for anywhere between $1 billion and $1.5 billion. Godiva is the 11th biggest chocolate confectionery in the US. It has been rumored that Lindt (which also makes Ghirardelli) might buy Godiva.
Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum
Fahamu and Pambazuka news have just published a new book titled From the slave trade to 'free' trade:
How trade undermines democracy and justice in Africa. The book, edited by Patrick Burnett and Firoze Manji can be order online here or you can read the whole book online here!
As the editors note in the introduction, "In the global trading system, justice and the interests of ordinary working people often take backstage to trade policies dictated by global powers; countries and even entire continents like Africa, frequently appear to be on the losing end of the equation."
Keep reading to find out more about ILRF's appearances in the book!
Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum
Check out this great article by BBC report Humphrey Hawksley about the cocoa industry on the YaleGlobal website.
As Hawksley writes in his article, "One example of the link between globalization and African poverty is the chocolate industry that accepts the use of child labor to farm cocoa, chocolate’s raw product. Children are kept out of school and forced to work on farms to meet the world’s craving for chocolate and profit-drive by the multinationals. Some are sold as child slaves, but most are put to work because cocoa farmers are too poor to hire adult labor."
According to new analysis from USLEAP based on information provided by the Colombian government, convictions took place in only three trade union murder cases in the first half of 2007. Of the 236 murders of trade unionists that occurred between 2004 and 2006, the government has achieved convictions in only five cases. Nearly 400 trade unionists have been murder since Uribe's inauguration in August of 2002. 
