[CTC] April decision possible on Japan joining TPP talks

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Please excuse cross postings.


  <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=naB%2FX7Bf22CKdFaTrCzegbGxYqAIO6dR>

*Take Action Today:  Sugar Cane Workers in Colombia in Jeopardy*

Hundreds of sugar cane workers at the Cabaña plantation and sugar mill 
in Colombia face new threats of violence and murder. *Take Action Now 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=WqCPziDdsWAndX%2FPaDL812Q3w02F%2BoHI>.*

Workers have faced threats of violence ever since they formed the union 
in November 2012.  A key leader of the union, Juan Carlos Perez Muñoz, 
was murdered 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=qOHwbPfcxDRR20T5E9rBMWQ3w02F%2BoHI> 
on January 28, 2013.

Workers reported this week that plain clothes security guards, employed 
by the company, have boarded  buses that carry workers to the 
plantation, and with guns in hand, have threatened to kill workers if 
they support the union and join a peaceful protest that started on March 6.

The company has military installations on its premises.  Its own armed 
private security guards were recently bolstered by the arrival of 
anti-riot national police.

Workers organized the union last fall to protest long days, wages below 
prevailing local wage, no vacation pay, and no overtime.  The company 
responded by effectively firing nearly 100 union members, including the 
entire executive committee of the union.  More workers have since been 
fired and another 500 have been forced to disaffiliate in order retain 
their jobs.

The Cabaña mill is one of the two last hold outs among a dozen sugar 
mills in the Cauca region that have not ended the practice of using 
third party contractors, a key abuse targeted in the Colombia Labor 
Action Plan 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=X2ADasdQoeIu3tNDlH66DWQ3w02F%2BoHI> 
signed in April 2011.  Following a major strike in 2008, most other 
sugar mills in the region agreed to hire their workers directly.  The 
Cabaña sugar mill, however, has continued to use intermediaries who 
employ workers on short-term contracts under far worse conditions, 
prompting the formation of the union last fall.

The union reports that for nearly four months it had been asking the 
Ministry of Labor to enforce laws banning intermediation but there was 
no response even as workers were being fired, forced to disaffiliate to 
keep their jobs, and threatened with violence and intimidation.  Only 
when the union threatened in early March to strike did the Ministry 
respond, with the Vice Minister convening a meeting on March 4 at which 
the government asked for more time and failed to take any concrete 
action other than promise to investigate the situation within one week.  
As of March 20, the workers had not heard anything from the Ministry of 
Labor.

On March 5, the union voted overwhelming to strike but the serious 
threat of violence and lack of confidence in the government have forced 
most union members to stay on the job while peaceful protests are 
carried out by the fired workers.

The union is affiliated to Sintrainagro, the largest private sector 
union in Latin America, which represents thousands of other sugar 
workers in the region.

*Take Action* 
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=xG%2F6Pc54aE1kkhUW%2FfdHHGQ3w02F%2BoHI>.   
Contact the Colombian Government to urge it to end violence against 
these workers and ensure respect for their basic rights.

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<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=IZlcpf54gW1nLRvm4l9LXGQ3w02F%2BoHI>

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