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<h1 style="text-align: center;"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
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<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Take Action Today: Sugar
Cane Workers in Colombia in Jeopardy</b></span><br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: large;">Hundreds of sugar cane workers
at the Cabaña plantation and sugar mill in Colombia face new
threats of violence and murder. <b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=WqCPziDdsWAndX%2FPaDL812Q3w02F%2BoHI">Take
Action Now</a>.</b><br>
<br>
Workers have faced threats of violence ever since they formed
the union in November 2012. A key leader of the union, <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=qOHwbPfcxDRR20T5E9rBMWQ3w02F%2BoHI">Juan
Carlos Perez Muñoz, was murdered</a> on January 28, 2013. <br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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. <br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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 <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=X2ADasdQoeIu3tNDlH66DWQ3w02F%2BoHI">Labor
Action Plan</a> 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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
The union is affiliated to Sintrainagro, the largest private
sector union in Latin America, which represents thousands of
other sugar workers in the region.</span></p>
<p><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=xG%2F6Pc54aE1kkhUW%2FfdHHGQ3w02F%2BoHI"><b><span
style="font-size: large;">Take Action</span></b></a><span
style="font-size: large;">. Contact the Colombian Government
to urge it to end violence against these workers and ensure
respect for their basic rights.</span><span style="font-size:
large;"><br>
</span></p>
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