Colombia FTA Vote This Week: Take Action Now!

The time has come to say NO to the Colombia Free Trade Agreement once and for all. On October 3 President Obama submitted to Congress the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, along with two other Bush-era trade agreements with South Korea and Panama. The House is expected to hold separate floor votes on the agreements as early as the evening of Tuesday, October 11, but most likely October 12.

Colombian trade unionists need your help.

Colombian trade unionists and USLEAP have opposed the Colombia Free Trade Agreement since its introduction in 2006, and our position and the issues remain the same. Colombia is still the most violent country in the world in which to be a trade unionist. The government continues to deny basic rights and allow abusive working conditions, including on palm oil and flower plantations. The highly-respected National Labor School in Colombia (ENS) just published a critical report of the Colombian government’s implementation of the Free Trade Agreement Labor Action Plan six months after the Plan’s release, finding that violence and worker protests continue, social dialogue stagnates, and the minimal steps that have been taken have failed to make any concrete impact on Colombian workers.

And this was when the Colombian government was trying to look good. What will happen if Congress approves the FTA?

We have stopped the Colombia Free Trade Agreement for five years. We now have only two days left to urge representatives to say NO to the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and make a stand for human and labor rights.

The time to act is now.

Step 1—Call the capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your representative. If you don't know who represents you, click here to look it up by entering your zip code.

Step 2—Ask to speak to the representative. If you can't speak to him/her, ask for the aide that works on trade and labor issues. Keep your message simple. Just say:

“My name is ____. I am a constituent calling to urge Representative ____ to take a stand for human and labor rights by opposing the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.”

If you would like to say or learn more, check out the USLEAP Colombia FTA toolkit for additional talking points. You can also look at the Latin America Working Group resource page for information on non-labor issues.

Act now and say NO to the Colombia Free Trade Agreement!