Fewer Colombian Union Members Killed in 2007

The number of trade unionists murdered in Colombia in 2007 dropped from 72 in 2006 to 39. Other forms of violence were up, however, and Colombian remains the most dangerous country to a trade unionist. And most recent reports inidcate that the 2007 may be temporary, with 17 trade unionists killed in fhe first three months of 2008.

Nevertheless, the 2007 drop is welcome and worth some reflection. Trade union assassinations have not come down this far in a single year since 1990, when 38 union members were killed. In the 17 years between, murders of trade unionists soared, often with between 100 and 250 union members killed annually. While a lack of political will to prosecute murderers of trade unionists has left most of the specific perpetrators unknown, the majority of assassinations are committed by paramilitaries, followed by Colombian police and military and guerrilla organizations.

There are a number of explanations offered by Colombian trade unions and worker rights organizations for the drop in murders, but two stand out: First, the systematic destruction of trade unions in Colombia has already reduced union power and numbers so significantly that,as an anti-union strategy, continued murders are almost unnecessary. Even since 2003, the CUT, Colombia ’s largest trade union federation, reports a 20% drop in collective bargaining agreements in the country. The decimation of the Colombian labor movement through threats, intimidation, and murder has been accompanied by the systematic denial of the free exercise of labor rights by the Colombian government. This has left the movement so weak that some analysts have argued that even illegal armed groups might find more murders an excessive tactic.

Second, President Uribe, who has the allegiance of most paramilitary organizations, has a political incentive for the murders to drop: the Free Trade Agreement between his country and the US has been hinging on it. As the majority of violence against union members is carried out by paramilitary
groups and state forces, these groups have apparently reduced the murders since it has been politically expedient for the Uribe administration to do so.

As the Escuela Nacional Sindical, a leading Colombian NGO that monitors labor issues, points out, widespread and systematic violence against trade unionists in Colombia has by no means stopped. The drop in assassinations was not accompanied by a drop in overall violations, which indicates more of a strategic shift in tactics than any interest in protecting labor rights by the Colombian state.

See the USLEAP Colombian Fact Sheet on Murders and Impunity for additional information.