Action !
Syndicol considered that it was high time to declare 2005-2006 the year of solidarity with Colombia. In concrete terms, the group intends to implement the following actions :
- to organize wide information and awareness-raising campaigns in all the bodies and organizations of the FGTB and the CSC,
- to draw more people’s attention to Colombia in the trade union press and in the general press,
- to support the work and the activities of the politicians and NGOs and to denounce more ardently the violations of union rights (the freedom of association) (accompanying missions of members of parliament in the field, debate and vote of a resolution inside of the Committee for International Relations,…),
- to encourage as many persons as possible to sign the petition : on the web site (www.syndicol.be), in the companies, during information evenings,
- to organize the coordination with other trade unions in Europe,
- to give priority to Colombia within the framework of the activities of the International Labour Organization,
- to get Belgium to position itself clearly, without ambiguity, with regard to the action of the European Union and vis-ŕ-vis the Colombian authorities.
The first results have already been registered :
- A first meeting took place between the trade unions and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We handed out a book of claims and we are waiting for a clear answer.
- A new resolution has to be proposed and we want a debate to be held within the International Committee of the Parliament.
- In February 2005, an official delegation made up of Belgian Members of Parliament went to Colombia. Its first objective was to express its concern regarding the numerous abductions and to show its solidarity with Ingrid Betancourt, a female politician who has been held in the Colombian jungle for the last 3 years. But the colleagues of Syndicol also joined the members of this mission to make sure they could also meet the trade unions and listen to their stories.
- Syndicol supported the Colombian trade unions during the ILO Conference in June 2005. Alarmed about the issues regarding the trade union rights and the freedom of association in Colombia, the group sent a high level tripartite mission in October 2005 to examine the situation in the field. A small glimmer of hope for the Colombian trade unions : at last, the main international organization that is in charge of promoting and examining the international conventions has paid attention to them !
