TRADE CONFEDERATIONS SEND ANTI-FTA LETTER TO U.S.

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000790 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT. PLEASE PASS TO USTR, DOL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB ETRD PGOV CO SUBJECT: TRADE CONFEDERATIONS SEND ANTI-FTA LETTER TO U.S. CONGRESS -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) On January 23, two trade confederations and a pensioner's group released an open letter to the U.S. Congress, criticizing the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and urging that it not be ratified (See para 5). The trade confederations also invited a U.S. labor-Congressional delegation to visit Colombia in March, and are planning their own visit to the U.S. Congress later that month to lobby against a trade deal. End Summary. -------------- OPEN LETTER TO U.S. CONGRESS -------------- ¶2. (U) On January 23, the United Workers' Confederation (CUT) publicized an open letter, signed by the presidents of the CUT, the Colombian Workers' Confederation (CTC),and the Colombian Confederation of Pensioners (CPC),and addressed to the House Ways and Means Committee of the United States Congress (See para 5). The letter criticized the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and urged that it not be ratified. The letter claimed the agreement would increase unemployment, worsen labor conditions and contracting practices, increase health care and pharmaceutical costs, and force agricultural workers to turn to illegal activities. The General Labor Confederation (CGT) abstained from signing the CUT letter, but sent its own letter to Congress opposing the accord. -------------- ANTI-FTA DELEGATIONS -------------- ¶3. (SBU) CUT president Carlos Rodriguez told us the letter was the first step in the trade confederations' efforts to bring a delegation of U.S. labor leaders and members of Congress to Colombia. He expects the visit to take place around mid-March, but did not yet know which members of Congress would accept the invitation. In recent days, Colombian labor leaders have also been discussing sending a Colombian labor delegation to the U.S. Congress to present their anti-FTA positions. -------------- --- LABOR LEADERS STUDYING REVISION OF LABOR CHAPTER -------------- --- ¶4. (SBU) Rodriguez said the CUT is studying how the labor chapter could be re-written. He said the three trade confederations would meet with President Uribe on January 31 to discuss possible revisions. Rodriguez said the main problem with the labor chapter was that grievances over labor violations would be subject to review and sanction only if said violations were trade-related. The trade confederations are seeking provisions that stipulate sanctions for any type of labor violation. He also said the trade confederations' concerns over the FTA were not limited to the labor chapter, explaining, "All the clauses of the FTA are essentially labor clauses." -------------- INFORMAL EMBASSY TRANSLATION OF LETTER -------------- ¶5. (U) Begin informal Embassy translation of letter: Bogota, January 23, 2007 OPEN LETTER TO THE HONORABLE REPRESENTATIVES ON THE COMMISSION ON WAYS AND MEANS AND TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ATTENTION: REPRESENTATIVE CHARLES RANGEL Since negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement began, Colombian trade confederations have expressed total opposition to the contents of this agreement, not only those against the labor cause, but also against the many provisions of this agreement that would be detrimental to the interests of the national economy and result in the destruction of our agriculture, industrial, and service sectors, thus increasing unemployment and deteriorating work conditions. Therefore, on May 18, 2004, the AFL-CIO and Colombian trade confederations signed a declaration against the FTA's commercial unsuitability. Analyzing the contents of the agreement, we reiterate our opposition, strengthened by recent analyses by political and labor sectors concerned over the effects of the agreement, not only regarding labor, but also in commercial matters, intellectual property, and environment, among many others. Given the asymmetry between our countries and the fact that the U.S. economy is more than one hundred times more developed than ours, fair commercial exchange is impossible. Domestic and multinational companies in Colombia will have to lower their labor and tax costs in order to export competitively, resulting in an increase in poverty and a decrease in tax revenues and the State's ability to meet its social obligations. Ratification of the agreement will raze the remaining jobs that have survived the three years since Colombia's domestic market opened, which already has brought increases in poverty and unemployment. In the past 15 years, labor legislation has been modified for the worse, to the point that workers' rights to organize unions and to negotiate labor conditions collectively have virtually disappeared. Currently, with a workforce of 18 million, less than half of which receive steady salary, there are less than one million unionized workers and less than 200,000 of whom enjoy collective bargaining agreements, arbitration awards, or collective pacts. In addition, irregular forms of contracting, such as temporary work agencies, workers' cooperatives, and commercial contracts, dominate the Colombian labor market; the situation of child labor and explotation of women is also becoming more and more notorious. Colombian labor legislation and managerial practices endorsed by the government drift farther and farther from ILO standards. The FTA will stimulate the implementation of new reforms and labor practices that undermine the few rights we have left. As an example of the direction we are heading, President Uribe recently ordered a decree to liquidate the State-run Social Security Institute (ISS),which administers workers' health, pension, and insurance programs, moving these responsibilities to the private sector. This situation will worsen due to price increases in medical procedures and medicine that will take place as a consequence of the FTA's provisions on intellectual property rights. Recently a mission from the World Bank to Colombia recommended eliminating the minimum wage, advice that found an eager audience among employer associations and government circles. It is useful to remember that in addition to the disregard for worker rights, there persists, as part of the same anti-union campaign, a permanent violation of human rights, evidenced by the killings of union leaders and activists, their forced displacement, and the exile of thousands of workers due to threats against their lives. We are deeply concerned that the predictable decrease in agricultural jobs will cause mass importing of food, and a significant percentage of Colombian peasants will be forced to grow illicit crops and turn to other criminal activities in order to survive. We are not against international trade, but it should be conducted within a spirit of respect for a country's sovereignty, mutual benefit, and the promotion of productive development, aspects that the FTA does not contain. For all these reasons, the Colombian trade confederations urge the United States Congress to not ratify the Free Trade Agreement that the governments of Colombia and the United States have negotiated. --Carlos Rodriguez Diaz President CUT --Apecides Alvis Fernandez President CTC --Jesus Ernesto Mendoza President CPC End informal Embassy translation of letter. DRUCKER