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

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SUMMARY
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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.

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OPEN LETTER TO U.S. CONGRESS
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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.

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ANTI-FTA DELEGATIONS
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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.

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LABOR LEADERS STUDYING REVISION OF LABOR CHAPTER
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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."

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INFORMAL EMBASSY TRANSLATION OF LETTER
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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