USG FUNDED LABOR PROJECTS

UNCLAS BOGOTA 004527 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL ECON SOCI CO SUBJECT: USG FUNDED LABOR PROJECTS ¶1. (U) Summary: The U.S. Government supports the labor sector through eleven projects, including: one by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL),three by the Department of Labor (DOL),and seven by USAID. The $27 million in funding over the 2001-2011 time frame support projects that address issues related to labor rights, training, and child labor eradication and protection. Almost all funds are given to institutions that support labor in Colombia such as the International Labor Organization (ILO), the AFL-CIO Affiliated Solidarity Center, and the GOC's Ministry of Social Protection. End summary. -------------- -------------- Promoting Fundamental Principles and Labor Rights -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) DRL is funding $505,000 for this project to promote fundamental principles and labor rights, to be implemented between September 2008-September 2009. The funding will support the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Bogota, which opened in January 2007 at the recommendation of the ILO and in consultation with the GOC, labor unions, and industry groups (the "tripartite"). This project will strengthen tripartite social dialogue through existing ILO commissions and committees, foster a judicial system equipped to address violations of labor standards through targeted training for judges, and contribute to conflict resolution and collective bargaining through intensive training in 30 pilot enterprises in key sectors. -------------- - Enhancing Skills of Colombian Trade Unionists -------------- - ¶3. (U) DOL's $1.25 million unionist training project began on September 30, 2008. It is scheduled to last through 2010. Goals include improving the skills of Colombian trade union leaders in labor-management relations, trade union administration, collective bargaining, dispute prevention and resolution, and communications so leaders can adapt and replicate the training to reach a broad group of Colombian unionists. Trainees will participate in U.S. exchanges, visit unionized workplaces and receive training in use of social dialogue, interest-based bargaining, mediation and arbitration. -------------- Combating Exploitative Child Labor Through Education -------------- ¶4. (U) DOL is funding two projects to combat exploitative child labor in Colombia. First, a $5 million project to support Colombia's National Strategy for the Elimination of Child Labor via after-school programs designed to benefit 10,200 at-risk children. This program started in September 2007 and is set to end in December, 2010. Another grant from DOL for $3.5 million addresses the same issue--and will provide awareness and detection training to community leaders, school teachers, and local government offices. This program started in September 2004 and ended December, 2008. The program prevented or withdrew 4,500 children from the worst forms of child labor in Cundinamarca department. -------------- Labor Inspection Strengthening -------------- ¶5. (U) USAID is providing $1 million over the 2005-2009 time frame to support the GOC in the design and implementation of a new labor inspection system. Specific activities include a detailed evaluation of the previous workplace inspection system (completed in 2005),the development of a new inspection model emphasizing prevention, risk-analysis based inspections, and negotiated solutions to labor conflicts. We have obtained buy-in of the regional inspection offices to support the structural and legal reform of the inspection system and has convinced the GOC to allocate funds to hire 207 new labor inspectors. -------------- - Promotion and Strengthening of Labor Rights -------------- - ¶6. (U) USAID's $450,000 funding (2005-2009) supports the promotion of labor rights through a six-level strategy that includes 1) analysis of the consistency of Colombian legislation with ILO standards, with recommendations for necessary changes, 2) design of the new labor law concerning the right to strike, 3) policy recommendations on the costs and benefits of adapting the right to strike law to public services, 4) policy recommendations on the registration of new industry-level unions, 5) support to the development of an oral adjudication system for labor disputes, and 6) implementation of the oral adjudication system. -------------- Child Labor Eradication -------------- ¶7. (U) USAID funded this $570,000 project related to child labor eradication with a implementation timeline from 2005-2009. This project analyzes the causes of child labor, identifies critical areas and detailed policy recommendations for eradication, and works to refine a conditional subsidies model targeted to families with working children to create incentives to keep children in school. -------------- Fundamental Labor Rights Dissemination -------------- ¶8. (U) USAID funded a $100,000 project that is projected to last six months beginning in late 2008. This project will promote a series of outreach seminars in 13 Colombian cities to raise public awareness of fundamental labor rights and voluntary adoption of international labor norms such as the SA 8000 norm. Internal GOC decisions regarding which GOC institution would also support the program have delayed start-up. -------------- Strengthening Labor Unions Improving Labor Rights Enabling Environment -------------- ¶9. (U) USAID funded this $1.5 million project that began in 2008 and will last three years. The project will support the AFL/CIO-affiliated Solidarity Center in its work to assist Colombian unions to promote legal reforms to allow inclusion of workers in unions under a wider variety of contract arrangements (sub-contracts, part-time employees) and to allow organization of unions by economic sector. The project will also assist Colombian unions to develop new bargaining and organizing strategies to attract sub-contracted workers and members of cooperatives into unions. -------------- Protection Program -------------- ¶10. (U) USAID is funding this $12.4 million project over ten years, from 2001-2011. USAID supports the Protection Program of the Ministry of Interior and Justice. This program provides soft protection (plane tickets and temporary relocation away from the area of risk) and hard protection measures (armoring of offices, armored vehicles, bullet resistant vests) to individuals under threat. In 2007, the GOC protected 1,959 at risk union members, along with journalists, human rights advocates and other at risk groups, at a cost of $44 million. -------------- Labor Outreach and Communication Campaign -------------- ¶11. (U) USAID funded a one-year project that began in September 2008 with $1 million. Through its Human Rights Program, USAID launched a new labor activity to develop and implement a series of media campaigns and outreach activities to combat the negative stigma and perception of unions and union members. In addition to compliment the existing protection program with the Ministry of Interior and Justice, USAID will provide violence prevention training to unions and labor activists. Activities would include training union members on what information to provide when reporting crimes, how to disseminate crime reports and training on state reporting procedures and processes. BROWNFIELD