JOINT STATEMENT

Canadian Union of Public Employees
Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Public Service Alliance of Canada
Canadian Labour Congress

Defending Public Services:
Canadian and Colombian Workers on the Frontlines Tour
May 6-21, 2004

The Frontlines Tour was sponsored by three public sector Unions - the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), in conjunction with the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). The Tour consisted of a delegation of five public sector trade unionists and activists from Colombia who participated in a variety of different events in a number of communities, both large and small, in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The Frontlines Tour has been successful in meeting, and even surpassing, its stated objectives.

The testimonies, evidence and analysis of our Colombian Sisters and Brothers helped us to further understand the devastating impacts of the neo-liberal agenda being implemented by the Colombian government - the erosion of the public sector, and the promotion of free trade, privatization and global corporate interests, to the detriment of working people. State sponsored repression and violence are being used to implement this neo-liberal agenda. Colombian trade Unions and the Colombian popular movements are key targets.

We made concrete links between what is happening to the public sector and to public services in Colombia, and the privatization of public services here in Canada. Trade Unions are the principle obstacle to the privatization of key public services in both Colombia and Canada.

We support the call of our Colombian Sisters and Brothers for solidarity in our common struggles against corporate globalization policies. We support the call for a rejection of the neo-liberal privatization agenda being implemented by the Colombian government. We support the call for a negotiated peace with justice in Colombia.

We recognize the need for ongoing acts of solidarity in exposing the continuing violation of fundamental workers' rights in Colombia. We recognize the need to support the struggle of Colombian workers to have the right to freely organize into trade unions and to engage in free collective bargaining with the right to strike. We recognize the need to denounce the use of violence against Colombians who are, through their Unions and social movements, actively fighting privatization and attendant state restructuring.

We recognize the need to monitor the Canadian corporate and government activities focused on trade and corporate profit, without considering the social impacts of these actions.

We recognize the need to build on the relationships we have created through the Frontlines Tour. We are committed to developing a plan to follow up on the areas identified for further collaboration and support, including education, capacity-building, communications and networking.

CUPW, CUPE, the PSAC, together with the CLC, are committed to meeting in the very near future in order to develop a follow-up plan for future Canada-Columbia solidarity work. We committed to working together with other labour and social organizations in Canada to consolidate, coordinate and facilitate our ongoing solidarity work at the local, national and international levels.

Together, we stand in solidarity with all our Colombian Sisters and Brothers,

Nycole Turmel
National President
Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)

Deborah Bourque
National President
Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)

Paul Moist
National President
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)

Kenneth V. Georgetti
President
Canadian Labour Congress CLC)

May 28, 2004