On behalf of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, I want to thank you for the opportunity to appear before this Committee on Bill C-2 – the Canada‑Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

CUPW represents 54,000 workers in rural and urban communities from coast to coast to coast. A majority of our members work for Canada Post.

I have been to Colombia several times both as part of my work and for personal reasons.

CUPW has been working in alliance with the Colombian postal workers Union the STPC, to assist them in their efforts to maintain decent jobs and a public postal service, to help them self organize after they lost their jobs due to the military and para military supported privatization of Adpostal, and to work with them as they try to protect the rights of workers in the postal sector.

CUPW has had concerns about the situation of human and workers rights in Colombia for a number of years.  Our concerns were exacerbated in 2005. When the then President of the STPC was forced into exile as a result of para military threats.  He had raised concerns about the potential privatization of Adpostal and had commented about how some aspects of the postal service were used to transport drugs.

In 2006, members of the military and para military surrounded the airport mail centre near the Bogota airport and other postal facilities and escorted workers out at gun point.

At that time many postal workers lost their jobs, a few remained but currently there is an extremely limited amount of postal workers who were employed in 2006 still working.  Many have had to turn to precarious employment to earn any money.

Leaders of the STPC have been threatened and intimidated on numerous occasions.

Currently, the post office in Colombia is run by a numbered company, and we have been unable to trace ownership.

This is an example of how workers rights are being disregarded in Colombia.

CUPW would like to quote from the 2009 Annual Survey of Trade Union rights prepared by the International Trade Union Confederation.  In the report, ITUC outlines a number of problems.  These include:

• A “number of legal impediments to the full exercise of freedom of association in Colombia, however, such as Resolution no. 626 of February 2008, which gives as one of the reasons for denying registration 'that the trade union organisation was formed for purposes other than those derived from the fundamental right of association'.
  
  
• There are also problems related to various contractual arrangements, such as workers’ cooperatives, service contracts and civil and commercial contracts, which cover genuine employment relationships and are used to prevent workers setting up trade unions. A new law of July 2008 on workers’ cooperatives has not resolved the situation, in the view of the ILO.
  
  
• Free Collective bargaining is elusive in Colombia.  The International Trade Union Confederation reported that:  “Colombian legislation has introduced a principle of discrimination against the jobs and collective bargaining rights of public sector workers, by classifying them as 'official workers' ('trabajadores oficiales') or 'civil servants' ('empleados públicos').  The unions representing public sector workers are not allowed to put forward demands or sign collective agreements, since their right to collective bargaining is limited to submitting 'respectful requests' that do not cover key aspects of industrial relations, such as wages, benefits and employment contracts.”  According to the same ITUC survey, “Barely 1.2% of workers in Colombia are covered by a collective agreement.  In 2008 only 473 agreements were signed, of which 256 were collective agreements negotiated with the unions and 217 were pacts (negotiated directly with workers, without unions), demonstrating the steady fall in collective bargaining and the loss of this right.”
  
  

In 2009, at least 45 trade unionists were murdered in Colombia.  This is an unacceptably high number and serves to prevent trade unionists from asserting their rights, opposing the Government, or promoting human rights.  CUPW is aware that President Uribe has taken steps to counter this violence, but clearly the persecution of trade unionists continues.  The Colombian trade unionists I spoke to in the summer of 2009 reported threat by phone, text messages, e-mails and “personal visits”.  The ITUC survey notes:

• “As regards the assassination of trade unionists, on June 22, 2005 the Congress adopted the Law on Justice and Peace, which the government claimed was designed to promote reconciliation and the fight against impunity. In July 2006, the Constitutional Court of Colombia, the highest legal instance in the country, found that many aspects of the Law were in breach of the Constitution. The legal framework regulating this demobilisation remains inadequate:
  
  
  • It is only applicable to the few members of illegal armed groups that are under investigation or have already been sentenced. Given the high level of impunity, most of the paramilitaries and members of guerrilla groups are not subjected to any investigations.
    
    
  • The abuses committed by members of illegal armed groups are investigated by the Peace and Justice Department of the Office of the Public Prosecutor, whereas cases of human rights violations by the security forces are handled by the Human Rights Department of the same body. The separation of these cases has undermined the investigations carried out on the security forces themselves.
    
    
  • The possibility of combatants enjoying illegally obtained assets is seriously affecting the victims' rights to compensation.
    
    
  • The Law on Justice and Peace still makes no provision for preventing former combatants from re-engaging in the conflict. “
    
    

In July 2008, I participated with three other Trade Union leaders in a delegation to Colombia.  We met with many sectors of Colombian society including the Colombian Minister of the interior, the Canadian Ambassador, leaders of the United Central Workers (CUT), trade unionists at all levels, leaders of the indigenous movement, groups representing Afro-Colombian people and others.  We attended the final meeting of the Permanent People’s Tribunal.  This report was made after two years of hearings.  The decisions of the Tribunal were stunning.  They said that:

• Colombia is an economic laboratory which has resulted in deaths, disappearances, millions of displaced people, the destruction of the environment, and a severe weakening of the trade union movement.
  
  
• The Government of Colombia’s democratic security doctrine has paved the way for mass exploitation.
  
  
• The people who fight for human rights in Colombia are very vulnerable.
  
  

In our report “Forever Solidarity” -- A Public Sector Trade Union Report on Colombia”, we made several recommendations to the Government.  These included:

• maintaining close ties with Colombia without signing a free trade agreement until there is confirmation that improvements are noted and maintained, including continued improvement, as regards displacement, labour law, and accountability for crime and until the Colombia Government shows a more constructive attitude towards human rights groups in the country.
  
  
• carrying out an independent, impartial, and comprehensive human rights impact assessment by a competent body prior to ratifying a trade agreement with Colombia.  I reiterate these recommendations.  They are as valid now as they were in 2008.
  
  
• CUPW’s presentation to the Standing Committee comes shortly after a mass grave was discovered in the town of La Macarena, Colombia.  It is estimated that this grave contains approximately 2000 bodies.  This discovery should be reason enough to delay the passage of Bill C - 2 until a thorough and independent investigation has been carried out.  This sad discovery is coupled with news about the assassination of Johnny Hurtado, a human rights activist who denounced the mass grave's existence.
  
  
• CUPW would like to urge this committee to adhere to the recommendations made in the June 2008 report of the standing committee on International trade on “Human Rights, the Environment, and Free Trade with Colombia”.
  
  

Specifically, I would like to highlight recommendation 4 which stated: “The committee recommends that an independent, impartial, and comprehensive human rights impact assessment should be carried out by a competent body, which is subject to levels of independent scrutiny and validation:  the recommendations of this assessment should be addressed before Canada considers signing, ratifying and implementing an agreement with Colombia”  The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is recommending that this be carried out, prior to passing Bill C-2.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has substantial concerns about the so-called Liberal amendment.  However, we have not seen the full wording of such an amendment and we request a complete copy.  Our concerns fall in three areas:

1. We believe that a Human rights Impact Assessment should take place prior to the implementation of the agreement.  This is in order to obtain a clear assessment of the human rights situation in Colombia as it exists today and within its historical context.  Such an assessment would provide a baseline for future assessments and would allow a clearer determination as to whether closer engagement and economic growth would have a positive impact on human rights.
   
   
2. We believe that such an assessment should be undertaken by impartial and credible parties.  The assessment should not be undertaken by the Colombian Government. It is not acceptable that Government officials that are committed to this deal or whom have responsibility to oversee human rights in Colombia should undertake this assessment.
   
   
3. We believe amendment must include specific and concrete steps to address any human rights problem or issue that comes to light as a result of a human rights impact assessment.  Without those specific and concrete redress mechanisms in place, the proposed annual human rights assessments will become meaningless.  There needs to be a commitment to act upon and resolve human rights problems that arise.
   
   

Thank you for listening.