Bogota Electricians’ Union on a peace march. The banner reads “We just want to live”. Whilst enjoying dinner with this union, our delegation was informed that yet another activist had just been murdered.

When being a teacher can be deadly

SUE SIMPSON paints a scary picture of the life of teacher unionists in Colombia.

As President of Federation during the last torrid salaries campaign I never felt that my life or that of my family was in danger. I worked without the protection of armed bodyguards and bullet-proof vehicles. Now that I am back teaching I do not expect to be arbitrarily detained or forced to flee my position because of my continuing union involvement. The situation is very different in Colombia. Since 1987 more than 3500 unionists have been murdered. It is still the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist and especially a teacher trade unionist.

No-one has been punished for these murders. It is however widely accepted that 85 per cent of the murders are the work of right wing paramilitaries. These unofficial armies financed by the drug trade act in collusion with elements of the Government and the Colombian Army to eliminate dissent. Post September 11, dissenters are treated as "terrorists".

Being a trade unionist and a public education teacher requires courage. In 2001, 39 teachers were murdered in Colombia, climbing to 83 in 2002. Hundreds of teachers received death threats, were forced to abandon their posts or were arbitrarily detained. By October of this year, "only" 34 teachers had been murdered. This lower figure is attributed to a protection program for unionists instituted by the Colombian Government as a result of international pressure. However, the number of threats and detentions has increased. So far this year two teachers have "disappeared" and 100 families displaced and forced to live in the capital, Bogota.

Continued international pressure is needed to ensure protection programs are better resourced. Unionists have been killed waiting for protection.

In October I travelled to Colombia to give moral support to fellow teachers and trade unionists as the Australian Education Union's representative on an intense and confronting ACTU delegation. It is sad to say that the situation would be much worse but for the international pressure that even the presence of an international delegation can exert on the Colombian Government. Over 12 days our delegation heard the stories behind the gruesome figures from teachers, trade unionists and human rights campaigners from all over Colombia. In our meetings with government officials we reminded them that the international union movement wants an end to the impunity of human rights abuses and the rights to free association respected.

I met teacher unionists who had received formal written letters with letterheads containing pictures of paramilitaries with guns. The letters declared them to be "military targets" if they failed to resign their positions on the union executive and leave the area by a set date. Teacher unionists showed me their submissions calling on the government to provide bodyguards and bullet-proof vehicles, bullet proofing of their union offices and the transfer of teachers who had received death threats.

I spoke to teachers who had been forced to leave their homes and their families in rural areas following such death threats from the paramilitaries.

The Australian Education Union, through Education International, contributes funding for such displaced Colombian teachers.

Teacher unionists are the group most targeted. Their union claims 100 per cent membership, has offices across the country and is a strong critic of the government's economic and social policies. In October the union distributed leaflets to parents across the country calling for abstention in a national referendum which amongst a range of proposals called for the freezing of public sector salaries and pensions to supposedly fund more social programs. The referendum was defeated.

Teachers are further vulnerable because of isolation in small, rural communities where the 50-year-old armed conflict for control of land and the drug trade is greatest. Teachers often assume leadership positions in rural areas because the social injustice is so apparent and their education gives them the skills to articulate concerns.

The dangerous situation facing Colombian trade unionists and the Colombian Government's sensitivity to international pressure was clearly shown by the high level of protection our delegation received. We stayed in a secure hotel which we did not leave unless accompanied by bodyguards armed with pistols and machine guns. We travelled in bulletproof vehicles with special number plates allowing priority right of way and accompanied by a police motorcycle escort. This escort stopped the traffic whenever we needed to turn left or right. Stopping makes you vulnerable to attack. On our one night away from Bogota I woke up at 2am to find a bodyguard checking to see that I was ok.

I am currently finalising a comprehensive delegation report for the ACTU. A major recommendation calls for Australian unionists to continue placing pressure on the Colombian Government to:

• maintain public provision in the areas of education, health and services;
  
• negotiate with workers in these sectors;
• sever ties between the military and paramilitary;
• investigate, prosecute, convict and punish the persons responsible for the assassinations of trade unionists;
• enhance protection programs for union leaders and activists and properly fund them; and
• support and co-operate fully with an International Labor Organisation Commission of Inquiry into the violation of human rights including both the right to life and fundamental rights at work.

You can extend your support for such measures by writing to Dr Alvaro Uribe Velez, President of the Republic of Colombia, Palacio de Narino, Carrera 8 No 7-26, Santafe de Bogota, Colombia.

His e-mail address: auribe@presidencia.gov.co

The website of the International Centre for Trade Union Rights at www.ictur.labournet.org contains information in English on the human rights abuses facing Colombian trade unionists.

Keeping up the international pressure on the Colombian Government was continually stressed by the inspirational people we met as the single most important task we can do.

Sue Simpson teaches at Condell Park HS.

For further information

November 2003 contents