Colombian union Sintratucar receives death threats

From the International Metal Workers Federation.

Columbia: The president of the union at Tenaris Tubos del Caribe has received death threats in the middle of a labour dispute with the company.

Sintratucar is seeking company recognition of the union and demanding that the company protects the lives of union leaders.

Members of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Tubos Caribe (SINTRATUCAR) union at Tenaris Tubos del Caribe Ltd are going through a difficult time. The company has refused to recognize the union and the union president has received death threats.

On August 31 of this year, Jairo del Río, union president, received a letter threatening himself and his family with death. The union said that its president "does not and has never had problems with anyone and the only dispute he has been involved in is the one with the company about the creation of the union and its presentation of a list of demands."

The union is currently involved in a dispute with the transnational company Tenaris Tubos del Caribe Ltd after presenting a list of demands. The union says that the threats received by Jairo del Río "aim to frighten the workers into halting the fight in support of their just demands and against the disgraceful working conditions to which workers at Tenaris Tubos del Caribe are subjected."

The union is asking union leaders at other Tenaris plants to demand protection of the lives of Sintratucar union activists and to write to Álvaro Uribe, President of Colombia, with the same demand.

The IMF has closely followed the situation of union leaders in Colombia who have been threatened and persecuted and we know that more than 5,000 union leaders have been killed in Colombia during the last 20 years. The IMF therefore offers its solidarity to Sintratucar, in its fight for the freedom of association and its pursuit of the demands made to the company. It condemns the intimidation of the union president and the threats received by him and calls on the Colombian government to ensure the trade union leader's safety.