a“ ICFTU puts pressure on On November 28, an internation- al delegation of trade unionists President Franscisco Santos, to demand that the South halt to the murders of trade unionists and prevent the viola- the point of the meeting there has been assasina- the highest level of slaughter in the world. The delegation, led by Secretary Jose Olivio Oliveira, reminded Mr. Santos that International Labour Organization, which says that internationally-recognized labour standards and that joining a human right, recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human and forced exile is also rampant in the country. Most assasina- unionists were taking industrial action, notes the ICFTU. There detentions of trade union lead- ers, both men and women, and criminalization of union and pop- ular leaders’ activities. The dele- government to release unionists detained after participating in Colombia to halt killings met with Colombia's Vice American country’s government tion of trade union rights. Up to 69 docu- tions of trade unionists, which is ICFTU Assistant General Colombia is a member of the signatory nations must respect union in Colombia is a basic Rights. Assasination attempts tions have occured when trade have been mass arrests and there has been an increase in the gation called on the Colombian legitimate trade union activities. IKEA agrees to join with IFBWW to monitor work The International Federation of Building and Wood Workers, the IWA’s international free trade union affiliate, has brought its influence to bear on the Swedish IKEA corporation. In late October, IKEA invited the IFBWW to help it improve working conditions among its contractor companies in the People’s Republic of China. It’s all part of an ongoing project to reduce overtime demands made on workers. IKEA has also invited the federation’s affiliates to help out in compliance audits in the southeast Asian nations of Malaysia and Indonesia, where there are known to be wide- spread violations of workers’ rights. The IFBWW claims that as IKEA develops workplace auditing procedures with it, there should be a much greater transparency as a result. By the spring of next year the corpora- tion, which has eleven large retail locations across Canada, says it will post, on its website, a first report on social and envi- ronmental issues, although it says that it will not distribute the names of its suppliers for com- petitive and legal reasons. CHILE CTF - IWA Education P PHOTO COURTESY CTF = Members of the forest workers’ confederation celebrated their fifteenth anniversary on September 5 in Concepcion. CTF celebrates fifteenth anniversary Forest workers’ organization was born in the waning years of Chile’s military dictatorship For Chilean woodworkers, 2003 marked a special anniversary. It was fif- teen years ago that the National Confederation of Forest Workers of Chile was found- ed. The date was September 4, 1988, about a month before a national referen- dum on military dictator Augusto Pinochet’s rule. The majority of Chilean citizens voted in favour of establishing an electoral system. Pinochet held power since September 11, 1973 when he overthrew the democratically-elected government of Salvador Allende. A reign of terror ensued, destroying the Chilean labour movement as the dicata- torship murdered and tortured many of its leaders and activists. The little progress that forest industry workers had made to that point — largely through the struggles of peasant organi- zations and farmworkers unions, was eradicated. Not only were Chilean unions and unionists destroyed by the fascist dictatorship — without exception the infrastructure of the independent union movement was liquidated. Assets were seized, historic records and docu- ments were destroyed and trade union- ists were rounded up by the thousands — many never to be seen again and many fleeing into exile. It was within this context that the CTF was born in 1988. Even though Chilean forest industry workers and other workers in the country are under the thumb of their employers, progress has been made since the years of the dictatorship. The first CTF president was Caupolican Pavez, a millworker from the Bio-Bio Region near Concepcion who worked at the Masisa plant in Chicuayante. He and subsequent CTF lead- ers forest union activists steadily built the organization which peaked with over 10,000 members in the mid-1990s. The 7 ica 1997 meltdown of the Setgte,Gatiog Asian economy affect- ed markets for pulp and lumber products and the CIF’s membership dropped. Today it has over 6,400 members in 44 unions, mostly in southern Chile. The CTF’s current president, Sergio Gatica, says that Chilean workers have not made the progress they expected since the return of democracy. “The conquests we have been able to make in terms of progress for working condi- tions and wages have been few,” he says. “But have become more united in our struggles.” Brother Gatica says the CTF has sought strategic alliances, such as its relationship with the IWA Canada in establish a joint education project, to better capacitate leadership for the struggles ahead. “Now workers in our country are faced with the legal imposition of labour flexibility as part of a free trade agree- ment between the United States and Chilean governments,” says Gatica. “We believe that our government will make changes to affect our collective agree- ments and force our membership to work more hours with fewer benefits.” “We have experienced good times over the past fifteen years and we have experenced bad times. Chilean workers are ina process of recovering froma lack of hope and optimism,” adds Gatica. Unionists thwarted in ‘land of the free’ AFL-CIO PRESIDENT John Sweeney wrote hard-hitting letters to U.S. Attorney-General John Ashcroft and Florida state governor Jeb Bush on December 3, condemning abusive actions of Miami Police during two days of planned peaceful protests at the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas Summit. Brother Sweeney noted that even though the national labour body took a leading role in negotiating with local police to ensure its members’ constitu- tional rights would be John Sweeney upheld, union mem- bers and other peaceful protestors were met with “obstruction, intimidation, harassment and violence at the hands of police in Miami.” Sweeney called on both the A-G and Mr. Bush (U.S. President George W. ~ Bush’s brother) to conduct an indepen- dent investigations into the Miami Police Force's tactics. “This abuse at the hands of the Miami police is an insult to the = Tear gas canisters awaited peaceful protestors, including retired unionists. American labor movement, and to all Americans who believe in the basic rights guaranteed by our constitution,” wrote Sweeney. “Not since the days of the civil tights movement have I witnessed such outrageous and inexcusable behaviour by the police who are swom to protect us.” Even though the AFL-CIO trained union volunteers to be peace keepers along the parade route, and provided resources for planned, peaceful events — to demonstrate the labour moyement’s demand for fair trade agreements that create good jobs, respecting the rights of workers and equitable development, while protecting the environment — the Miami police, boosted by officers from forty other jurisdictions in Florida, “con- sistently and systematically denied union members, retirees (among them former servicemen) and others their basic rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly,” wrote Sweeney. On November 20 the police blocked protestors from entering an amphitheatre that was rented for a scheduled rally. With armored personnel carriers, water can- nons and police in riot gear, peaceful pro- testors were intimidated or repelled. Pepper spray and rubber bullets were used on a crowd which was not given a safe route to disperse. When AFL-CIO organizers questioned police officers, some were verbally abused and others had guns pointed at their heads or bodies. One wife of a retired USWA member protested verbally, and was thrown face first onto the ground, with a gun pointed at her head. Buses of retirees were turned away from the inner city or forced to walk many blocks to the amphitheatre area. Many protestors were handcuffed for hours, had their personal property confis- cated and disposed of and some were denied medical treatment. This actually happened in Miami sev- eral weeks ago. 14 ‘| THE ALLIED WORKER DECEMBER 2003