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The opening ceremony was attended by: Rubén Cortina and Raúl Requena, President and Regional Secretary of UNI Americas respectively; Philip Jennings, UNI’s General Secretary, and Christy Hoffman, UNI’s Deputy General Secretary. On behalf of the government, Oscar Gutiérrez – advisor to the Vice President of the Republic – stood in for Vice President Angelino Garzón, who apologised for not being able to attend the meeting. Tarsicio Mora, President of the Central Union of Chilean Workers- CUT; Miguel Morantes, President of CTC and Julio Roberto Gómez, General Secretary of the General Labour Confederation, also participated in the opening ceremony on behalf of the unions’ sector.

Philip Jennings gave the representative of the Vice President a letter in which UNI global union urged Colombia’s government to comply with ILO’s Conventions 87 and 98 and the United Nations’ Global Pact; and to condemn impunity in the field of human rights.

In said letter, he also required the National Government to urge multinational companies to engage in fruitful dialogue with Colombian unions affiliated with UNI and to ensure workers’ right to become organised by annulling collective pacts, eradicating anti-union practices, preventing organised employees' dismissals and disrupting campaigns to discredit unions.

Finally, special emphasis was laid on the need to implement decent work policies within the framework of ILO’s Decent Work programme, and to adhere to the conclusions of ILO’s High Level Mission that visited Colombia last February.

For more information, contact: raul.requena@uniglobalunion.org

262/Translated by UNI americas