"Justice for Colombia" calls on Prosegur to end human rights abuses
In a sternly worded letter, the head of London based NGO "Justice for Colombia" calls on Prosegur CEO to get its house in order in Latin America.
The Director of Justice for Colombia, Mariela Kohon wrote to the Prosegur chief Christian Gut Reveredo citing a litany of disputes, including the dismissal of 300 workers in Paraguay for taking part in a legitimate strike in Paraguay which led to the filing of an ILO complaint in 2013 and numerous incidents documented in the OECD case brought in 2014, including the use of pacto colectivos.
On Prosegur's activities in Colombia, Kohon wrote, "We are particularly concerned about the consequences for union activists in Colombia after they have voiced their concerns or carried out protest actions against Prosegur – this is something I am sure will also be of considerable concern to you and your company. Pamphlets falsely accusing leaders of misuse of union funds have been circulated by anonymous individuals in secure Prosegur cash-in-transit worksites and in the context of a country in which over 30 trade unionists were killed in 2013, this is extremely worrying. In November 2013, four workers were intimidated in their homes and in January 2014 the Vice-President of Sintravalores, Angel Ovidio Quiroz Urrego, was approached in the street by unidentified helmeted men on motorcycles some of whom took photographs of him, his wife and son.
The legal claim filed against the President of Sintravalores and eight union activists for US$500,000 in each case is not to us a sign of negotiating in good faith nor of Prosegur’s commitment to ensure the safety of its workers and those involved with associated unions. We call for an intervention by the top decision-makers in your company at the head office with the getting to the bottom of these disputes and resolving the issues in a manner that both the unions and the company find acceptable, whilst at at the same time minimising any potential risks to union activists."
Kohon also pushed Reveredo on the need to sign a global agreement with trade unions to esnure decent work for Prosegur's global workforce, echoing the call from UNI Global Union.