VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #4527/01 3572014
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 222014Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6243
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 8567
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1450
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ DEC 9842
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 6844
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY 2805
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 7546
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL PRIORITY 4740
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS BOGOTA 004527 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL ECON SOCI CO
SUBJECT: USG FUNDED LABOR PROJECTS 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary: The U.S. Government supports the labor 
sector through eleven projects, including: one by the Bureau 
of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), three by the 
Department of Labor (DOL), and seven by USAID.  The $27 
million in funding over the 2001-2011 time frame support 
projects that address issues related to labor rights, 
training, and child labor eradication and protection.  Almost 
all funds are given to institutions that support labor in 
Colombia such as the International Labor Organization (ILO), 
the AFL-CIO Affiliated Solidarity Center, and the GOC's 
Ministry of Social Protection.  End summary. 
 
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Promoting Fundamental Principles and Labor Rights 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
¶2.  (U) DRL is funding $505,000 for this project to promote 
fundamental principles and labor rights, to be implemented 
between September 2008-September 2009.  The funding will 
support the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Bogota, 
which opened in January 2007 at the recommendation of the ILO 
and in consultation with the GOC, labor unions, and industry 
groups (the "tripartite").  This project will strengthen 
tripartite social dialogue through existing ILO commissions 
and committees, foster a judicial system equipped to address 
violations of labor standards through targeted training for 
judges, and contribute to conflict resolution and collective 
bargaining through intensive training in 30 pilot enterprises 
in key sectors. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Enhancing Skills of Colombian Trade Unionists 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶3.  (U) DOL's $1.25 million unionist training project began 
on September 30, 2008.  It is scheduled to last through 2010. 
 Goals include improving the skills of Colombian trade union 
leaders in labor-management relations, trade union 
administration, collective bargaining, dispute prevention and 
resolution, and communications so leaders can adapt and 
replicate the training to reach a broad group of Colombian 
unionists.  Trainees will participate in U.S. exchanges, 
visit unionized workplaces and receive training in use of 
social dialogue, interest-based bargaining, mediation and 
arbitration. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Combating Exploitative Child Labor Through Education 
--------------------------------------------- 
¶4.  (U) DOL is funding two projects to combat exploitative 
child labor in Colombia.  First, a $5 million project to 
support Colombia's National Strategy for the Elimination of 
Child Labor via after-school programs designed to benefit 
10,200 at-risk children.  This program started in September 
2007 and is set to end in December, 2010.  Another grant from 
DOL for $3.5 million addresses the same issue--and will 
provide awareness and detection training to community 
leaders, school teachers, and local government offices.  This 
program started in September 2004 and ended December, 2008. 
The program prevented or withdrew 4,500 children from the 
worst forms of child labor in Cundinamarca department. 
 
------------------------------ 
Labor Inspection Strengthening 
------------------------------ 
¶5.  (U) USAID is providing $1 million over the 2005-2009 time 
frame to support the GOC in the design and implementation of 
a new labor inspection system.  Specific activities include a 
detailed evaluation of the previous workplace inspection 
system (completed in 2005), the development of a new 
inspection model emphasizing prevention, risk-analysis based 
inspections, and negotiated solutions to labor conflicts.  We 
have obtained buy-in of the regional inspection offices to 
support the structural and legal reform of the inspection 
system and has convinced the GOC to allocate funds to hire 
207 new labor inspectors. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Promotion and Strengthening of Labor Rights 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶6.  (U) USAID's $450,000 funding (2005-2009) supports the 
promotion of labor rights through a six-level strategy that 
includes 1) analysis of the consistency of Colombian 
legislation with ILO standards, with recommendations for 
necessary changes, 2) design of the new labor law concerning 
the right to strike, 3) policy recommendations on the costs 
and benefits of adapting the right to strike law to public 
services, 4) policy recommendations on the registration of 
new industry-level unions, 5) support to the development of 
an oral adjudication system for labor disputes, and 6) 
implementation of the oral adjudication system. 
 
----------------------- 
Child Labor Eradication 
----------------------- 
¶7.  (U) USAID funded this $570,000 project related to child 
labor eradication with a implementation timeline from 
2005-2009.  This project analyzes the causes of child labor, 
identifies critical areas and detailed policy recommendations 
for eradication, and works to refine a conditional subsidies 
model targeted to families with working children to create 
incentives to keep children in school. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Fundamental Labor Rights Dissemination 
-------------------------------------- 
¶8.  (U) USAID funded a $100,000 project that is projected to 
last six months beginning in late 2008.  This project will 
promote a series of outreach seminars in 13 Colombian cities 
to raise public awareness of fundamental labor rights and 
voluntary adoption of international labor norms such as the 
SA 8000 norm.  Internal GOC decisions regarding which GOC 
institution would also support the program have delayed 
start-up. 
 
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Strengthening Labor Unions 
Improving Labor Rights Enabling Environment 
------------------------------------------- 
¶9. (U) USAID funded this $1.5 million project that began in 
2008 and will last three years. The project will support the 
AFL/CIO-affiliated Solidarity Center in its work to assist 
Colombian unions to promote legal reforms to allow inclusion 
of workers in unions under a wider variety of contract 
arrangements (sub-contracts, part-time employees) and to 
allow organization of unions by economic sector.  The project 
will also assist Colombian unions to develop new bargaining 
and organizing strategies to attract sub-contracted workers 
and members of cooperatives into unions. 
 
------------------ 
Protection Program 
------------------ 
¶10. (U) USAID is funding this $12.4 million project over ten 
years, from 2001-2011.  USAID supports the Protection Program 
of the Ministry of Interior and Justice.  This program 
provides soft protection (plane tickets and temporary 
relocation away from the area of risk) and hard protection 
measures (armoring of offices, armored vehicles, bullet 
resistant vests) to individuals under threat.  In 2007, the 
GOC protected 1,959 at risk union members, along with 
journalists, human rights advocates and other at risk groups, 
at a cost of $44 million. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Labor Outreach and Communication Campaign 
----------------------------------------- 
¶11. (U) USAID funded a one-year project that began in 
September 2008 with $1 million.  Through its Human Rights 
Program, USAID launched a new labor activity to develop and 
implement a series of media campaigns and outreach activities 
to combat the negative stigma and perception of unions and 
union members. In addition to compliment the existing 
protection program with the Ministry of Interior and Justice, 
USAID will provide violence prevention training to unions and 
labor activists.  Activities would include training union 
members on what information to provide when reporting crimes, 
how to disseminate crime reports and training on state 
reporting procedures and processes. 
 
 
BROWNFIELD