VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #0111/01 0321411
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 011411Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2410
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000111 
 
SIPDIS 
USTR FOR EISSENSTAT AND HARMAN 
DOL FOR ZOLLNER AND QUINTANA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EAID ETRD PGOV PHUM PREL USTR LAB CO
SUBJECT: USG-FUNDED LABOR RIGHTS PROJECTS UPDATE 
AID, 
 
REF: 09 BOGOTA 3031; 10 BOGOTA 49 
 
¶1. Summary: The USG has allocated $33 million to improve labor 
rights in Colombia through 17 projects in the 2001-2011 timeframe: 
one by the Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, 
and Labor (DRL), six by the Department of Labor (DOL), and ten by 
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).  The 
projects have centered on increasing labor rights awareness, 
protecting labor leaders, training and building capacity among 
trade unions, and eradicating child labor.  Funding recipients have 
been institutions that play key roles in Colombian labor relations, 
such as the GOC's Ministry of Interior and Justice (MOIJ) and 
Ministry of Social Protection (MPS), the International Labor 
Organization (ILO), the AFL-CIO American Center for International 
Solidarity (Solidarity Center), and numerous unions.  Additionally, 
the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has provided $12 million in 
law enforcement training, equipment, and technical assistance to 
the Colombian Prosecutor General's Office Human Rights Unit, which 
since October 2006 has included a Labor Sub-Unit tasked with 
investigating and prosecuting crimes against trade unionists.  DOJ 
assistance has enhanced the Labor Sub-Unit's capabilities, 
particularly in murder cases, leading to higher conviction rates in 
crimes against trade unionists.  End summary. 
 
 
 
PROMOTING FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES AND LABOR RIGHTS 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. DOL allocated $2 million to a project designed to improve 
Colombian labor relations and gender equality in the work place. 
The project, which began in February 2002 and lasted three years, 
was implemented through the ILO.  It included a public campaign on 
fundamental principles and rights of work, focusing on collective 
bargaining and freedom of association; defined and implemented best 
practices in 10 key enterprises; and developed alternative systems 
for labor dispute settlements.  It also coordinated the design of 
an employment generation and poverty reduction policy for female 
heads of household, and provided business management training and 
credit opportunities to women.  More recently, DRL allocated 
$500,000 to an ILO-managed program that promotes labor rights 
through increased social dialogue.  The project, which began in 
September 2008 and will end in May 2010, seeks to improve 
communication between government, employers, and workers.  The ILO 
uses the funding to support important national institutions, such 
as the National Commission on Wage and Labor Policy; enhance the 
judiciary's ability to address labor rights violations through 
targeted training for judges; and educate government and private 
sector stakeholders in conflict resolution and collective 
bargaining processes. 
 
 
 
ENHANCING SKILLS OF COLOMBIAN TRADE UNIONISTS 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. Between February 2002 and March 2005, 43 trade unionists 
received administrative and technical training in the United States 
in association with a $1.7 million, DOL grant to the Solidarity 
Center.  More recently, DOL dedicated $1.25 million to a 
train-the-trainer exchange program for emerging labor leaders that 
began in September 2008 and is slated to run through 2010. 
Trainees visit unionized workplaces in the United States and 
receive instruction in social dialogue, interest-based bargaining, 
mediation, and arbitration, and then return to replicate the 
training among their union colleagues.  Twenty-seven labor leaders 
completed eight-week training programs in 2009; 15 more are slated 
for spring 2010.  USAID has launched a complementary $1.5 million 
project to strengthen organizational capacity among trade unions 
and promote labor code reform through the Solidarity Center.  The 
 
three-year program began in 2009 and currently focuses on six 
unions in four key sectors: ports, African palm, artisanal goods, 
and food. 
 
 
 
EXPLORING THE CAUSES OF LABOR VIOLENCE 
 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. USAID has allocated $301,000 to a United Nations Development 
Program study aimed at exploring the root causes of labor violence 
and promoting tripartite dialogue.  Participants include Colombia's 
three largest labor confederations (CUT, CGT, and CTC), the 
National Union School (ENS) think tank, GOC representatives, the 
National Association of Colombian Entrepreneurs (ANDI), and six 
research centers that will carry out the project's component 
studies.  Eight embassies are funding the initiative (the USG is 
the largest donor).  The project began in September 2009 and the 
target completion date is August 2010, when UNDP will host an 
international conference to present the results (reftel a). 
 
 
 
COMBATING THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR 
 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. DOL has funded three projects aimed at eliminating the worst 
forms of child labor in Colombia within the past decade.  First, 
DOL allocated $800,000 in 2001 to eliminating child labor in 
informal-sector mining.  As a result of the four-year program, 
2,187 children were withdrawn or prevented from working in clay, 
coal, emerald, and gold mines.  Second, in 2004 DOL funded a 
four-year, $3.5 million project to combat child labor in the 
municipalities of Funza and Madrid.  The initiative raised 
awareness of child labor among parents, children, teachers, and 
government officials; funded research studies on child labor; and 
withdrew or prevented 6,517 children from exploitive work in 
agriculture and the urban, informal sector. Third, DOL allocated $5 
million in 2007 to support GOC efforts to combat child labor.  The 
funding provides technical support over a four-year period to 
municipal and departmental governments implementing the GOC's 
National Strategy for the Elimination of Child Labor.  It also 
establishes model school programs called "Spaces to Grow," and 
conducts outreach to parents, teachers, and community leaders.  So 
far, the program has set up 183 model school programs and removed 
and prevented 6,084 children from exploitive labor. 
 
 
 
LABOR INSPECTION STRENGTHENING 
 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. USAID provided $1 million over the 2005-2009 period to the MPS 
to support the design and implementation of a comprehensive 
risk-management model for preventive labor inspections.  Specific 
activities included a detailed evaluation of the previous workplace 
inspection system (completed in 2005), and the development of a new 
inspection model emphasizing prevention, risk-analysis based 
inspections, and negotiated solutions to labor conflicts. 
Implementation of the new model began in 2007 with pilot programs 
in five departments.  It has since expanded to cover more than 60% 
of the formal workforce (85% of registered firms).  As a result of 
the program's success, the GOC has decided to hire and train 207 
new labor inspectors by the end of 2010 (currently there are 180). 
 
 
 
PROMOTING AND STRENGTHENING LABOR RIGHTS 
 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. USAID allocated $450,000 from 2005-2009 to a study that analyzed 
the consistency of Colombian legislation with ILO standards, 
including recommended changes; helped design a new labor law 
concerning the right to strike; conducted cost-benefit analysis of 
adapting the right to strike law to the public-service sector; made 
policy recommendations on the registration of industry-level 
unions; and supported the development and implementation of an oral 
adjudication system for labor disputes.  The study, entered into by 
bilateral agreement, helped to guide relevant GOC policy. 
 
 
 
CHILD LABOR ERADICATION MODEL 
 
----------------------------- 
 
¶8. USAID allocated $570,000 to combating child labor over the 
2005-2009 timeframe.  Activities undertaken in conjunction with 
this project included an analysis of the causes of child labor; 
identification of critical sectors and localities; detailed policy 
recommendations; public awareness outreach seminars; and the design 
of a conditional subsidies model to assist families with working 
children.  The MPS relied on the associated analysis and policy 
recommendations to refine its strategy for eradicating child labor 
and promoting greater compliance with domestic child labor laws. 
 
 
 
FUNDAMENTAL LABOR RIGHTS DISSEMINATION 
 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. USAID allotted $100,000 in 2008 to carrying out a series of 
outreach seminars in 13 Colombian cities aimed at raising public 
awareness of fundamental labor rights and promoting voluntary 
adoption of international labor norms, such as the SA 8000, a 
global "social accountability" standard for decent working 
conditions developed and overseen by Social Accountability 
International (SAI).  The MPS has developed a proposal for a public 
policy framework to promote decent work in line with ILO standards 
and recommendations based on the USAID initiative. 
 
 
 
PROTECTING VULNERABLE LABOR LEADERS 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶10. USAID has allocated $12.4 million over ten years (2001-2011) to 
support the Ministry of Interior and Justice (MOIJ) Protection 
Program.  The MOIJ provides soft protection (self-protection 
training, mobile phones, and temporary relocations) and hard 
protection measures (armoring offices and vehicles; providing 
bullet-proof vests) to threatened individuals.  In 2009, the MOIJ 
protected 11,179 social activists, journalists, and other 
vulnerable groups, including 1,550 trade union leaders, at an 
annual cost of $56 million.  Additionally, USAID allocated $479,000 
in 2009 to support the Ombudsman's Office Early Warning System 
(EWS), which monitors risk indicators so that authorities can 
respond quickly to threats against civilians, including trade 
unionists.  USAID also allocated $40,066 to sponsor a dialogue 
between the Colombia National Police (CNP) and civil society groups 
in 16 cities, and worked through the CNP Inspector General to 
incorporate discussions on labor rights and freedom of association 
into CNP training. 
 
 
 
LABOR OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. USAID funded a $1 million, one-year project which began in 
September 2008 aimed at developing a series of media campaigns and 
outreach activities to combat the stigmatization of unions and 
their leaders.  The funds were used to produce a television 
commercial, radio spots, and posters and flyers; support the 
development of a social marketing campaign; sponsor seminars that 
trained journalists on responsible labor reporting in the media; 
and convene expert forums on labor rights. 
 
 
 
DEVELOPING PROSECUTORIAL CAPACITY 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶12. As part of its law enforcement assistance program for the 
Prosecutor General's Human Rights Unit, DOJ has provided ongoing 
training, equipment, and technical assistance to the Labor Sub-Unit 
since 2006.  The Labor Sub-Unit is tasked with investigating and 
prosecuting criminal cases in which victims were allegedly targeted 
for their union activities.  All of the Labor Sub-Unit's 19 
prosecutors have received DOJ training in interviewing witnesses, 
victims' rights, collecting evidence, conducting murder 
investigations, preparing cases for trial, and trial techniques. 
Total convictions rose significantly as a result: the Labor 
Sub-Unit has obtained 184 (79%) of the total convictions against 
perpetrators of anti-union crimes obtained by the Prosecutor 
General's Human Rights Unit (reftel b). 
BROWNFIELD