Individual Case (CAS) - Discussion: 2008, Publication: 97th ILC session (2008)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Colombia (Ratification: 1976)

A Government representative stated that he had come from Colombia with the intention to share with the Employers, the Workers, the Government representatives and the ILO officials the space provided by the Committee on the Application of Standards in order to discuss a case which, like the case of Colombia, was no doubt a case in progress.

Talking about a case in progress required an objective analysis to be carried out in order to look for mechanisms which would allow progress to be made on the subject that should interest and bring together everyone: the improvement of the labour conditions in Colombia. This exercise made it necessary to recall and face the past, look at and analyse the present and project into the future the efforts that should continue to be made in order to improve on the situation.

The Government representative focused his intervention on the security, the impunity, the labour standards and what he considered a special point, namely the ILO presence and follow-up. These subjects were being analysed from the point of view of the tripartite agreement, recently evaluated by the high-level mission which had visited the country six months ago.

He recalled that each one of the steps achieved in the framework of the agreement should be seen as a triumph in terms of concerted action. But at the same time, it should be recalled that each step forward was a defeat for those who wanted only to exaggerate the problem. He stated that his Government and the ILO believed in dialogue, understood the agreement and the opportunity it represented as a mechanism which allowed the identification of points of divergence, the development of solutions, the building of democracy and assisting development. Tripartism was a real and concrete alternative on which one should bet.

With regard to the issue of security, he indicated that it could not be said that a policy focused and aimed at exterminating the Colombian trade union movement had existed or currently existed in Colombia. What had existed was a generalized problem of violence which had been confronted within the framework of the programme of democratic security. The previous year, five years after the implementation of the programme, the 32,000 violent deaths of the year 2002 had been lowered to 17,198, and the 196 assassinations of persons connected with the trade union movement had been reduced to 26, amounting to a reduction of 86 per cent. This number, he reiterated, continued to be very high and there was an enormous concern that in the first months of this year, the number of deaths had increased in relation to the same months last year.

The speaker referred to the protection programme. In 2000, two years after the Government came to office, the totality of the protection programme in the country had a budget of US$1.7 million for trade unionists, journalists, social and political leaders. In 2007, the programme had 34 million dollars, approximately 30 per cent of which, around 11 million dollars, was allotted to the protection programme for trade unionists.

The second subject which he addressed was a priority objective of the Tripartite Agreement, namely, the fight against impunity and the progress made in this area. He recalled that the Attorney General's Office had created a special unit dedicated solely and exclusively to the investigation of the crimes committed against any person linked to the trade union movement. This unit which had been temporary at first, had been converted the previous year into a permanent unit within the Attorney-General's Office. This special unit had been reinforced the previous year when this same assembly of the ILO, had identified as an important need the promotion of the creation of specialized courts to clear the backlog, devoted solely and exclusively to judging the offences mentioned above. As a result of the above, the magistrates of the country had created three specialized courts to clear the backlog which had led to quick results against impunity, including: 44 convictions during 2007 and 11 during 2008 leading to a total of 103 sentences during the mandate of this Government. This number, which would be seen as small by many people, should be compared to the two judgements handed down in the five years between 1996 and 2001, while during the last year and a half, 55 sentences had been pronounced, 177 persons had been convicted and 117 of them were in prison; and, according to the judges who were independent from the executive, 20 of the 105 sentences handed down so far were related to trade union activities.

However, the efforts related to security and the fight against impunity had been recently reinforced with a system of rewards which would lead to the identification and arrest of the instigators and perpetrators of all the crimes against persons linked to the trade union movement. These rewards had led to important results during the current year with the capture of five persons who were presumed to be responsible for such acts. Moreover, the national Government had tabled a draft law in Congress in order to toughen the penalties against the assassins of members of the trade union movement.

With regard to the labour standards, he mentioned that the previous week, Congress had upon a Government initiative, approved a draft law which transferred to the labour courts the responsibility for declaring strikes illegal in the country. The same draft law provided that the establishment of arbitration tribunals should take place by joint agreement of the parties.

The other project, which should be approved by Congress soon, had to do with associated labour cooperatives. Only some of these cooperatives were abusing the system, due to the lack of clarity of some of the legal provisions. This draft law, developed jointly with the associations of cooperatives was presented upon the initiative of the Government. He considered that the development of cooperatives should not be condemned as being an alternative to development.

Moreover, the Colombian Government had promised Congress that in the next six months it would present a draft law on essential public services.

He recalled that after the Tripartite Agreement, the country had also approved a law which introduced oral proceedings in the labour justice system. These measures which were still in the process of being implemented, would lead to an acceleration of the legal processes for reestablishing and compensating labour rights and would speed up the judicial decisions to ensure their timeliness. In 2008 the construction of more than 100 labour courts in the country had commenced.

Finally, he referred to the decision of the Government to reinforce the inspection and monitoring unit in charge of the implementation of the labour legislation. This measure was of great importance because the annual rate of unemployment had fallen from 20 per cent in 2002 to 11 per cent in 2007. The majority of these workers received benefits from the expansion of the social security system with regard to health, pensions and professional risks in Colombia. For example, in 2002, 55 per cent of Colombians were covered by the health-care system, while at present, around 90 per cent of Colombians were covered and the goal was universal coverage by 2010. In addition, during the coming three years the labour inspectorate would increase by 207 officials, leading to an increase of approximately 30 per cent.

With reference to the presence of the ILO in Colombia, he recalled that since November 2006, the ILO had an office in Colombia. Through this office, the Government had provided more than 4 million dollars of its own funds for the implementation of technical cooperation projects on decent work agreed upon in a tripartite manner.

The follow-up of the ILO Office in Lima, Peru, as well as the permanent and smooth communication with ILO headquarters, had allowed the ILO to play a decisive role in facilitating a constructive process of resolving problems, while helping to find national and international allies in the implementation of the projects at national level.

The high-level mission, which had visited Colombia on behalf of the Director-General Mr Juan Somavia and under the direction of Mr Kari Tapiola and his team, laid the foundations for promoting the identification of a tripartite agenda, and work on this had started within the framework of the National Consultation Commission on Labour and Wages Policies. Subjects like decent work, labour justice and the exercise of freedom of association were included in the tripartite agenda. The Government representative reiterated the Government's will and its conviction on the need to move forward.

The Worker members emphasized that this special examination procedure did not constitute a precedent. There was cause to focus on certain themes covered by the Committee of Experts on the subject of the Tripartite Agreement of 2006. Firstly, as for the militarization of society, the acts of violence against trade union militants and leaders were ongoing. From 1986 to April 2008, 2,669 trade unionists were assassinated, hence one trade unionist every three days. This year, 26 assassinations had already been recorded, including seven teachers, one of whom was pregnant. These trade unionists were killed because of their trade union-related activities and, in most cases, by paramilitary groups that stigmatized the trade union movement as guerrillas or extremist socialist movements. The Government had made efforts to protect trade unionists, but the number of assassinations had not significantly decreased while according to the Committee of Experts the number of people protected had declined. The speaker asked when trade unionists would be able to safely carry out their activities, without bodyguards or bullet-proof vehicles. In addition, 96.8 per cent of trade unionist assassinations remained unpunished. Even if the number of investigations had recently increased, the percentage of those leading to legal action or convictions was considered tiny by the Committee of Experts.

As concerned hindrance to trade union activities, this did not stem only from the climate of violence but also from the legislation and from practices that were contrary to the Convention. In this regard, the Committee of Experts referred to the following: (i) the use of various contractual labour modalities, such as associated labour cooperatives, service contracts or civil or commercial contracts, which, by disguising the labour relationship, deprived workers of trade union rights. Yet, the Committee of Experts recalled that, when workers have to perform work within the framework of the normal activities of the establishment in the context of a relationship of subordination, they must be considered as employees and benefit from trade union rights; (ii) the arbitrary refusal to register new organizations, new statutes or amendments or the executive committee of the organizations. Even if the Government announced that a new resolution was enacted in 2007, the Committee of Experts considered that the administrative authorities still had excessive discretionary power, contrary to Article 2 of the Convention; (iii) the impossibility for federations and confederations, as well as for civil servants, to resort to strikes in a broad range of services not considered to be essential, added to the possibility of dismissing trade union leaders who participated in so-called illegal strikes and the authority of the Ministry of Labour to referring disputes to arbitration. In this regard, the Government adopted a new law regulating the right to strike which took into consideration only one of the nine recommendations of the ILO and allowed the President of the Republic to put an end to a strike. Finally, it was impossible to conduct collective bargaining since, trade unions for civil servants could not present their demands nor conclude collective agreements - a prohibition which extended to civil servants who are not in the administration of the State - and, in the private sector, socalled collective agreements were used to weaken the position of trade union organizations and limit their capacity to conclude a collective agreements.

The Worker members concluded that Colombia continued to clearly and flagrantly violate Convention No. 87. The Tripartite Agreement, concluded in 2006, had not yet borne fruit. Of course, more means had been devoted to the protection of trade unionists, but the number of prosecutions and convictions of trade unionist murderers remained largely insufficient. With regard to fundamental rights and freedoms there was still no significant progress. Social dialogue must be reinforced in practice, and a true indicator of progress would be that collective bargaining be conducted on a more frequent basis in the private and public sectors. The Worker members noted that the ILO permanent representative and technical cooperation programmes were just beginning. International pressure was beneficial, but the results obtained remained insufficient. This pressure had to be applied more firmly and this discussion pursued this objective.

The Employer members thanked the Minister of Social Protection of Colombia for his voluntary presence before the Committee discussed the list of cases and underlined their appreciation for the Government's goodwill expressed to the Committee. Recalling the long history of the supervision by this Committee of the application of freedom of association standards in Colombia, the Employer members noted that during the last five years many positive developments had taken place, although the Government acknowledged that more needed to be done. In February 2000, a direct contacts mission had been sent to Colombia. In 2001, the Governing Body had appointed a Special Representative of the Director-General who had presented three reports to the Governing Body within a year. In 2003, the Governing Body had authorized a costly programme of technical cooperation financed by the ILO, which had lasted until 2006. At the June 2005 Conference, Colombia had agreed to accept a high-level tripartite visit composed of the Chairperson of the Committee on Freedom of Association and the two Vice-Chairpersons of the Committee on the Application of Standards. The high-level tripartite visit had been allowed full access and transparency in its meetings, including with the President of Colombia. On 1 June 2006, a historic Tripartite Agreement on Freedom of Association and Democracy had been signed at the International Labour Conference to strengthen the defence of the fundamental rights of workers, their organizations and trade union leaders, especially as concerned the respect of human life, trade union freedom, freedom of association, freedom of speech, collective bargaining, free enterprise for employers, as well as the promotion of decent work. To facilitate the implementation of this Agreement, the Office had established a permanent representation in Colombia and a US$5 million programme of technical cooperation financed by the Colombian Government had been put in place. During the 2007 session of the International Labour Conference, it had been decided to organize a high-level mission to identify the additional needs in order to guarantee the effective implementation of the Agreement and the technical cooperation programme in Colombia. The high-level mission that had gone to Bogotá from 25 to 28 November 2007 had made a very positive report to which there had been no opposing position in the Governing Body.

The main issues raised by the Committee of Experts in this case concerned the situation of violence and impunity and certain legal and legislative matters against the background of several decades of continuous civil war. Since 2001, the level of violence against trade unionists had declined substantially along with the overall rate of homicides. It was important to note that the targets were not only trade unionists but also teachers, judges and other prominent personalities in society. However, everyone had to be concerned about the increase in trade union violence in 2008. The Committee of Experts noted that the protection budget had increased, with over a quarter of it going exclusively to the trade union movement, and that the Colombian central unions acknowledged the increased efforts of the Attorney-General to secure prosecutions and convictions. The Government as a matter of urgency should continue these efforts with the systematic work of prosecutors and judges. The Employer members expressed the hope that these measures would lead to improvements in tackling the situation of impunity.

With regard to the legislative matters raised by the Committee of Experts, one important issue was the inappropriate use of cooperatives, an issue that had been focused upon by the high-level tripartite visit to Colombia in 2005. As the Committee of Experts pointed out, employees in such circumstances should be treated as regular employees with the same terms and conditions of employment and eligibility to join a trade union. The Employer members took note of the proposed 2007 Decree intended to level the playing field on this issue as mentioned by the Government, and asked that it be enacted expeditiously.

With regard to the comments made by the Committee of Experts concerning obstacles to the registration of trade unions and their activities, it was understandable that in the current climate of unrest the Government might wish to ensure that trade union functions did not go beyond normal trade union activities; however, Article 2 of Convention No. 87 clearly required that workers' and employers' organizations should be able to establish themselves without previous authorization. Moreover, keeping in mind that Convention No. 87 provided no express right to strike, note should be taken of the legislation under consideration that would allow the parties to fashion their own dispute resolution process in lieu of the current compulsory arbitration process. Furthermore, substantial resources should be allocated to the judiciary and labour tribunals as well as to the strengthening of labour inspection services. Finally, active steps should be taken to resolve the other issues raised by the Committee of Experts. The Employer members concluded by thanking the Government for its voluntary appearance and expressed the hope that the Government would continue to take steps to improve the situation as it had done in the past.

The Government member of Slovenia, speaking on behalf of Governments of Member States of the European Union as well as Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Iceland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Norway and Turkey, welcomed the Minister of Social Protection of Colombia, and expressed full support and appreciation for the work of the ILO and its permanent Office in Colombia in assisting the country in its efforts to ensure respect for Conventions Nos 87 and 98 through the technical cooperation programme in Colombia.

Although the efforts of the Government to improve the situation should be acknowledged, the level of violence was still far too high and the killing of trade unionists was of great concern. Nevertheless, the willingness of the social partners to cooperate in putting in place the mechanisms for effective implementation of the Tripartite Agreement on Freedom of Association and Democracy in Colombia was encouraging.

The measures taken so far by the Government in the fight against impunity should also be welcomed. However, the recommendation of the high-level mission should be stressed once again, to the effect that all cases of violence against trade unionists should be examined and no further backlog accumulated. Therefore, the Government was strongly encouraged to speed up the fight against the very high rate of impunity.

The protection programme for trade unionists should be supported and the Government encouraged to ensure that all trade unionists who so requested enjoyed adequate protective measures which commanded their trust. Finally, the Government was urged to take all necessary steps to amend the legislative provisions, such as the Labour Code, in order to align them with the provisions of Conventions Nos 87 and 98. The speaker called for the continued cooperation of the Government with the ILO, in particular by seeking ILO technical assistance.

Finally, the ILO supervisory system, which was unique in the world, should be supported and this year's procedure should not be considered as a precedent for the future work of the Committee.

A Worker member of Colombia stated that when, on 1 June 2006, the Government, the workers and the employers of his country had signed the Tripartite Agreement on Freedom of Association and Democracy, the trade union movement was convinced that this had opened a new avenue to bring an end to the climate of violence and absence of freedom of association which had prevailed for more than a quarter of a century. Unfortunately, the antiunion climate of violence continued, with serious repercussions not only for trade unionism but also for democracy and social rights that were enshrined in the Colom- bian Constitution.

It could not be denied that an outcome of the Tripartite Agreement was the establishment of the special public prosecutor's unit to combat impunity (which was the best ally of anyone seeking to assassinate trade unionists), which had allowed some results to be obtained, even though much remained to be done. At the same time, he was concerned that, as far as 2008 was concerned, the 26 trade unionists killed in five months was far too high a figure for such a short period of time. The Government had to take measures to prevent such a genocide.

It was urgent to find a solution to bring an end to the acts of violence against trade unionists by stopping the Government's and the employers' anti-union conduct and by creating conditions in which the working class could organize freely without fear of losing their life or their job. It should not be forgotten that in many countries trade unions had played a leading role in the struggle against dictatorial regimes and that the return to democracy was due to the sacrifices, determination and altruism of thousands of workers, who, from the ranks of trade unions, did not hesitate to give up their lives so that democracy could prevail.

The speaker appealed to the Government and the employers to turn to freedom, peace and democracy, and to reaffirm the ILO as a key player and a forum for coming together and, that conflicts could be settled if and to the extent there existed political will of the different actors. The best way to discourage the enemies of trade unionism was through the promotion of a real climate of freedom of association and the use of collective bargaining and by ensuring that precarious contracts did not become the rule for workers.

The major concern of the trade union movement lay not only in the fear of losing life, but also in the fear that decent work would vanish. Decent work was at the core of the ILO and the worker's ideology. Unfortunately, the phenomenon of "delabourization" in labour-management relations was a fact and was most often seen in labour relations based on outsourcing, temporary work, civil contracts, service contracts, contracts for very short-terms and finally the scourge of associated labour cooperatives. These cooperatives represented the worst form of aggression against trade unions, as they prevented workers from joining a union and from having access to collective bargaining. It did not seem appropriate, therefore, that the Government had included in the Colombian delegation to the Conference spokespersons for these cooperatives, as they could not represent workers and, even less, trade unionism.

The future held little that was positive if the climate of violence, anti-union conduct and absence of freedom of association prevailed. It was for this reason that he proposed that the Government and the employers of his country fully implement the Tripartite Agreement, as it was the only way of laying a foundation for a new country. He also appealed to the international community to provide all support so that ILO Conventions and Recommendations would not remain a dead letter.

Finally, emphasizing that a democracy without trade unions was only a caricature of a democracy, the speaker stated that the low rate of unionization, the drop in the number of workers covered by collective bargaining, the death of trade unionists, the refusal of the Ministry to recognize new organizations, the increase in informal work relations, the impoverishment of agricultural workers, the fact that more than two million children were child labourers, forced displacement, unemployment and social exclusion all constituted a ticking social bomb which still could be defused.

The Government member of the United States thanked the Government of Colombia for its presentation. The situation of worker and human rights in Colombia had been an issue of long-standing, and at times grave concern in this Committee and the other supervisory bodies of the ILO. The discussion provided an opportunity to take stock of the Government's ongoing commitment to the Tripartite Agreement on Freedom of Association and Democracy and the important progress that had been made thus far in implementing the Agreement. The Government of Colombia, thanks in large part to its cooperation with the ILO, had made demonstrable progress in turning around the country's long history of violence and instability and in modernizing and strengthening its legal system. She noted the Government's efforts to protect at-risk individuals, including trade unionists; investigate and prosecute perpetrators of violence; strengthen the judiciary; and bring the legislation into closer conformity with ILO standards. There was a clear focus on making the Government institutions work for the Colombian people, with the result that Colombia was steadily building an increasingly stable, peaceful, inclusive and prosperous democracy. The Government's achievements to date had been acknowledged and welcomed by both the Committee of Experts and the high-level mission. The speaker expressed her confidence that these efforts would continue.

Notwithstanding this impressive progress, it was to be recognized that there was much more to do in what remained a difficult overall situation. Everybody looked forward to a completely secure and peaceful Colombia. To that end, the speaker encouraged the Government to continue working with its tripartite partners and the ILO to address all of the issues that the Committee of Experts had outlined in its observations. These included measures to continue making progress in the reduction of violence and impunity as well as acting on a number of longstanding practical and legislative matters related to trade union rights and activities. As the high-level mission had noted, ongoing and open-ended dialogue and oversight through Colombia's National Consultation Commission on Labour and Wages Policies offered an excellent means for dealing, in an operational way, with the broad agenda of the Tripartite Agreement, while at the same time creating and strengthening trust among the parties. The United States Secretary of State had recently noted that the story of Colombia was a good example of a Government that was trying to do the right things. The speaker expressed confidence that the Government of Colombia would continue to take full advantage of ILO technical assistance in order to continue to do the right things. She urged all the partners to the Tripartite Agreement to remain committed and steadfast to it, however different their views might occasionally be. Colombia had taken great strides forward, and with such a commitment in place, the international community could expect to see even further progress in the near future.

Another Worker member of Colombia stated that the trade union organizations, the employers and the Government of Colombia had concluded a Tripartite Agreement on Freedom of Association and Democracy. The agreement had not yet yielded practical results in the improvement of freedoms and fundamental rights at work. All that could be demonstrated was the setting up of a permanent representation, the launching of some cooperation programmes and some initial results from the Public Prosecutor and the judiciary in bringing to light acts of violence against trade unionists and bringing criminals to trial.

The central trade union organizations would present a timetable for achieving compliance with the recommendations of the ILO supervisory bodies, so that the State could align its legislation and practice with international labour standards. However, the absence of will by employers and the Government would impede meeting this timetable and compliance with the agreement.

The high-level mission of November 2007 recalled that for any tripartite agreement to function efficiently, it was necessary for all parties to stand by their commitments, no matter how different their points of view on specific issues. This meant that the parties had to accept as the basis for discussions, international labour standards and the recommendations of the ILO supervisory bodies. The mission report highlighted the importance of permanent dialogue and permanent supervision of the application of the Tripartite Agreement in organizing and promoting useful and effective social dialogue.

The ILO could not allow non-compliance with commitments, which in Colombia meant a decent work deficit, limits on freedom of association, murders, impunity and the absence of efficient social dialogue. Moreover, less than one third of workers had access to any social and labour protection, and only five out of 100 workers belonged to a union. In the last five years, the Ministry of Social Protection had refused the registration of 236 new trade unions and only one in 100 workers benefited from a collective agreement. The Government had banned half of all work stoppages, thereby imperilling the right to strike.

Since the beginning of this year, 26 trade unionists had been murdered and four had disappeared, which meant a 71.4 per cent increase over the same period in 2007. In the last 22 years, 2,669 trade union activists had been assassinated and 193 abducted, while the State had only brought 86 of those responsible to face sanctions.

He drew the Committee's attention to the fact that due to the attitude of employers and the Government in refusing to recognize the mechanisms that were put in place and their misuse, this progressively eroded the working methods that had been founded on tripartism and dialogue. It was for this reason that when the Government and the employers were asked for explanations relating to their intentions, it was to help promote dialogue and the exchange of opinions.

He requested the Committee to adopt conclusions and a special paragraph urging the Government and the employers to immediately implement the recommendations of the ILO supervisory bodies and to align the legislation and practice with Conventions Nos 87 and 98.

Stressing that in Colombia trade unionism was threatened with extinction and its life depended on international solidarity and ILO support, the speaker demanded that the threat to the existence of trade unionism be stopped, through bringing an end to the violence against trade unionists and ensuring respect for ILO Conventions.

The Government member of Canada stated that his Government had been following with keen interest the implementation of the Tripartite Agreement signed in 2006. He commended both the Office and the Government of Colombia for the high-level commitment they had made to move the Agreement forward. The implementation process, he noted, was a delicate and difficult one. It was also urgent, as trade unionists and human rights defenders were still being threatened and often killed. The ILO high-level mission's point that the Agreement lay in the hands of the Colombian Government, workers and employers was a critical one; the ILO had a valuable role but, in the end, it was for the parties themselves to ensure the successful working of the Agreement.

His Government welcomed that Colombia had created, in 2006, a special unit of the Office of the Attorney-General tasked with investigating and prosecuting violent acts against trade unionists. The Government was encouraged to increase its efforts to bring such cases of violence to a conclusion. He concluded by expressing his Government's commitment to supporting Colombia in strengthening its labour legislation for the benefit of workers and promoting an open dialogue amongst the social partners.

Another Worker member of Colombia stated that the denial of trade union freedoms were motivated by an antiunion culture and policy on the part of the employers and the Government, which breached trade union rights through the use of civil contracts, pseudo associated work cooperatives, outsourcing, service provision work and contracts (which were a fraudulent form of work), controlling influence in public entities, and which not only created precarity of employment but also denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Resolution No. 0626 of 22 February 2008 of the Ministry of Social Protection not only created obstacles to registration of new trade unions but also delegated to low-level civil servants decisions on union registration, which had negative consequences and were not in conformity with the recommendations of the Committee on Freedom of Association.

It was no incentive to the unions that the negotiations were at such a critical stage for the few collective agreements that existed in the country and for the low rate of coverage. In addition, the practices of public and private employers relied on to use "collective pacts". This was a system of individual membership imposed to the workers by employers when a new union was set up in order to reduce bargaining power.

The Government was continuing to interfere with the right to strike and the new regulations no longer fully guaranteed this right. The only change introduced by the new law was that illegality had to be declared by a judge of first instance and that there was a right to appeal. The ban on federations and confederations exercising their right to strike still applied, making permanent the restrictions noted by the ILO supervisory bodies.

Anti-union violence continued, at least 26 assassinations of trade unionists having taken place in the first five months of 2008 and six others abducted. He denounced the Government practice of determining the motives for the assassinations before beginning the investigation, as this led to erroneous sentences. Two years had passed since the signing of the Tripartite Agreement but it had still not been complied with; a timid start had been made in the field on Public Prosecutor's investigations. Impunity prevailed in 98 per cent of cases and the real instigators were never identified.

The Committee should adopt a special paragraph in order to support Colombian trade unionism's vocation for social dialogue along with a permanent requirement that it should be effective, useful and equitable, so that dialogue would be promoted.

Finally, the speaker noted that the Tripartite Agreement should go further, in view of the social crisis that Colombia was going through, and to that end the ILO Office in Bogotá should be strengthened in order to help bring about a Social Pact which would guarantee decent work through direct negotiations between workers and employers, and which would eliminate intermediaries and all other forms that disguised labour relationship, in order to allow complete freedom of association.

The Worker member of Australia, speaking on behalf of Australian unions and unions in the Asia-Pacific region, noted that the concerns expressed regarding the level of violence in Colombia - which fundamentally impacts upon the lives of workers and trade unionists - were also present with respect to countries in her own region, such as the Philippines, Cambodia and others.

A state of persistent non-compliance characterized Colombian industrial relations and the labour law, particularly as regards the collective bargaining provisions - which excluded public sector workers, workers in the informal economy, those in precarious employment and those considered to be "independent" workers. In fact, the majority of workers simply were not covered by the provisions on collective bargaining. Aside from the widespread violence and intimidation, the Government and the employers were implicated, in other ways, in the creation of an environment where workers' rights were denied or seriously undermined. The problem, in essence, concerned the imbalance of power between the employer and the individual worker, which could only be addressed by effective freedom of association, genuine collective bargaining and a mature system of industrial relations.

Over the last ten years, Australia had witnessed an attempt by its former Government to undermine the role of trade unions and undermine collective bargaining provisions, in the law and in public discourse. It had also used derogatory language to imply that union leaders were not representative, were self-interested, and even "un-Australian". Unions and workers suffered in this environment, as it became more difficult to assert rights in the workplace and undertake collective action, including negotiations with employers or the handling of industrial disputes. This, however, was mild compared to the situation in Colombia over the past years, in which the labelling of trade unionists as "terrorists" directly contributed to an environment of threats and violence. In Australia, trade unionists never feared for their lives as a result of what the Government called them; nor were reasonable employers afraid to deal with them.

The Government of Colombia was pursuing anti-trade union and anti-worker policies in order to achieve its vision of a deregulated, pro-business and pro-multinational economy. The situation in Colombia involved not only the very serious killing of trade unionists, but also the killing of trade unionism itself. Serious efforts were needed to build a culture of negotiation, counter the culture of conflict and violence, and establish genuine social relations that apply to the workplace and are reflected in law. All these would contribute to wider peace building and conflict resolution.

She stated that serious problems persisted in the application of collective bargaining, one aspect of which was the lack of legislative provisions and promotion. Moreover, there were legal and practical barriers to the very existence of unions and their ability to carry out their activities in freedom. In practice, there was clearly a strategy by employers to either prevent new unions from forming or weaken those that existed. Many workers had lost their entitlements, and union coverage stood at less than 5 per cent. Half of the unionized workers were in the public sector, and of those workers, half again were denied the right to bargain collectively, so that the rate of collective bargaining was one of the lowest in the world: only 1 per cent of Colombian workers had recourse to collective negotiations.

According to the Colombian trade union federations, the number of workers covered by collective agreements was declining. In 2007, 463 collective agreements were negotiated, one more than in 2006. Union contracts represented a mere 1 per cent of workers - or 177,000 workers out of a working population of 18 million. At the same time, however, the number of workers covered by "collective accords" increased by 184 per cent. Collective accords with non-unionized workers had been used to undermine the position of trade unions; these agreements, which were imposed by the company on workers via its own nominated mediators, in practice put pressure on workers to renounce their union membership, or at least undermined the effectiveness of genuine trade unions. She remarked that last year one of her colleagues had visited a flower farm that used "collective accords". In discussions with two workers, which took place in the presence of the employer, the workers were unable to provide answers on the working conditions they were supposed to have negotiated. Adding that in many workplaces employers promoted a strong anti-union attitude and simply refused to deal with trade unions, she stated that some felt the labour relationship in Colombia to have been "de-labourized". It was necessary to put an end to collective accords, or "pacts", that were imposed by employers as an alternative to collective agreements.

In 2006, only 11 collective negotiations took place in the public sector - seven of those related to municipal workers, and two to employees of departments. According to Ministry statistics, collective bargaining was undertaken in only 2.74 per cent of the municipalities, which demonstrated how marginal it was in the public sector. Another problem, she added, was the absence of a reliable system for compiling labour statistics. In respect of collective bargaining, there was a lack of credible data regarding the number of collective agreements, the type of agreement, the type of enterprise, the nature of the trade union and the period of validity of the agreement. The administrative and data collection systems were very weak, as a consequence of the lack of priority given to labour administration. These needed strengthening, as it was difficult to build a solid industrial relations system when attention was not paid to the existing realities and there were no means of measuring change or progress, even if the will to promote improvements existed.

It was necessary to ensure the right to collective bargaining throughout the public service and put an end to "associated labour cooperatives", which essentially provided unprotected labour under contracts for services. These cooperatives denied workers their employment rights and their right to trade union membership. The freedom of association rights of all workers, in both the public and private sector, was the basis of a mature and effective industrial relations system; it was the Government's responsibility to implement Convention No. 87 and to create the legislative and political space for genuine industrial relations. She concluded by thanking the Government for appearing before the Committee. She called on the Government to maximize its efforts to ensure respect for freedom of association, and implored both it and the employers to engage constructively with independent and democratic trade unions in Colombia.

The Worker member of Swaziland observed that, just as every coin possessed a head and a tail, so too were there two sides to governance. Good governance, on one hand, thrived on unconditional and inclusive social dialogue. Bad governance, on the other, fed off abuse of power, totalitarianism, self-centredness, arrogance and egocentrism. The latter, moreover, was usually marred by intolerance, violence and an impunity that penalized the victim while protecting the perpetrator.

He reminded the Government that it had voluntarily ratified the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144), and was there- fore obliged to enforce its provisions in law and practice. Social dialogue brought together all stakeholders, including the tripartite social partners, to engage collectively in national economic and social policy-making to bring about peace, justice and social progress. He expressed sadness that the Government had disregarded its commitments under Convention No. 144 and, worse, had undermined the Tripartite Agreement to which it itself was a party - even after numerous reminders had been made by different labour organizations. He recalled that the purpose of consultation under Convention No. 144 was not merely the dissemination of information to the social partners. Consultation, rather, entailed dialogue with a view to considering the contributions of the other parties concerned and its outcome ought to duly reflect the input of the social partners. Were it tantamount only to communication from the Government to the social partners it would not constitute genuine dialogue, but rather a monologue. The lack of dialogue was a recipe for disaster and, indeed, it was not surprising, therefore, that in Colombia intolerance and violence reigned supreme.

He called upon the Government to set a proper example in enacting social dialogue. Where social dialogue was not respected at the national level - as reflected in the Government's disregard of Convention No. 144 and the Tripartite Agreement it was a party to - it would be impossible to have a working collective agreement at the shop floor level.

The Government, he declared, was a gross and chronic offender of the Conventions it had ratified. Moreover, it had treated the concerns of the social partners with intolerance and total disregard. He recalled that, according to the jurisprudence of the Committee on Freedom of Association, freedom of association could only be exercised in conditions in which fundamental human rights, and in particular those relating to human life and personal safety, are fully respected and guaranteed. He concluded by calling for the conclusions in the present case to be endorsed in a special paragraph.

The Government member of Argentina declared that the case of Colombia was one of the most regrettable and shameful chapters in ILO history. The annihilation of the trade union movement was part of a systematic plan of repression of organized workers that employed fear, threats and terror to do away with the rights of this social group. He questioned what the State was doing to guarantee public freedoms, taking into account that these were, according to the ILO supervisory bodies, a necessary precondition to ensure freedom of association.

The Committee on Freedom of Association maintained that the cases related to Colombia concerned not only threats, abductions and assassinations but also mass anti-union dismissals, interference in trade union independence, strikes declared illegal and non-compliance with collective agreements, including refusal of the right to bargaining collectively. The sole responsibility for this critical situation fell on the Government and Colombian employers, which neither respected nor took account of the recommendations of the Committee on Freedom of Association to ensure effective application of the Conventions. It was necessary to take urgent action to prevent the situation extending to other Latin American countries, where new winds were blowing and where there were Governments implicated in eliminating hunger, poverty and unemployment.

The progressive deterioration of freedom of association and collective bargaining in Colombia had reduced rates of unionization and bargaining to its lowest levels, which had caused the Committee on Freedom of Association to note in its report that the exercise of trade union freedoms was almost totally blocked. The Workers' Union of the Americas and the Union Coordination Centre for the Southern Cone unconditionally supported the struggle of the workers and trade union organizations of Colombia. Criminals had to be punished. The ILO had to continue with its mission with the aim of the establishment, without hypocrisy, of the fundamental rights and principles that were the basis of peace, democracy and social justice for Colombia.

The Worker member of France wished to discuss the Tripartite Agreement on Freedom of Association and Democracy, the signature of which, on 1 June 2006, sparked the hope of real improvement in the situation of trade unionists in Colombia and a genuine commitment of the authorities. Today, this hope gave way to deception and frustration, due to the fact that the Tripartite Agreement did not bring the anticipated results because of its ineffective application. The list of violations to fundamental freedoms, the right to life and the right to strike, as well as of the incidences of interference in trade union activities, remained far too long. The enactment of the Tripartite Agreement, which rested on Conventions Nos 87 and 98, could only be realized through the respect and promotion of these two instruments. Yet, the 26 assassinations of trade unionists, which took place since the beginning of the year, showed that the measures taken by the Government to protect trade unionists and combat impunity were grossly insufficient, if not derisory. These were 26 deaths too many.

The Agreement in question was not a simple unilateral declaration, but rather the result of a compromise binding workers, employers and the Government. Consequently, its enactment implied a concerted, tripartite effort and good faith, all within the framework of genuine social dialogue which presupposed the possibility of constituting free and independent trade unions, able to express their demands and establish a power relationship, such as strikes, in order to defend workers' rights, free of interference and fear for their security. The speaker declared that the existence of such organizations is the testimony of social cohesion and peace and must not depend on the will of a government. Liberal trade unionism, where rights and prerogatives are respected, contributes to strengthening democracy, to transparency and to the rule of law.

The constituents of the ILO, whose presence in Bogota were an essential element in the Tripartite Agreement, were in charge of ensuring the follow-up of that text, by participating actively and in good faith in this vital dialogue, so that it did not become a dead letter. The speaker concluded by pointing out that the workers' representatives clearly expressed themselves and were ready to cooperate.

The Worker member of Brazil expressed solidarity with the Colombian trade union movement. While in a democratic society it was natural that capital and labour came into conflict, it was not natural that such a conflict should produce fatalities. Many governments could not fully understand the nature of this conflict, and the vision that certain Government representatives had presented on the situation in Colombia was cause for concern. For example, the submission of the representative of the US Government did not indicate any concern about the deaths. It almost seemed like the US Government believed that Colombia was a paradise and nothing bad was happening there. Above all, we needed to recognize the problem. It was not useful to hide it. In Colombia, some had recourse to violence and killed trade union activists to prove that democracy could operate without trade unions; that joining a union was not the solution for workers' problems; that workers would lose every single battle they faced against employers and the Government. But democracy did not stop with the election of the President of the Republic by universal suffrage. In a democracy, the right to life and the right to organize and to social dialogue were fundamental. But in Colombia, social dialogue did not exist. We believed there had been some improvements regarding democracy in Latin America but not in Colombia, where murders were used as an attack on democracy. After all, respect for the right to life and strong institutions were the precondition for an effective democracy. We needed to strengthen social dialogue in Latin America. In Brazil, for example, social dialogue had evolved through tripartite forums. It had to be re-established, and democracy and trade union organizations had to be strengthened in order to put an end to assassinations. It was therefore absolutely necessary that the perpetrators of these murders be pursued, brought to justice and convicted. An example had to be made and a change in the climate demonstrated. To this end, a stop had to be put to associating trade unionists with the guerrillas in order to discredit them and thereby give paramilitaries an alibi. Let us stop the killings. Let us praise life.

The Government member of Mexico observed that the Committee of Experts had noted in its report that the overall situation continued to be difficult. Nevertheless, it also recognized that there had been progress, such as, for example, concerning the guarantee to protect trade union leaders, members and offices; the increase in the budget for the programme of protection set up in 1997 and the efforts of the Government to make progress with investigations related to violations of trade union members' hu- man rights. The Colombian Government had reaffirmed its commitment to the Tripartite Agreement, the aim of which was to promote decent work and strengthen the defence of fundamental rights of workers and of trade unions and their leaders in the areas of respect for human life, freedom of association, the right to organize and freedom of expression, collective bargaining and freedom of enterprise.

The result of the high-level mission carried out in November 2007 was not contained in the report as it took place after the meeting of the Committee of Experts. However, in his own report, the Director-General noted the mission's satisfaction with the commitment of the Government and employers' and workers' organizations regarding the application of the Agreement and the budgeting of US$4.7 million by the Government of Colombia to meet the aims of the Agreement; he also made reference to the Bills concerning employment presented recently in Congress.

Finally, the speaker noted that the Government of Mexico recognized the efforts undertaken by the Government of Colombia and that, as the reports mentioned stated, although there were issues pending, it was no less a fact that there was also political will, concrete results and a will continue the work in cooperation with the ILO.

The Worker member of the United Kingdom remarked that, despite the grief felt over the murder of 2,669 trade union colleagues, the context of the present discussion could not be limited solely to the issue of violence. The ILO supervisory bodies had shown that even if there were no violence in the country, Colombia would still be the most anti-union, pro-employer government in Latin America. The violence discussed had no bearing on the Government's failure to bring into conformity with the Convention legislation restricting trade union registration and collective bargaining, or its promotion of "collective pacts" and associated labour cooperatives. Violence had become a smokescreen for the Government's neo-liberal agenda and its disdain for social dialogue. But the State itself was directly and indirectly complicit in anti-union violence.

He recalled that on 6 February and 6 March 2008 protests were held in Colombia and around the world, to demand an end to all violence from wherever it emanates - the paramilitaries, the FARC or the State - and the immediate release of all hostages. Carlos Rodriguez, Miguel Morantes and other colleagues of delegation of the Single Confederation of Workers (CUT), the Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CTC) and the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) took part in protests in London, which also called for an end to UK military aid and a strengthening of humanitarian assistance. He stressed that the need to shift from military support to support for the ILO's mandate, as well as for social dialogue and peaceful, equitable development, had become all the more urgent as more politicians linked to President Uribe came under investigation for links with the paramilitaries - the main perpetrators of the anti-union violence. More than 60 politicians were under investigation, including the President's cousin, senior figures in the security service, four provincial governors, and numerous Congress members and senators. Of that number, half were in prison and seven had been convicted. Further, paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso had claimed the involvement of the Vice-President, a former Defence Minister and three army generals, among others. He added that the 2006 Jamundi Massacre exemplified army complicity with narcotrafficking paramilitaries. There, High Mountain Battalion soldiers had murdered a US-trained anti-narcotics police squad as they were about to arrest a drugs gang. Such "parapolitica" scandals strengthened the conviction that military aid to the regime should end.

He strongly agreed with the Government of the United Kingdom that it was a flagrant breach of the Convention for Colombian Government figures to smear trade unionists by making public announcements accusing them of being terrorists. Such statements were invitations to the paramilitaries to target the accused. Several of the 26 trade unionists murdered this year - among them seven teacher trade unionists - were killed following the peace demonstration of 6 February, after which José Obdulio Gaviria, senior advisor to President Uribe, claimed that the protests scheduled for March had been convened by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). As the demonstrations - which were supported by the trade unions, the Liberal Party and the Polo Democratico - condemned all violence and demanded the release of FARC-held hostages, that claim was patently untrue. Further examples of "parapolitica" were the scandals in Cordoba University, and Operation Dragon in Cali. Both had been examined by the Committee on Freedom of Association, and he urged all members of the Committee to examine those findings and the unfolding scandal to determine how to react to the Government's unduly optimistic claims.

He underscored that the modest progress made on the still overwhelming impunity resulted largely from international pressure, not least from the Committee itself. Though those gains were small, and with convictions of defendants in absentia and never of the true intellectual authors of the crimes, they demonstrated the need for a strengthened and independent judiciary. Pressure and the careful and regular examination of the present case must not cease. He stated that mature industrial relations anchored in laws compliant with ILO standards were not only a good in their own right, but also showed that differences of interest could be resolved through peaceful negotiation. He called for the conclusions in the present case to include a repeated demand on the Government to desist from the public smearing of trade unionists, as well as a commitment to strengthen the ILO Bogota Office's support for social dialogue, mature industrial relations and the struggle against impunity.

The Worker member of Spain indicated that, in addition to the intolerable level of anti-union violence reached in Colombia, the country suffered from other problems which obstructed the exercise of freedom of association; among them, the problem of trade union registration which restricted trade union activities and the deterioration of the employment relationship because of the abusive use of associated labour cooperatives and other forms of precarious work.

The administrative authority had discretionary power to refuse registration to trade unions if it considered that the organization might devote itself to activities which went beyond normal trade union activities; the Ministry of Social Protection could also refuse it, as in the recent case of the National Transport Trade Union on grounds of absence of an industrial link between the workers and the organization's sector of economic activity. The trade union organizations should have sufficient autonomy so as to be able to organize in the manner which they consider best served their interests and without the need for previous authorization.

Despite the fact that the Committee of Experts had been raising for many years the abuse by Colombia of various types of contractual arrangements in order to avoid the application of labour legislation and obstruct the right to organize and collective bargaining, cooperatives continued to be used as a way to disguise employment relationships. It was a case of clear legal fraud that the conditions of work of the members of cooperatives were worse than those of the enterprises in which they provided their services. Some enterprises dismissed their workers in order to afterwards promote with them an associated labour cooperative. The Government did not apply the criterion of the Committee on Freedom of Association in relation to Article 2 of the Convention, according to which both workers in a relationship of subordination and autonomous workers had the right to establish and join trade unions. A labour relationship which denied fundamental rights to workers was an updated version of age-old servitude.

The speaker proposed, as a result of the above, the adoption of a special paragraph urging the Government of Colombia to bring its legislation into conformity with Conventions Nos 87 and 98.

The Employer member of Colombia indicated that, even if one could have accepted that Colombia was not a viable country in 1998, when the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry had been requested to examine the application of the Convention in Colombia, no one could deny today that Colombia was a different country in which participation of the social partners existed and the judicial system functioned.

He underlined that in 2006 when the Tripartite Agreement had been signed, the belief existed that Colombia could change, and that it had indeed changed. The speaker indicated that the improvements made could be observed in the report of the high-level mission which had visited the country in November 2007 and drew attention in particular to paragraphs 6, 7, 8, 14 and 23 of the report. In fact, it was obvious that the Tripartite Agreement had produced results, which could be observed in the technical cooperation programme under way in the country: this programme had four components, one of which was social dialogue.

Other considerable improvements were the periodical meetings held between the workers, the employers and the Government in the framework of the National Consultation Commission on Labour and Wage Policies and the programme developed with judges and prosecutors.

All this demonstrated that the Tripartite Agreement was dynamic and that it had even greater possibilities of development and action. He underlined the active participation of the Office of the ILO Special Representative in these activities.

With regard to the progress made in the fight against impunity, he emphasized that, through a European-funded programme under way, the Attorney-General's Office, together with the trade union confederations, tried to determine jointly the trade unionists who were the victims of violence. The speaker emphasized that the current statistics submitted by the Attorney-General's Office ensured the transparency of the studies and of the results that had been communicated.

He indicated in particular that, out of the 105 sentences pronounced by the judicial authorities, by virtue of which 177 people had been convicted so far, it had been proven that, according to the statistics mentioned above, in 20 cases the motive behind the violent acts was anti-union violence; one case was due to an accident; one to political activities; one to drug trafficking; five to various factors; 14 to theft; one led to the identification of urban squadrons as the responsible parties; in two, the motives were the collaboration of the victims with paramilitary forces; in 27, the collaboration with the guerrillas; one was due to links with the military; nine to personal motives; 14 to motives which could not be elucidated; and two to violence by the FARC. At the same time, even if one accepted a recent increase in violence, the justice system responded to it and the state institutions functioned.

In this respect, he indicated that by virtue of the policy for the protection and security of democracy, action had been initiated against the guerrillas and the paramilitaries. Fourteen paramilitary chiefs who had recourse to the Justice and Peace Act had been extradited to the United States for not having complied with the provisions of this law. Moreover, decisive blows had recently been inflicted on the guerrillas and this allowed the employers to increase and develop their activities.

The speaker emphasized the wide participation of the opposition in the political life of Colombia. Various local governments and departments were entrusted to representatives of the opposition and members of the trade union movement. These also sat in Congress.

The Employer member described the considerable progress realized by the Colombian economy in recent years: the increase of the GDP and of the per capita wage, the tripling of exports and imports, the reduction of inflation and the fiscal deficit. He also referred to legislative improvements and reiterated the commitment of the employers to join forces with a view to modifying the legislation and bringing it into conformity with the provisions of the Convention.

With regard to judicial proceedings initiated against many members of Congress accused of having ties with the paramilitaries, he added that recently investigations had been initiated with regard to the possible link of some members with the FARC. This demonstrated that justice had been reinforced and that politics were no longer accepted as a means of promoting the objectives of the armed groups. Moreover, measures had been adopted to reinforce the armed forces which were present in all the villages of the country.

With regard to the comments made by the Worker member of Australia, he indicated that a study was recently made within a group of affiliated enterprises of a total turnover representing 20 per cent of GDP, and that according to the results of that study 21.6 per cent of enterprises had enterprise unions and 29.3 per cent had sectoral unions. This was above the national average in other countries.

As for the question of the registration of trade unions, he indicated that, after the adoption of Act No. 584 on this subject, the Constitutional Court handed down a judgement which allowed the existence of more than one trade union by enterprise. This had given rise to abuse since many trade unionists became members of various trade unions in order to obtain trade union immunity and thus, attain employment stability. Thus, it was not a question of lack of good will on behalf of the Government or the employers, but rather a question of putting an end to an abusive practice.

With regard to recruitment, he indicated that the questions raised were similar to those which existed in the rest of the world. Within the ILO as well, discussions had been taking place on the various forms of recruitment and the use of atypical and disguised employment. However, he underlined that direct hiring for an indefinite period of time, was nowadays not the only available avenue.

He concluded by indicating that, in light of the information provided, Colombia had been making concrete progress which permitted to consider this case as a case of progress.

The Worker member of the United States thanked the Colombian Government for appearing before the Committee and stated that there was no legitimate reason for the case being vetoed in last year's session. Such obstructionism fundamentally undermined the raison d'être of the Conference Committee. In his opinion, the veto had been exploited by the Colombian Government and by advocates of the Colombia-US Trade Promotion Agreement, who had asserted that Colombia was no longer subject to ILO scrutiny due to its compliance with fundamental international labour standards. If similar types of distortion are made to the current session, they would be publicly denounced and corrected.

He noted that a conventional wisdom promoted by the Government and advocates of the Colombia-US Free Trade Agreement was that the financial resources expended to combat anti-union violence and impunity had yielded results, with a decline in assassinations between 2006 and 2007. Even if, for the sake of argument, this artificial focus were accepted, the conclusion could be drawn that the murder of trade union activists was not essential in order to destroy trade unionism in Colombia, because, for all intents and purposes, trade unionism was already repressed. In the face of the tragic events to date in 2008, he rejected this focus. As admitted by the Government, 26 trade union activists had been killed to date in 2008, a 71 per cent increase over the same period in 2007. Clearly, even a repressed trade union movement represented too much of a threat to powerful anti-union forces.

As noted in the Committee of Experts' report, and as the Government had declared, millions of dollars had been budgeted and spent on special protection measures, for the Special Sub-Unit in the Attorney-General's, office and on a mere three special judges whose term was limited to six months, as the good Judge Sanchez discovered to his own rude awakening. But no special protection programme would ever succeed unless impunity, now at over 97 per cent for all assassinations from 1986 to the present, was effectively addressed, because the intellectual and material authors of trade union violence are obviously loose and reorganizing, even if we assumed the best of original intentions behind the Justice and Peace Law. Moreover, the public statements from the highest levels of Colombian Government only fed the beast of impunity, for example, Vice-President Santos labelling as guerrillas the three legitimate unionists assassinated in 2004 by the Colombian army.

The Government extolled the over 80 convictions since 2001, but there was a backlog of well over 2,200 trade union member murder cases since 1991, and the convictions to date only applied to 59 cases, and only 22 applied to the over 400 trade union activist assassinations since the present administration took office. Of these 22, 18 were still pending in the courts, subject to appeal and reversal. Of the 187 priority cases agreed to by the Government and the trade union movement in 2006, less than ten had had complete and closed convictions. At this rate, it would require 36 years to overcome impunity on these cases alone. According to the Attorney-General's office, 45 per cent of those convicted were not even in custody. These assassinations would continue unless there was real political will and judicial capacity to eradicate impunity, however much money was spent on personnel of the Attorney-General's office and on bodyguards.

The Government representative of Colombia said that his Government had accepted the session voluntarily with the aim of finding mechanisms which would help to improve the situation and considered that statements which aimed at condemning or absolving, perturbed a constructive process. He said that the deaths brought grief to everyone and that, despite the significant progress, the fight against impunity had to continue. He said that his Government had the support of 86 per cent of the population and referred to the fact that every month and a half, the President of the Republic met with workers, employers and ILO representatives in order to analyse issues raised by the ILO. It would be interesting to ask how many of the Worker members present here had the opportunity to meet the President of their country every month and a half. He insisted that the judicial system was working, proof of which was the independence of the system in the case of the Members of Parliament who had been arrested. He referred to the need to support the persistent and voluntary efforts made in the legislative sphere. without opti- mism or fatalism his Government would maintain his Government maintained its decision to continue improving the situation.

Responding to the statement by the Worker member of the United States, the Government representative rejected the claim according to which, Colombian trade unionism was being repressed. To accept such a claim, in his opinion, was to deny the efforts being made in Colombia by union leaders, such as Carlos Rodriguez, Apecides Alvis and Julio Roberto Gomez. The Government and the workers had gone a long way and had participated in negotiations despite their ideological differences. He quoted a CUT bulletin, the title of which was "The beginning of the end of impunity". He wondered whether the same vehemence would have been used in the past when trade unionists were Ministers of Labour. It seemed to him that seeking confrontation was to overlook 25 years of accumulated impunity. Regarding the Free Trade Agreement, he stated that it had been an election campaign theme of the Government and that the population had voted in favour of it. Alternatives that would allow unionism to revitalize itself in the global economy should not be discarded and that ideological differences were desirable in the face of issues such as, for example, the said free trade agreement. Finally, he noted that the Government had extended an invitation to the American Federation of Labor Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) to take part in the National Coordination Committee.

The Employer members noted that the Colombian Government has appeared voluntarily before the Committee. The Employers stated that this was not a case but a dialogue and, as there was clearly consensus, a special paragraph would be inappropriate. The Employer members had taken a principled approach to addressing the Committee of Experts' observations on Convention No. 87 involving Colombia. During 25 years of discussion in the Conference Committee only limited progress had been made, but, since 2005, substantial progress had been made with the opening of an ILO Bogotá office, a decline in violence, an increase in funding for protection, the judiciary, tribunals and labour inspection. The continuing dialogue was a reflection of this progress.

The picture showed mixed results. There had been progress in difficult circumstances, but, at the same time, and as the Government acknowledged, there was still much to be done. There was clear consensus that the 2006 Tripartite Agreement needed to be fully implemented; there was consensus that more needed to be done with the issues of impunity, cooperatives and other labour law questions. The Government had indicated that more positive developments were forthcoming. The Government's presence had furthered understanding with both the Committee and the global community and provided clarity on the steps needed in going forward.

The Worker members concluded by pointing out that all the elements discussed by the different Worker members remained valid. Two clarifications had to be made concerning the declarations of the Government representative. Firstly, the Worker members did not indicate four or five times that progress has been realized, but rather recognized that slight progress has been accomplished in the functioning of tribunals. Furthermore, as concerns the discussion on the free trade agreement, the Colombian Government did not invite the AFL-CIO, but rather the international trade union movement.

The Worker members recommended that this Committee request the Government to explain why Conventions Nos 87 and 98 were persistently violated in legislation and in practice; in a special paragraph of its report, to immediately put into effect the recommendations formulated by the supervisory bodies; to amend the legislation to recognize the right to strike and guarantee it for all workers, put an end to interference in trade union-related activities and recognize and guarantee the right to organ- ize freely and the right to bargain for all workers, whether in the public or private sectors and in any type of contract; concerning impunity, to intensify its efforts throughout the Ministry of Justice and the judicial authorities and to authorize international experts to ensure that the investigations undertaken are done so in a manner ensuring that the authors of these crimes and their instigators are identified, as well as the potential role of state institutions.

The speaker declared that the Governing Body should take measures to strengthen the Permanent Representation Office of the ILO in Colombia with the presence of experts on the Tripartite Agreement, so as to promote an efficient social dialogue, relevant to the implementation of the recommendations of the supervisory bodies and to the recognition and guarantee of the fundamental rights and freedoms of workers. It should also take measures to ensure the follow-up of the recommendations of the Committee on Freedom of Association.

Finally, the Committee of Experts should request the Government to respect delays in sending reports and to deliver them in the form required by the Governing Body. When examining the application of the Convention, the Committee of Experts should consider the observations that the Colombian trade union organizations systematically send to the Office.

Conclusions

The Committee took note of the oral information provided by the Government representative and the discussion that followed. The Committee recalled the steps that had been taken by the Government and the social partners aimed at achieving a greater application of the Convention since the last occasion upon which it had reviewed the Convention's application in 2005. The Committee wished to recall more specifically the tripartite high-level visit to the country in October 2005 at the invitation of the Government and its recommendations, the Colombian Tripartite Agreement on Freedom of Association and Democracy of June 2006, the setting up of the Office of the ILO representation in Colombia, and the ILO high-level mission of November 2007 and its report. The Committee considered that all of these initiatives represented initial important steps towards keeping the vital issues relating to the application of this Convention within the central focus of national dialogue and debate. It trusted that additional important steps would be taken, within the framework of respect for the tripartite agreement, to achieve rapid and full application of the provisions of this fundamental Convention.

The Committee noted that the comments of the Committee of Experts referred to continuing acts of violence against trade unionists and a prevailing situation of impunity, but had further observed the significant efforts made by the Government to bolster the special protection programme. The Committee of Experts had also noted the efforts of the Public Prosecutor (Fiscalia General) to secure progress in the investigation of serious human rights violations against trade unionists, as well as the appointment of three judges especially dedicated to hear cases of violence against trade unionists. The Committee took note of the Government's statement relating to the significant increase of funds budgeted for the protection of trade unionists and the continuing decrease in violent murders in the country, including those of trade unionists.

While taking due note of these indications, the Committee expressed its concern over an increase in violent acts against trade unionists in the first half of 2008. In view of the commitments made by the Government and referred to above, the Committee urged it to take further steps to reinforce the available protective measures and to render more efficient and expedient the investigations of murders of trade unionists and the identification of all of its instigators. Such measures should include an enhanced investment of necessary resources in order to combat impunity, including through the nomination of additional judges specifically dedicated to resolving cases of violence against trade unionists. All of these steps were essential elements to ensure that the trade union movement might finally develop and flourish in a climate that was free from violence.

As regards the practical and legislative matters pending, the Committee observed that the Committee of Experts had noted with interest some steps taken by the Government to amend its legislation to bring it in line with the Convention, but had further observed that several other matters still had to be resolved. The Committee noted the Government's statement according to which dialogue was continuing with a view to adopting legislation relating to essential public services and concerning cooperatives and that important measures had been taken to reinforce the labour inspectorate.

The Committee observed that the matters relating to legislative divergences with the provisions of the Convention have been commented upon by the Committee of Experts for many years now and that the efforts thus far made by the Government had not come to fruition. It trusted that the Government would continue to seek the assistance of the Office in addressing all remaining difficulties and that the necessary steps would be taken in the very near future so as to ensure the full and effective application of the Convention in law and in practice. In particular, the Committee expected that legislation would be adopted rapidly so as to ensure that service contracts, other types of contracts, cooperatives and other measures were not used as a means of undermining trade union rights and collective bargaining. It called upon the Government to ensure that all workers, including those in the public service, may form and join the organization of their own choosing, without previous authorization, in accordance with the Convention. In this regard, the Committee called upon the Government not to use discretionary authority to deny trade union registration.

The Committee once again emphasized the importance of full and meaningful social dialogue in ensuring a durable solution to these serious matters. The Committee believed that the strengthening of the ILO representation in Colombia was needed to facilitate the effective implementation of the tripartite agreement. The Committee requested the Government to provide a detailed report, in consultation with the social partners, on all of the above matters for examination at the forthcoming session of the Committee of Experts.