All Content: labor rights

Take Action to Protect Unjustly Fired Workers in Colombia

Violence, threats, and stigmatization against SINTRAEMCALI continues unabated
31 Jan 2012
Publication
We ask that you support the hunger strikers and SINTRAEMCALI by contacting the following U.S. and Colombian authorities. Urge them to act immediately and rehire the 51 workers that were fired unjustly, as indicated by Colombia’s judicial system and international recommendations

WOLA Applauds Exoneration of Labor Rights Defenders in Colombia

25 Jan 2012
Publication
For more than three years, these individuals have battled baseless accusations that intended to silence their work in defense of labor rights in Colombia.

Impunity Reigns in Cases of Labor Rights Violations in Colombia

A letter to the U.S. Congress on labor rights abuses in Colombia
25 Jan 2012
Publication
WOLA hosted a delegation with Senator Alexander Lopez Maya and Mr. Jorge Ivan Velez, President of SINTRAEMCALI, to the U.S. in late January 2012. During the delegation they educated policymakers on the labor rights situation in Colombia.

WOLA: Promoting Human Rights, Democracy, and Social Justice

22 Dec 2011
Video
As the year winds to a close, we hope you will enjoy this video about how WOLA works with partners in the region to advance human rights in Latin America. If you have not done so, we hope you will consider making a donation to WOLA to support our continued efforts. Your support makes a difference.

With FTA Secured, Colombia Takes Steps Backwards on Human Rights

Labor Rights at Risk under Santos Administration
20 Dec 2011
Analysis & Commentary
Colombia slipping back on labor and human rights is a major concern as the U.S. moves forward on implementing of the FTA

Declaration on the Death Threats Received by Grassroots Organizations and Human Rights Defenders in Barrancabermeja

Paramilitaries continue to attack civil society
7 Dec 2011
Publication
For decades, grassroots organizations that work for the defense, protection and promotion of human rights in the region of Magdalena Medio have been the target of threats and forced disappearances, in the midst of a climate of impunity and the absence of justice for the victims

Colombia Human Rights Bulletin

October 2011
31 Oct 2011
Publication
WOLA would like to share with you the following links to documents written by WOLA and organizations we partner with in Colombia on human rights, labor rights, and Afro-Colombian and indigenous issues.

WOLA Reaction to Colombia-U.S. FTA Debate

A Statement by Executive Director Joy Olson
12 Oct 2011
News
WOLA opposed this agreement because the experience with similar agreements has taught us who the losers will be, those least able to bear the cost

FTA Turns a Blind Eye to Exploitation

U.S. Ignores Labor Rights Abuses in Colombia
6 Oct 2011
Analysis & Commentary
In the midst of the debate regarding the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, most of the U.S. Congress has convinced itself that lofty agreements have translated into tangible change. In practice, the labor rights situation in Colombia has not improved.

Protecting Mexican Guest Workers and Seeking a Saner Migration Policy

30 Sep 2011
Publication
Adam and WOLA Senior Associate for Rights and Development Vicki Gass talk with Chuck Barrett, a consultant to Catholic Relief Services, about rural development, migration, and protecting the rights of agricultural guest workers from Mexico.

Human Rights During the Juan Manuel Santos Administration’s First Year in Office

Background Report by USOC and WOLA
29 Sep 2011
Publication
The report offers analysis on the topics of extrajudicial executions, human rights defenders, Afro-Colombians, indigenous peoples, internal displacement, the Victims Law and sexual violence against women.

Labor Action Plan: Just Paper or Real Changes?

Gimena Sanchez on the Pending U.S.-Colombia FTA
23 Sep 2011
Analysis & Commentary
Twenty-two trade unionists have been murdered so far in 2011, with ten of them killed after the April 15 announcement of the Labor Action Plan. Death threats and efforts to discredit labor activists also continue.

Take Action to Protect Human Rights Defenders in Colombia

Human rights abuses continue to undermine social justice efforts under the Santos administration
13 Sep 2011
Publication
We urge you to please contact the US and Colombian authorities in order to protect human rights defenders, free those unjustly detained, and seek investigations that lead to justice for those murdered and recipients of death threats

Buenaventura, Colombia: Where Free Trade Meets Mass Graves

An article in NACLA by WOLA Senior Associate Gimena Sanchez and Kelly Nicholls of USOC
7 Sep 2011
Publication
Conditions in Buenaventura exemplify the inherent contradictions of pursuing an FTA with a country where an internal armed conflict continues to rage, where many people are mired in poverty, where workers are subject to abuses, and labor unions are quite literally under attack.

Colombia Human Rights Bulletin

August 2011
12 Aug 2011
Analysis & Commentary
The Colombia Human Rights Bulletin provides links to documents written by WOLA and organizations we partner with in Colombia on human rights, labor rights, and Afro-Colombian and indigenous issues.

U.S. Trade Representative Takes Action on Labor Rights Enforcement Case against Guatemala

10 Aug 2011
News
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced today that the United States will seek the establishment of an arbitration panel against the Guatemalan government for failure to enforce its own labor laws.

Groups Ask U.S. to Oppose Colombia FTA

The U.S. Should Not Move Forward on Colombia FTA without Addressing Root Causes of Violence
23 Jun 2011
News
Human rights violations in Colombia – abuses against labor activists, Afro-Colombians, human rights activists and others – continue to take place at alarmingly high levels. In this climate, it would be a mistake to approve the FTA.

A Firsthand Look at the Emerging Self-Employed Sector in Havana

26 May 2011
Analysis & Commentary
WOLA’s Cuba team recently returned from a trip to the island to learn about changes in the Cuban economy. Here, Program Officer Ashley Morse reports back from a walking tour of downtown Havana where the WOLA team saw up close on the streets the emergence of a modest but formal self-employed sector.

Colombia Human Rights Bulletin

April 2011
20 Apr 2011
Analysis & Commentary
WOLA would like to share the following links to recent documents written by WOLA and organizations we partner with in Colombia on human rights, labor rights and Afro-Colombian and indigenous issues. This set of documents includes statements regarding the Colombian Action Plan Related to Labor Rights released by President Obama on April 7, 2011.

U.S.-Colombia FTA Action Plan Falls Short of Protecting Rights

Beyond the labor and human rights issues, our organizations remain concerned about the potential impact of the trade agreement on Colombian rural communities
7 Apr 2011
News
The Obama Administration has repeatedly stressed that the Colombia Free Trade Agreement will only advance “in accord with our values.” LAWG, USOC, and WOLA agree that we are not yet there.