Rapport intérimaire - Rapport No. 168, Novembre 1977

235. The complaints and the additional information pro provided by the complainants are contained in the following communications: two communications, dated 22 February and 17 March 1977, from the National Agrarian Federation (FANAL); two communications, dated 22nd February and 25 March 1977, from the Trade Unions International of Food, Tobacco, Hotel and Allied Industries Workers; and one communication, dated 9 March 1977, from the Trade Union Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CSTC).

1. 235. The complaints and the additional information pro provided by the complainants are contained in the following communications: two communications, dated 22 February and 17 March 1977, from the National Agrarian Federation (FANAL); two communications, dated 22nd February and 25 March 1977, from the Trade Unions International of Food, Tobacco, Hotel and Allied Industries Workers; and one communication, dated 9 March 1977, from the Trade Union Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CSTC).
2. 236. These communications were transmitted to the Government as and when they were received. The latter sent its observations in a letter of 15 April 1977.
3. 237. Colombia has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

• Allegations relating to the death of the leader Justiniano Lame and the arrest of the First Vice-Chairman of the National Agrarian Federation
  238. 238 In its first communication FANAL alleged that the indigenous leader Justiniano Lame had been murdered on 2 February 1977 in the department of Cauca, and claimed that the Government did not ensure effective protection of the life, honour and property of citizens. It laid the blame on the authorities, the landowners and certain politicians who, it stated, had impeded the progress of land reform, with the result that farmers and sharecroppers had been driven off their land and a number of peasants had been killed.
  239. 239 FANAL further alleged in its letter of 17 March 1977 that Justiniano Lame had been killed by the police. It considered that almost all the problems encountered were due to the wish of the peasants and indigenous workers to organise themselves so as to obtain land for tilling and other means of subsistence. Their efforts to add new lands to those already under cultivation conflicted, according to the complainants, with the interests of certain politicians who were often landowners and who, in order to maintain their privileges, enlisted the support of the authorities for their savage attacks against the peasants. In the eyes of FANAL the attitude of the peasants and indigenous workers in their battle against social injustice could not but result in conflicts which they stood little chance of winning; they were thus being by-passed by the mainstream of economic, social and cultural activities. Finally, FANAL referred to the arrest of its First Vice-Chairman, allegedly for having defended the interests of the peasants, and expressed the fear that similar repressive measures would be extended to the national leaders of the Colombian peasants.
  240. 240 In its letter of 15 April 1977 the Government stated that the murder of Justiniano Lame had nothing to do with trade union or labour matters. The criminal courts had been ordered to make an investigation, and the Ministry of Labour had no access to the information which had been obtained.
  241. 241 Although the matters at issue are apparently related to land ownership and agrarian reform, the Committee feels obliged to note that a rural workers' leader has been killed and another is said to have been arrested. The Committee considers that if these incidents bore no effective relationship to trade union rights, they would not fall within its competence. Nevertheless, the Committee considers, as it has always done in the past, that the question whether an incident raises issues concerning the exercise of trade union rights or not is not one which can be determined unilaterally by the Government concerned, but that it is incumbent upon the Committee to decide this in the light of all the available information, and in particular in the light of the text of any judgements handed down.
  242. 242 The information communicated by the Government indicates that the criminal courts have been ordered to investigate the circumstances of the death of Justiniano Lame.
  243. 243 In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to request the Government:
       • (a) to communicate the results of the judicial inquiry into the death of Justiniano Lame;
       • (b) to send its observations on the allegations concerning the arrest of the First Vice-Chairman of FANAL, specifying the grounds for the arrest and indicating whether judicial proceedings have been instituted against him and, if so, to communicate the text of the judgement given or to be given and the reasons adduced therefor.
  244. Allegations relating to trade union rights to workers in the Colombian Social Insurance Institute and the teaching profession
  244. 244 In its letter of 9 March 1977 the CSTC stated that the Colombian Social Insurance Institute (ICSS) was a decentralised official establishment coming under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. In September 1976 this institution had decided to consider medical and other staff as "public employees" in application of Decrees Nos. 3135 of 1968 and 148 of 1976. Under the provisions of these decrees the directors of public establishments may classify their personnel as "official workers" or as "public employees"; the latter, continued CSTC, did not enjoy the right to bargain collectively, the right to organise or other types of trade union rights. This decision, added the complainant organisation, resulted in a prolonged strike and, although a temporary solution had been found, the dispute had remained latent and over 90 trade union leaders and workers had been dismissed.
  245. 245 The CSTC further stated that, on 4 February 1977, the Government had issued its "statute for the teaching profession", which conferred on teachers the status of "public employees" and thus limited their collective bargaining and trade union rights as in the previous case.
  246. 246 In its letter of 15 April 1977 the Government pointed out that, by Act No. 12 of 1977, the National Congress gave the President of the Republic special powers to reorganise the ICSS completely. A commission had been set up to study the matter raised in the complaints and other questions. The Government added that it had suspended the "statute for the teaching professions" and was now undertaking a more complete re-examination of the situation.
  247. 247 The Committee notes that, in accordance with section 414 of the Labour code, the right to form unions is extended to both "official workers" and "public employees". The Labour Code nevertheless makes a distinction between these two categories of workers. In particular, section 416 provides that unions of public employees, unlike other "official workers", shall not be entitled to present statements of claims or to conclude collective agreements.
  248. 248 The Committee notes that, as a result of the measures taken by the authorities, the workers mentioned in the complaint have lost the right to collective bargaining which they had hitherto apparently enjoyed. It notes, however, that the Government is re-examining the situation and that the new statute for the teaching profession has in the meantime been suspended.
  249. 249 The Committee notes, however, that the Government has not replied to the allegation that over 90 trade union leaders and workers of ICSS have been dismissed.
  250. 250 In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to request the Government:
       • (a) to communicate the results of the studies undertaken with respect to the status of the workers of ICSS and the teaching profession and to indicate the measures which it decides to take on the basis of these results;
       • (b) to transmit its observations on the alleged dismissal of over 90 trade union leaders and workers of ICSS.
  251. Allegations relating to the Colombian Mineral Water Undertaking
  251. 251 In a telegram of 22 February 1977 the Trade Unions International of Food, Tobacco, Hotel and Allied Industries Workers alleged that, in a resolution of 23 December 1976, the Colombian Mineral Water Undertaking had requested authorisation to dismiss the members of the works trade union Committee.
  252. 252 In its letter of 25 March 1977 the complainant organisation stated that the Minister of Labour had issued a resolution to declare illegal a work stoppage which had allegedly taken place in the undertaking. In the same resolution, continued the complainant organisation, the Minister had suspended the legal personality of the union for three months, blocked the union's funds and authorised the undertaking to dismiss the workers, including the union leaders. According to the complainant organisation, the work stoppage never took place, and the resolution was merely a manoeuvre to punish the workers for their fighting spirit and resolute action in the course of the successful strike which took place between February and June 1976. The complainants added that the trade union leaders Jaime Aldana, Alfonso Lopez Frayle, Leoncio Alvarado and Humberto Lastra were now under notice of dismissal.
  253. 253 The Government has not yet sent its observations on the allegations.
  254. 254 The Committee nevertheless already wishes to stress, as it has done in previous cases relating to Colombia, that suspension of the legal personality of a union by an administrative authority - the legal personality being one of the conditions enabling a union to function - is incompatible with the standards contained in Article 4 of Convention No. 87.
  255. 255 The Committee accordingly recommends the Governing Body to draw the attention of the Government to the standards mentioned in the previous paragraph and to request it to communicate its observations on this aspect of the case as soon as possible.