Colombia urges U.S. Congress look at labor record

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress should acknowledge the progress Colombia is making toward reducing violence against trade unionists as it considers a free-trade pact with the nation, Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos said on Thursday.

In a speech hosted by the Council of the Americas, Santos emphasized the Colombian government's commitment to improving the safety of all its citizens. But he said U.S. lawmakers should not expect a major new initiative to address objections raised by U.S. labor groups to the free-trade pact.

"We've been working at this for five years," or since the start of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's administration, Santos said.

He said Colombia needs to make further progress in reducing violence against trade unionists and bringing their killers to justice, but U.S. lawmakers are missing the big picture if they focus only on the deficiencies in Colombia's human rights accord.

"Look at the forest, please" instead of only the trees, he said. "Look at this policy that has been implemented since day one out of the conviction that we have that for a state to function we have to guarantee the right of every citizen."

The AFL-CIO labor federation's strong objection to the U.S.-Colombia free-trade agreement so far has stymied Bush administration efforts to win approval of the pact.

In a letter this month to U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney acknowledged the number of trade unionists murdered this year in Colombia has "thankfully" declined from last year.

STILL TOO MANY SLAYINGS

But, Sweeney added, the 23 who have been slain in Colombia this year is still too high and more than in any other country. Also, the government has prosecuted only 40 of over 2,100 union worker murder cases since 1991, he said.

Santos said there had been 21 murders of trade unionists and teachers this year, down from 205 in 2001, the year before Uribe took office. Funding for a program to protect union workers, civic leaders and other vulnerable groups has increased from $2 million in 2001 to $48 million next year, he said.

Colombia also has established a labor subunit in its prosecutor general's office to pursue cases of violence against union members and is working its way through 187 priority cases identified with the help of union groups, Santos said.

The free-trade pact with Colombia would lock in duty-free access to the U.S. market the Andean country already receives under a unilateral trade-preference program dating backing to 1991.

Although that program expires at the end of February, Santos said Colombia would continue to push for approval of the trade agreement rather than seek another extension of the preferences.

"I think this is a decision Congress is going to have to take sooner rather than later," Santos said.

Senior U.S. lawmakers have ruled out a vote on the agreement in 2007, but the White House still hopes to win approval in 2008, even though that is an election year.