LAWG Blog - Latin America Working Group

Labor Day has passed, did you take action?

by Omar Martinez on September 07, 2012

We just celebrated Labor Day here in the United States, but Colombian workers have no room for celebration.

In our last alert we told you we would keep you updated on the injured workers from ASOTRECOL. Well, it turns out they need our help again. GM failed to propose realistic solutions to their demands during their mediation. Now, our friends from ASOTRECOL are restarting their hunger strike. As they continue to pressure GM for due compensation, we need to tell Congress to stand up for labor rights in Colombia and enforce the Labor Action Plan. As you recall, both governments signed the Labor Action Plan before the Free Trade Agreement was passed by Congress.

:2012, Action Alerts

GM Workers in Colombia go on Hunger Strike: Tell GM we Demand Justice!

by Omar Martinez on August 06, 2012

After a year of protesting in front of the U.S. Embassy with no response, injured General Motors workers in Colombia go on a hunger strike. Help them fight for their rights!

Jorge Alberto Parra was 30 years old when he began working for General Motors, Colmotores in Colombia, in 2004. Now eight years later, he and four colleagues from the Association of Injured and Ex-Workers of GM Colmotores de Colombia (ASOTRECOL) are taking drastic measures. They have launched a hunger strike to protest their firing and lack of compensation.

:2012, Action Alerts, Stand by Colombia's Victims of Violence

Days of Prayer and Action for Colombia a huge success!

by Eric Oliver on May 31, 2012

Wow. What an incredible display of solidarity we saw this year!

Thanks to your help, this year’s 7th Annual Days of Prayer and Action for Colombia was a huge success! Here at LAWG we are super impressed with how many of you got involved. Whether by creating paper homes, sending postcards to President Obama, or signing our Petition to Congress—you helped make sure our message was heard loud and clear: everybody deserves a place to call home. Together, we raised our voices to call for an end to the world’s largest displacement crisis that’s left millions of Colombians homeless.

:2012, Action Alerts, Stand by Colombia's Victims of Violence

Write a Letter to the Editor: Set the Record Straight on Colombia

by LAWG Colombia Team on April 17, 2012

Write a Letter to the Editor: Call for U.S. policies to support a place to call home for everyone in Colombia!
Did you hear what President Obama did while in Colombia last weekend? Despite ongoing murders of union leaders and land rights activists, he glossed over all the human rights violations, ignored the continuing displacement crisis, and announced that Colombia had fulfilled its requirements on labor rights that would allow the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement to go into effect on May 15.

Click here to set the record straight on what’s really happening in Colombia!