Celebrating Latino Heritage Month
Brenda Loya in AFL-CIO Media Affairs sends us this report.
As a Latina working at the AFL-CIO, I take particular interest in the impact Latinos have had on our nation and on our union movement. I am honored to join my colleagues, labor and community leaders today to celebrate the contributions of Latino working families in the United States.
From the start, Latinos have played an integral part in the labor movement. My grandfather did so, while working in the California fields for 35 years and organizing for more equitable wage standards and the right to form a union. He was part of the Brazero Movement, where the United States recruited Mexican workers to pick the California fields and work on the railroad.
Today, America is a richer and more vibrant country and our union movement is stronger because of the contributions of Latino working families. Latino Heritage Month offers a time to recognize the stories of the nearly 47 million Latinos living in the United States and to highlight the issues facing our working families.
AFL-CIO on Colombian Labor and Human Rights
The AFL-CIO issued this statement today on the congressional benchmark document on Colombian labor and human rights.
The Colombian Labor and Human Rights document released by Reps. Jim McGovern, George Miller, Rosa DeLauro, Mike Michaud, Jan Schakowsky and Linda Sanchez is a detailed, thoughtful, and powerful document.
We thank these representatives for their tireless efforts to outline the numerous essential steps that must be taken, on the ground in Colombia, before the U.S.-Colombia trade deal should be considered by Congress. We hope that the Obama administration will insist that the Colombian government comply with all the recommendations contained in the letter, especially those that focus on ending violence and impunity and undertaking comprehensive labor law reform prior to sending the agreement to Congress.
Take Action Today to End Violence Against Guatemalan Trade Unionists
Since the Bush administration pushed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) through Congress in 2005, Guatemala has become the second most dangerous country for trade unionists in Latin America, trailing only Colombia, according to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
The ITUC reported nine trade unionists were murdered in 2008, in addition to two trade unionists murdered in 2007. In the two years leading up to CAFTA’s approval, no trade unionists were murdered in Guatemala. According to the ITUC’s 2009 Annual Survey:
the situation [in Guatemala] has worsened for trade unionists. Anti-union violence is constant, with assassinations, threats, harassment, shootings at people’s homes, raids and attacks on union offices, and assaults and harassment of trade union leaders and their families.
