[mgj-discuss] Fw: AFL-CIO Statement on Worker Rights in Venezuela

[Mark Rickling]

> The AFL-CIO and Worker Rights in Venezuela
>
> The AFL-CIO has maintained a relationship of mutual solidarity with the
> Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV), the national labor central
> representing over 90 percent of the organized Venezuelan work force.
>
> Recently, the AFL-CIO has supported the CTV's process of internal
> democratization and its defense of freedom of association against the
> attacks of the Chávez government.
>
> From the moment he took office in 1999, Hugo Chávez led an assault on
> freedom of association, attempting to weaken or eliminate the principal
> institutions of Venezuelan civil society, including the unions.  His
methods
> included public calls for the "destruction" of the CTV, suspension of
> collective bargaining in the public sector and the petroleum industry by
> decree, threats to freeze union bank accounts, and formation of a parallel
> "Bolivarian Workers' Front."  Chávez's attack on the CTV culminated in a
> December 2000 referendum on internal union governance in which all
citizens-
> including non-union members such as business people and the military,
could
> vote.  The referendum was condemned by the International Labor
Organization
> and by the international trade union movement. In the end, the vast
majority
> of the population abstained from voting.
>
> In the midst of this assault, the CTV conducted an impressive process of
> internal democratization with the assistance of the AFL-CIO and the
> Solidarity Center.  The assistance included:  the printing of election
> materials, the training of CTV election committees, and the sponsoring of
> forums which brought labor, business, human rights and religious leaders
> together in defense of freedom of association. All of the
AFL-CIO-Solidarity
> Center's funding for Venezuela went for this purpose.
>
> In October and November 2001, CTV members across the country voted at
9,100
> polling places in the first one-member-one vote, secret ballot union
> election in Venezuelan history.  The resulting leadership, headed by
Carlos
> Ortega of the petroleum workers, is the most pluralistic in the CTV's
> history, with nearly all the parties of the left included.  While the
> government attempted to prevent the balloting in several locations,
> independent observers from the Catholic University and the international
> labor movement called the elections free and fair.  Regrettably, Chávez
> publicly rejected the CTV election results and refused to recognize the
new
> leadership.  And late in 2001, the Chávez-controlled Congress enacted a
> package of laws that eliminated collective bargaining and the right to
> strike in the public sector and the petroleum industry.
>
> The AFL-CIO has been joined by the worldwide labor movement, including the
> European unions, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, and
> the World Confederation of Labor, as well as the ILO, in supporting our
> overall program of defense against the attacks on freedom of association
in
> Venezuela, including our support for internal democratization in the
> Venezuelan trade union movement.
>
> It was these very attacks on freedom of association that led to a number
of
> the collective actions and demonstrations that occurred this month.  It
was
> such attacks, along with the country's miserable economic performance (16%
> unemployment), that caused the CTV to join with Venezuela's business
sector
> to put forward a ten-point plan for dialogue, with elimination of poverty
as
> the first objective.
>
> Strikes and demonstrations are legal forms of protest.  While we
> unequivocally condemn the coup attempt of April 12th to dissolve
democratic
> institutions that appears to have been engineered by a small group of
> military officers with the support of some powerful right-wing
businessmen,
> there is no evidence that the CTV or its leaders went beyond the
democratic
> expressions of discontent.  In fact, the CTV, along with the vast majority
> of Venezuelans, refused to recognize the short-lived regime of Pedro
> Carmona, and rejected his decree dissolving the country's democratic
> structures. The AFL-CIO will continue to support the CTV, and we will
> continue to condemn actions by the government of Venezuela, or any other
> government, that restrict workers' freedom of association in violation of
> international law. We also condemn any and all coups and unilateral
seizures
> of power which destroy and undermine democratic institutions, including in
> Venezuela.
>
> The AFL-CIO believes that other priorities of the Chávez Administration,
> including agrarian reform and assistance to Cuba, for example, are and
> should be the sole and sovereign concern of the Venezuelan people and
their
> Government.
>
> The AFL-CIO condemns the violence committed against all of those
> participating in the demonstrations in Venezuela two weeks ago, and we
join
> in solidarity with the families mourning the loss of their relatives and
> loved ones.
>