When the private company Aguas Capital acquired the public water and sewage system of Cúcuta, there was hope among the workers that their working conditions would be improved. Their pay, however, decreased by between 10 and 15%. And the situation continued in the same vein during the following years.
Then came the legal troubles of the Nule brothers, the majority shareholders of Aguas Capital, which ran into many difficulties as a result. It managed to overcome these difficulties, but the workers were left with even more precarious conditions. Twenty five workers consequently decided to organise as a trade union to fight for their rights. They set up a branch of the Sindicato de Trabajadores y Empleados de Servicios Públicos Domiciliarios de Norte de Santander, affiliated to the CTC. Its membership soon rose to a hundred.
The union representatives presented a collective bargaining proposal, but the company not only refused to negotiate it but closed the doors to them, forbid them from giving out information or posting notices. They were stigmatised, explains Jonathan Díaz, the union’s vice president. It also dismissed 20 temporary workers, for simply mixing with people from the union.
Strike action was not possible, given that it is a public service, so the union took the dispute to the Court of Arbitration, but the company did everything possible to delay the process. In light of this, the union submitted the case to the Committee for Handling Cases referred to the ILO (CETCOIT
Organización Internacional del Trabajo
Agencia tripartita de las Naciones Unidas, establecida en 1919 con objeto de promover y mejorar las condiciones de vida y de trabajo. Es el principal organismo internacional encargado de desarrollar y supervisar las normas internacionales del trabajo.
Véase tripartidismo, Guía de la CSI sobre los derechos sindicales internacionales
), and managed to have the company agree to collective bargaining negotiations. A collective agreement was signed, covering the 110 unionised workers, in November 2013. One of its main achievements was to secure rates of pay above the legal minimum wage at Aguas Capital Cúcuta.
Just a few days later, however, the company held a big campaign in favour of the collective pact for non-unionised workers, arguing that they would enjoy the same advantages as under the collective agreement but without having to pay union dues. The pact was, in fact, a carbon copy of the collective agreement, barring a few titles that were changed.
The union adopted a wait and see policy, observing the reaction to the pact, to avoid any conflict between the workers. The company failed to comply with certain clauses of the pact, giving rise to dissatisfaction among the workers. The union seized the opportunity to convince one of the pact’s leaders to join the union, which he did, and publically withdrew from the pact in spite of the pressure placed on him. He even received threatening calls at work, warning him to leave the union. The union’s treasurer was also followed and threatened.
As of that moment, the balance of power changed and following a strong campaign the union managed to convince large numbers of workers to leave the pact and join the union. It now has 295 members, which represents more than a third of the company’s employees. Having achieving the status of a majority union, the pact was defeated and the collective agreement now covers all the workers. It also succeeded in putting an end to the fixed-term contracts, and all the workers at Aguas Capital Cúcuta now have permanent contracts.