Colombia - Collective pact used to bust trade union at Ave Colombiana

Ave Colombiana is a company producing electrical goods. It was found by an Italian 50 years ago and is currently owned by his sons. Its production facilities are located on Via Zipaquirá-Nemocón, where it employs 150 workers, 28 of whom are members of Sintrabel and the Zipaquirá branch of the industrial trade union Sintrametal.

In 2005, when the company was in difficulty and filed for bankruptcy, the unionised workers made a commendable gesture, freezing the benefits under the collective agreement in order to save the company and their jobs. In 2009, however, exploiting the internal divisions in the union, the company imposed a collective pact on the non-unionised workers, offering the same benefits as the collective agreement.

This dealt a hard blow to the trade union, according to John Fredy González, president of Sintrametal Zipaquirá, as many members left the union and yielded to the pact, given that they could enjoy the same benefits as under the collective agreement without having to pay union dues.

At the same time, the company started to pressure and harass the unionised workers. Anyone not covered by the legal protection afforded to trade union representatives was dismissed. González himself suffered persecution and harassment on assuming the presidency of the trade union.

«My colleagues are afraid of taking on leadership roles in the union, but not me. I’m studying law for this reason. I know the laws and I already have more tools to defend myself and the union,» he says.

The collective bargaining negotiations came to an end in February. As no agreement was reached, the dispute is currently being handled by the Court of Arbitration.

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