Take Action for Colombian Flower Workers

Help Protect Flower Workers from Paramilitary Violence!

Workers at a cut flower plantation in La Ceja, Antioquia are receiving threats from paramilitary forces for forming a union! Demand that the Colombian government offer them protection and ensure their right to organize!

According to the Escuela Nacional Sindical (ENS) and the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT), on January 28, 2007, the Unión de Trabajadores de Exportaciones Bochica S.A. CI formed at the EXPORTACIONES BOCHICA SA CI flower company. The following day, the union filed the paperwork for legal recognition from the government.

The manager of the company, Hugo Cifuentes, held a meeting with all of the workers in which he stated that the company did not want a union. Shortly thereafter, he approached several union members and pressured them to disaffiliate. At another meeting, in which individuals in military uniform were present, the manager warned workers of the dangers of forming a union in Colombia.

Two days after this meeting, the union president, treasurer, and auditor received written threats, supposedly from the AGUILAS NEGRAS DEL ORIENTE. According to these threats, if the union members did not cease their union activity, they could become military targets.

Please write the Colombian government and make the following demands (presented by the ENS and the CUT):

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