(The original resolution was submitted to the SEIU Convention for consideration by Local 1199P, in Pennsylvania. As you may know, SEIU is now the largest union in the U.S., with over 1.5 million members. The next step for those of us in SEIU is to get the word out to our Local unions and urge them to actively participate in the campaign! (Below are excerpts from the resolution. When we receive the entire resolution, it will be posted on our website.)
"WHEREAS, Some multinational corporations from the U.S. and elsewhere have taken advantage of an environment in which paramilitaries and other illegal armed groups attack unions attempting to organize in and negotiate with said companies. This includes Coca Cola which is one of the worst corporate supporters of he paramilitary death squads, which directly resulted in the murder of nine members of SINALTRAINAL, the food and beverage union at Coca Cola; now
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That the Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC support our Colombian brothers and sisters, call for a change in U.S. policy in Colombia and actively lobby for changes in U.S. policy toward Colombia that would reduce U.S. aid to the Colombian military and reduce U.S. military involvement in Colombia and towards this goal we will do the following:
1. Participate in the world-wide campaign demanding that the Colombian government provide protection for trade union members and their leadership from the deadly attacks; and
2. Provide a leadership role in the AFL-CIO to encourage participation in the world-wide campaign demanding that the Colombian government provide protection for trade union members and their leadership from deadly attacks; and
3. Work to establish ties with Colombian Trade Unions and provide support to the Colombian Labor Movement; and
4. Support the world-wide call to boycott Coca-Cola and work to win broad AFL-CIO support for the campaign against killer Coke, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the SEIU, AFL-CIO, CLC work with the Congress to ensure that U.S. policy toward Colombia
1. Maintains and enforces existing human rights conditions on U.S. assistance; and
2. Requires the Colombian government to take action to sever links between its military forces and the paramilitaries, to arrest and prosecute the killers of union members and other civilians, and to provide enhanced protection for defenders of labor and human rights by withholding aid unless significant progress is made on these issues; and
3. Provides assistance for humanitarian purposes, for the development and reactivation of the Colombian economy; strengthening of the rule of law, and an end to impunity; and
4. Supports efforts to achieve a negotiated solution to the military conflict; and
5. Requires that any trade agreement with Colombia contain within it both protections for workers rights as outlined in the 1998 ILO Declaration of fundamental Principles and rights at work and mechanisms to sanction the failure to protect these rights; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, That the SEIU, AFL-CIO, CLC engage in sustained actions at the national and international level in support of the objectives of this resolution. "