Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 342, June 2006

Case No 2239 (Colombia) - Complaint date: 21-NOV-02 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 83. The Committee last examined this case at its meeting in November 2005 [see 338th Report, paras. 134-148]. On that occasion, the Committee made the following recommendations on the matters that were still pending.
2. 84. With regard to the allegations concerning the unilateral annulment by Tejicóndor of the signed collective agreement, following its merger with Fabricato, the Committee had noted that according to the Government the agreement signed by the workers at Tejicóndor was applied to these workers until its expiry date, after which the collective agreement signed between Fabricato and SINDELHATO, currently covering 56 per cent of workers in the company, was extended to them. The Government states in its communication dated 24 January 2006 that SINALTRADIHITEXCO initiated lawsuits in the ordinary courts, which ruled in favour of the enterprise; the ruling was upheld in the Court of Second Instance where it was shown that the agreement concluded with SINDELHATO was much more to the advantage of the workers than that concluded with Tejicóndor. At present a new collective agreement signed on 5 April 2005 with SINDELHATO is in force, and will remain so until 4 April 2008. The Committee notes this information.
3. 85. With regard to the allegations presented by the WFTU concerning the forced signing of a collective contract (pacto colectivo) with unionized and non-unionized workers at GM Colmotores, which led to the automatic resignation of a large percentage of members from the National Union of Workers in Metal Mechanics, Metallurgy, Iron, Steel, Electro-Metals and Related Industries (SINTRAIME), the Committee requested the Government to be kept informed of the final outcome of the appeal lodged by SINTRAIME against the ruling of the Territorial Directorate of Cundinamarca, which had declared that it was not competent in the matter of the suspected irregularities at GM Colmotores. The Committee regrets that the Government has not sent its observations on the matter. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the final outcome of the appeal that has been lodged.
4. 86. With regard to the allegations concerning the murder of Mr. Luis Alberto Toro Colorado, a member of the National Executive Committee of SINALTRADIHITEXCO, the Committee had taken note of the ongoing investigation by the Attorney-General’s office which had been assigned to the Bello District Criminal Court. Noting that it has not yet received any further information from the Government on the matter, the Committee requests the Government to continue doing all within its power to establish the identity of the murderers so that they may be duly punished, and to keep it informed of any developments related to the case.