(1) Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Heads to Colombia for
Trade Talks
(2) Colombia Not Changing Labor Laws


(1)
Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Heads to Colombia for
Trade Talks
By Vicki Needham
The Hill
April 18, 2011

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/1005-trade/156637-bipartisan-group-of-lawmakers-head-to-colombia-to-talk-trade

A bipartisan group of six lawmakers is heading to
Colombia on Monday to discuss the pending free-trade
agreement with the nation's leaders.

House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.),
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Ways and
Means subcommittee on Trade Chairman Kevin Brady (R-
Texas), Colombia Caucus Co-Chairman Gregory Meeks (D-
N.Y.), Colombia Caucus Co-Chairman and subcommittee on
Trade member Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) and Trade
subcommittee member Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) left
Washington this afternoon for two days of meetings on
the trade deal that recently got the nod from President
Obama and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.

The lawmakers are expected to meet Santos, his Cabinet
and labor leaders and employers during the quick trip
to Colombia, according to a Republican aide.

President Obama and Santos shook hands April 7 on a
deal that "significantly" expands the protections of
labor leaders and organizers while improving efforts to
punish those who commit acts of violence against union
members, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said
recently.

Camp and other House Republicans are pressing the Obama
administration to complete work on all three pending
trade agreements - South Korea, Colombia and Panama -
by July 1.

"Without action prior to July 1, U.S. businesses,
workers, farmers, and ranchers risk losing further
market share to countries that have already reached
free trade agreements with Colombia," Camp said in a
statement.

Under the plan brokered by U.S. and Colombian trade
officials, Colombia will follow a roadmap to make
incremental changes to its labor laws this year
including providing greater protections for union
leaders, such as shop stewards and bargaining committee
members, for workers trying to organize or join a
union, and for former union activists who may be
threatened because of their past activities.

The plan also requires the Colombian government to
revise its teacher relocation and protection program to
address high risks to teachers, require sentences of up
to five years in jail for threats against labor union
workers and direct the Colombian National Police to
assign 95 full-time judicial police investigators to
help in prosecution.

Although Kirk said the plan should quell union concerns
over the effect on U.S. jobs, the AFL-CIO expressed
deep disappointment with the decision, which pits Obama
against a core part of his political base the same week
he announced his 2012 reelection campaign.

"The action plan does not go nearly far enough in
laying out concrete benchmarks for progress in the
areas of violence and impunity, nor does it address
many of the ways in which Colombian labor law falls
short of international standards," AFL-CIO President
Richard Trumka said recently.


(2)
Colombia Not Changing Labor Laws
UPI.Com
April 11, 2011

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/04/11/Colombia-not-changing-labor-laws/UPI-72871302538149/

BOGOTA, April 11 (UPI) -- The Colombian president said
he will not change the labor laws as part of a deal
with the United States but will strengthen existing
regulations.

President Juan Manuel Santos said new labor laws had
been proposed by his government before striking the
free trade agreement with the United States, El
Espectador reported.

Santos rejected criticism labor rights workers were
particularly vulnerable to drug trafficking
organizations in Colombia.

"The unionists aren't the only citizens affected by the
bacrim [criminal organizations]. This is a problem that
must be tackled to protect all Colombians. The public
forces and authorities are already focused on this,"
Santos said.

Santos and U.S. President Barack Obama reached the
agreement last week, giving Colombia until April 22 to
comply with conditions set by the White House regarding
workers and labor unions.

The Colombia's Ministry of Social Protection is
required to take a number of steps, including hiring
480 new labor inspectors in four years.

The free trade agreement between the United States and
Colombia has been postponed since November 2006. It
eliminates tariffs and other barriers to trade in goods
and services.

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