Newswire

Reprinted from Workers.org

By Minnie Bruce Pratt
Birmingham, Ala.
Published Aug 2, 2007 1:01 AM

In a blow against transnational exploitation of workers and for North-South worker solidarity, Drummond, an Alabama-based coal company, was put on trial in federal court here, charged with the murder of labor union organizers at its mines in Colombia.

In 2001 Valmore Lacarno Rodríguez and Víctor Hugo Orcasita Amaya were murdered by a group of men, some wearing military uniforms. Lacarno and Orcasita were president and vice-president of the union representing 3,000 miners, SINTRAMIENERGETICA. Shortly thereafter Gustavo Soler was murdered when he became union president.

Birmingham, AL - "Who is a terrorist? Drummond is a terrorist!" rang through downtown here, July 9 as members of Students for a Democratic Society at Tuscaloosa and Birmingham peace activists marched towards the Federal Courthouse to demand justice for the three Colombian trade unionists murdered in 2001 and 2002.

Drummond, an Alabama-based coal company, is being charged with arranging the murders to halt unionizing efforts in its La Loma plant in Northern Colombia. Initially the corporation faced both wrongful death and war crimes charges, but the former charge was thrown out by Bush-appointed judge Karon Bowdre.

In northwestern Colombia in 2001, the president and vice president of the mining union Sintramienergetica were taken off a Drummond bus and shot to death by paramilitary death squads hired by the corporation. Later that year, paramilitaries also killed the new president. These men were all killed during negotiations with Drummond.

The following is a statement from the Campaign for Labor Rights.

An article in yesterday’s Washington Post reports that Congress and the Bush administration are nearing agreement on trade deals with Colombia, Peru and Panama. Negotiations between the U.S. Trade Representative and the House Ways and Means Committee have been going on for several months. Since the Democrats took control of Congress last November, approval of the agreements with Colombia and Peru has seemed less likely. This is due in large part to labor and environmental concerns. These are serious concerns, though not the only ones.
Violence against unionists in Colombia is a daily occurrence, with more than 2000 union organizers having been murdered since 1991.

Drummond Coal of Alabama, a family owned corporation worth billions, is going on trial in Birmingham, AL May 14, 2007 in federal court, for the murder of union organizers. For years, the Bush nominated federal judge, Karen Bowdre, clamped a silence order on the plaintiff attorneys, which led to a news blackout on the case. However, a 3 judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court lifted the gag and now stories are coming out.

Drummond closed most of its mines in Alabama, abandoning its union workers here, to move its primary operations to Colombia, where they have two strip mines they value at $2 Billion dollars. They have a private army protecting them from the Colombian people and from union organizers. Colombian witnesses say they have witnessed Drummond Execs pay right-wing paramilitaries, connected with the Colombian armed forces and right- wing government of President Uribe, to murder union organizers.