Drummond Continues Violating the Human Rights of its Workers

The Press Office of Senator Jorge Enrique
(Translated by Emily Hansen, CSN’s Program Assistant)

Robledo, Bogotá
January 14, 2010

On the 29th of December, the transnational company Drummond Ltd. Colombia fired Stevenson Avila, Juan Aguas and Libardo Ledesma, directors of three sectors of Sintraminergetica, the carbon workers union.  Including these tree, five directors have now been fired along with two base workers.
         Sintraminergetica denounced the actions of the corporation as retaliation against a peaceful protest organized by the union in March of 2009 with the goal of demanding clear industrial security measures from Drummond.  The protest took place after the death of Dagoberto Clavigo in a work accident.
         Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo rejected the recent measures taken by Drummond and expressed his total support for Sintraminergetica.  He stated that the protest in March was justified, given that the transnational company is not fulfilling its obligation of protecting the health and lives of its workers. “There are more than 255 workers with disabilities caused by work-related illnesses and work accidents, and in the last few years, three operators have died.  The situation is made even more grave because the Administration of Professional Risks does not recognize the work-related origin of the illnesses, and is therefore not paying for 100% of the disabilities,” explained Congress member Polo.
         Robledo made a new call to the directors of Drummon asking them to put an end to the firings and asked the national authorities to take the necessary measures to protect the rights of the carbon workers.

This entry was posted in News. Bookmark the permalink.