US Unionists Alarmed by Colombia Woes

“I'm convinced that the situation in Colombia is improving”

A delegation of visiting U.S. union leaders expressed alarm Wednesday at what its members called a steady erosion of labor rights in the world's deadliest country for organized labor.

Citing continued killings and threats against trade unionists in Colombia, Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress have refused to approve a free trade agreement that the Bush administration signed with Colombia in 2006.

'Colombia is the only country in this hemisphere where the rights of workers to negotiate with employers is even lower than in the U.S.,' Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America, told reporters. Read more