Justice for Colombia conference and vigil

[Judi Lynn]

Friday, December 10, 2010
Justice for Colombia conference and vigil - Friday 10th November 2010

Billy Hayes - Communication Workers Union general secretary - attended a Justice for Colombia conference and vigil on Friday 10th November. During the last session of the conference he made a short contribution from the floor. The general secretary gave his personal reflections on his own visit to Colombia and said it is very important for people to go and see the situation firsthand.

He explained that the CWU is taking solidarity action - including making contacts with sister unions in Spain and other countries to encourage them to lobby MEPs about Colombia. Billy said: “We have a growing link with the Spanish Unions because we have thousands of members in 02 which is part of Telefonica and we also have thousands of members who work in the Santander group. “So we see that our ability to work across international boundaries to provide the best support we can for our brothers and sisters in Colombia is set to increase.”

Billy handed Tarsicio Moram, leader of CUT - Columbia’s biggest union, a plaque on behalf of the British trade union movement. The plaque is to symbolise solidarity and support for the trade union movement in Colombia.

The plaque is engraved in Spanish with the words: “The British trade union movement sends solidarity greetings to our Colombian brothers and sisters. We present this plaque to you in commemoration of all the assassinated comrades. They will always be in our hearts. Your struggle is our struggle.”

More:
http://www.billyhayes.co.uk/index.php/site/justice_for_colombia_conference_and_vigil_-_friday_10th_november_2010/