Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
Joint Communiqué Issued by the National Union of Workers of Venezuela (UNT) and the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC)
Geneva, Switzerland -- March 23, 2005
Earlier today -- Wednesday, March 23 -- the Governing Body of the
International Labor Organization (ILO) examined the Complaint issued by
FEDECAMARAS, the employers' association of Venezuela, that sought to
condemn the Venezuelan government for alleged violations of labor rights.
The ILO Governing Body concluded it could not reach an opinion on this
Complaint given that all members of the Employers' Group (IOE) were at the
same time signatories to the Complaint and members of the Committee on
Trade Union Freedoms, and thus could not be both accusers and judges.
The ILO Governing Body has decided to postpone the examination of this
Complaint until its session of November 2005, following the meeting of the
Committee on Trade Union Freedoms that will take place at the yearly
International Labor Conference of the ILO in June 2005, with a newly
elected group of members.
The UNT and ILC are pleased to announce the declaration presented to the
ILO's Governing Body by the Workers' Group of Latin America and the
Caribbean (GRULAC), which states in part:
"The ILO Workers' Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC)
takes note of the fact that the government of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela has responded in a timely and ample way, with all the facts in
hand, to the charges leveled against it. The reply and the facts
demonstrate that the FEDECAMARAS Complaint against Venezuela has no merit.
... Therefore, given the fact that this point has been debated
sufficiently, the ILO Governing Board should declare that the Complaint is
groundless and does not merit the creation of a Commission of Inquiry. The
Complaint, in fact, should simply be closed and filed."
The UNT and ILC believe this is a first positive result that points in the
direction of a formal rejection to the Complaint issued by FEDECAMARAS.
The UNT and ILC believe that the international campaign launched in
support of the "Open Letter to ILO Workers' Group" issued by the
UNT last February has obtained a first and significant result. This Open
Letter demonstrates, moreover, that it is the employers' association in
Venezuela that violates labor rights in that country.
We call upon all the members of the ILO Worker's Group to support the
statement by GRULAC and to reject altogether the Complaint by FEDECAMARAS
against Venezuela.
We also call upon all supporters of trade union and democratic rights the
world over to publicize this joint Communiqué and to continue to solicit
endorsers in support of the UNT's "Open Letter."
signed/
Marcela Maspero, on behalf of the National Union of Workers of
Venezuela (UNT)
and
Daniel Gluckstein and Luc Deley, on behalf of the
International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC)
*******************