(Halifax) Three leading union activist from Colombia will be in Halifax this week (May 6 and 7) to see first-hand Canadas public services, and learn more about our struggle to hang on to those services.
Amnesty International has called Colombia one of the most dangerous places in the world to belong to a union. In recent years, there have been numerous death threats, killings and attempts to the lives of union leaders and workers by army-backed paramilitaries.
The three visiting Colombians are:
- Dona Lilia Gomez, General-Secretary of Sintra Postal, the postal workers union in Colombia
- Dario Restrepo Carmona, a Lab Tech and environmental educator, and member of Corpenca, an NGO founded 15 years ago
- Ana Beatriz Saldarriago, National Treasurer of ASDECCOL, representing public auditors in Colombia
The Colombian activists are in Canada from May 6-21. The tour is being hosted by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
While in Halifax they will visit the site of the new, publicly-owned sewage treatment plants, Oakwood Terrace nursing home and also pay a visit to a picket line striking TAs at Dalhousie University.
(ATTENTION ASSIGNMENT/PHOTO EDITORS: There will be a brief news conference at 12:00 noon, Thursday, May 6 at the Labour Temple, 3700 Kempt Rd., just up from Windsor Street.)
For information:
John McCracken
CUPE Communications Rep.
455-4180 (o)