PSI Urgent Action - Colombia
The Superintendence for Public Services in Colombia plans to close down EMSIRVA (the public waste disposal company of Cali) and has now decided to contract out cleaning to private companies, despite the fact that President Alvaro Uribe Velez has publicly declared his intention of keeping the company as a public service.
PSI asks its affiliates to send a letter to President Alvaro Uribe Velez, President of Colombia, requesting that EMSIRVA remains a public company and take into account the workers’ proposals for strengthening the company as a public service.
Important: Please remember to send a copy of any correspondence to the Colombian Mission in your country and to the PSI at rights@world-psi.org.
A model letter in Spanish is attached.
Translation of the model letter
His Excellency Alvaro Uribe Velez, President of the Republic
Bogotá D. C. COLOMBIA
auribe@presidencia.gov.co
Your Excellency,
[Name of your organisation] is writing to express its profound concern about the decision to maintain plans to close down the public waste disposal company of Cali (EMSIRVA E.S.P). This decision is putting at risk the right to work of several hundred workers, the right to freedom of association and would result in the loss of social rights acquired over more than 30 years.
We have been informed that you have expressed on several occasions the intention of maintaining this company as a public service. Despite this, the Superintendence for Public Services has taken the decision to contract out the cleaning services which would result in a privatisation of Cali’s cleaning services.
We request that the proposals of the workers, as represented by the union SINTRAEMSIRVA (a PSI affiliate), be taken into account to strengthen EMSIRVA and make it viable as a public company ensuring job stability for the workers according to the fundamental trade union rights of workers throughout the world.
Yours sincerely,
[signature for your organisation]
cc PSI: rights@world-psi.org; fax: +33 450 40 73 20
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