International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has condemned the murder of Marco Tulio Ramírez Portela, a key member of the Guatemalan Banana Workers Union of Izabal, SITRABI.
Izabal, Guatemala (7 Oct. 2007) - The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has condemned the murder of Marco Tulio Ramírez Portela, a key member of the Guatemalan Banana Workers Union of Izabal, SITRABI.
The victim, a brother of Noé Antonio Ramírez Portela, the union’s general secretary, was gunned down outside his home by masked men carrying high calibre weapons as he was leaving for work on the morning of Sept. 23.
The murder occurred after a protest was lodged by the ITUC following a forced entry into SITRABI premises by five soldiers from the Guatemalan army at the end of July. The intruders demanded the names of the union’s leaders, information on its membership and details of its activities.
SITRABI complained to authorities and had a meeting at the Guatemalan ministry of defence where officials promised an “internal investigation." Just five days later the murder occurred.
The killing is the latest in a long line of attacks on trade unionists, as detailed in ITUC's most recent annual survey of violations of trade union rights. Dock workers' leader Pedro Zamora was murdered in January 2007.
“The climate of killing and impunity in Guatemala must be brought to an end”, says ITUC general secretary Guy Ryder. “Once again, a trade union representative has been brutally murdered simply due to his legitimate work in support of the rights of working people."
The ITUC is the world's largest laabour organization, representing 166 million workers in 156 countries and territories. The list includes the three-million-member Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of the largest affiliates of the CLC. NUPGE
More information:
? Annual survey of violations of trade union rights
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