Inside Story Americas: Fired GM Workers Sew Mouths Shut in Colombia

August 22, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

A group of former General Motors workers have stitched their lips shut in a hunger strike outside the US embassy in Colombia demanding justice alleging unfair dismissal for reporting on workplace injuries. Are the rights of workers in Colombia adequately protected under the US-Colombia Labor Action Plan of April 2011? Guests Austin Robles, David Bacon, and Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli discuss.

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GM Colmotores

GM Colmotores is a car company based in Bogotá, Colombia. Established in 1957 as Fabrica Colombiana de Automotores S.A., they began manufacturing, under license, British Austins. In 1965, Chrysler Corporation took a 60% stake in the company, which manufactured Chrysler cars un... Explore this topic

Asotrecol

The Association of Injured Workers and Ex-Workers of General Motors Colmotores (Asotrecol) is a Colombian association whose stated goal is to protect the rights of GM workers and ex-workers and to denounce rights abuses committed by GM in Colombia. Formed by a group of 68 curr... Explore this topic

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. It is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the northwest by Panama; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to t... Explore this topic

General Motors

General Motors Company, commonly known as GM, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, and among the world's largest automakers by vehicle unit sales, employing 202,000 people and doing business in some 157 countries. General Moto... Explore this topic

Hunger strike

A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will tak... Explore this topic

Bogotá

Bogotá, from 1991 to 2000 called Santafé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent capital district and n... Explore this topic

Labor rights

Labor rights or workers' rights are a group of legal rights and claimed human rights having to do with labor relations between workers and their employers, usually obtained under labor and employment law. In general, these rights' debates have to do with negotiating workers' p... Explore this topic

Occupational safety and health

Occupational safety and health is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goals of occupational safety and health programs include to foster a safe and healthy work environment. OSH may als... Explore this topic

Sullivan principles

The Sullivan principles are the names of two corporate codes of conduct, developed by the African-American preacher Rev. Leon Sullivan, promoting corporate social responsibility: ⁕The original Sullivan principles were developed in 1977 to apply economic pressure on South Afric... Explore this topic

Trade union

A trade union, labour union or labor union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals such as protecting the integrity of its trade, achieving higher pay, increasing the number of employees an employer hires, and better working conditions. T... Explore this topic

Also See

GM Colmotores

Asotrecol

Colombia

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On August 1, 2012 four members of labor rights group Asotrecol, protesting against GM Colmotores (General Motors in Colombia), sewed their lips shu...