On September 6, 2024, Mauricio Valencia, president of SINALTRAINAL Bugalagrande, explains the causes of the conflict and the outcomes of previous collective agreement bargaining.
On September 10, 2024, the National Union of Food Industry Workers SINALTRAINAL Bugalagrande and grassroots organizations Nomadesc (Association for Research and Social Action) and the Intercultural University of Peoples released a public statement demanding the protection of the lives of the executive board of SINALTRAINAL, who have received death threats and denounced the violation of their right to peaceful assembly and demonstration.
In 2001, SINALTRAINAL became internationally known for the Killer Coke campaign after the Union sued the company in the USA tribunal for the assassination of five Coca-Cola workers of Carepa Northern Colombia. This action was possible thanks to the International Solidarity led by United Steelworkers USW. SINALTRAINAL has union members among multinational companies such as Coca-Cola and Nestlé.
SINALTRAINAL Bugalagrande is in a labour dispute with Nestle de Colombia SA. In April, the union set up a tent in front of Nestle's entrance because the company banned union representatives from engaging with workers. The multinational company with headquarters in Switzerland has refused to bargain with the collective agreement and has imposed new ways of production that violate workers' labour conditions.
On September 10, public servants arrived at the point of the demonstration and threatened the union members with police intervention and legal proceedings for the act of protest while the Mayor of Bugalagrande, in the company of the manager of Nestle de Colombia SA, visited the spot.
SINALTRAINAL denounces that the Bugalagrande Mayor's Office has teamed up with Nestle of Colombia SA to the point of thoughtlessly annulling the decisions of police inspectors who denied the company's claims. The company has carried out selective dismissals and is developing a legal war strategy against the union.
According to National and international laws, Colombia must guarantee human and labour rights to trade union members. The threats to SINALTRAINAL Bugalagrande leaders alert the global community and especially the trade unions since 63% of unionists' assassinations happened in Colombia, which the country’s Ministry of Labour has acknowledged. From 1971 to 2023, 3,323 unionists were assassinated in Colombia, 39 of them belonged to SINALTRAINAL.
In 2023, the government of Gustavo Petro recognized the Union Movement of Colombia as a collective victim of Armed Conflict. On September 14, 2024, the Ministry of Labour with the Unit of Victims started a process of collective reparation for the trade union movement. However, trade union activists continue facing threats and persecution by both authorities and criminal organizations and do not receive justice for the violation of their rights.