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The work stoppage, the fourth
since President Andres Pastrana came to power in August last year, was
supported by a 24-hour strike by judges, customs officials, telecommunications
workers and union members of Ecopetrol, the state oil company.
FINANCIAL TIMES [London]
Colombians strike over wage freeze
By Adam Thomson
BOGOTA -- An estimated 600,000 public sector workers walked off the
job yesterday to protest against Colombia's economic austerity programme,
which proposes wage freezes for most government employees next year.
Teachers, hospital workers and prison guards took to the streets of
the capital, Bogota, and rallied in the main square, creating gridlock
throughout the city.
The work stoppage, the fourth since President Andres Pastrana came to
power in August last year, was supported by a 24-hour strike by judges,
customs officials, telecommunications workers and union members of Ecopetrol,
the state oil company.
Many workers vowed not to return to work until the government met their
demands. Union leaders were insisting the government accept a 41-point
petition, which calls on officials to raise tariffs on imports deemed harmful
to local agriculture, as well as declare a moratorium on public internal
and external debt payments.
The workers' greatest grievance, however, concerns the government's
proposal to freeze 70 per cent of the public sector payroll next year to
try to reduce a growing fiscal deficit and meet the final conditions for
an International Monetary Fund loan of $ 2.7bn.
The wage freeze was included in the government's vastly reduced 46,600bn
peso ($ 23.4bn) budget for next year, which was passed by the House of
Representatives on Wednesday.
Juan Camilo Restrepo, the finance minister, has called it the "truth
budget", because it accurately reflects a recession which even official
estimates admit will lead to a contraction in gross domestic product this
year of 3.5 per cent.
This week, Mr Restrepo told the unions: "I am very sorry but the government
has no more money, and I am not going to go down in history as the minister
who mismanaged public finances."
With both sides unwilling to give ground, it is difficult to predict
how long the strike will last.
Wilson Borja, leader of the public sector union Fenaltrase, said yesterday
that there was no chance of renewing conversations in the near future given
the government's "arrogant" attitude.
He described the situation as "a pressure cooker which is in danger
of blowing".
Yesterday, Nestor Humberto Martinez, the interior minister, said that
the government would not hesitate to sanction striking workers. He said
that disciplinary action would result in non-payment, and even sackings
in the most extreme cases.
But the health workers' union said it did not fear the threats, especially
since hospital workers had not been paid for about seven months.
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