General Motors face protest
Aug
2
Written by:
02/08/2012 15:03
Hunger strikes over labour rights violations
A group of employees and ex-employees of the Colombian branch of General Motors have begun a hunger strike in front of the U.S. embassy in Bogota to protest the firing of colleagues on sick leave.
According to the on-line news source Colombia Reports, the factory workers set up a camp in front of the embassy yesterday, demanding the company respect labour laws.
General Motors "is firing us without just cause, harming us and our families. We are taking this decision because our health has worsened day by day, we have lost our homes, we're basically on the street and we have been forgotten by the government," one of the protesters told Caracol Radio.
"The association of workers and former workers of Geneal Motors Colomotores takes the decision to begin a hunger strike, sewing our lips, until our rightful requests are heard by the company, the ambassador of the United States and the government," a second protester added.
The (ex-) workers told the radio station that while the U.S. government is demanding Colombia to respect labour rights, the U.S. car producer is itself violating the rights of its Colombian workers.
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