The Story
We are the members of ASOTRECOL, the Association of Injured Workers and Ex-Workers from General Motors Colmotores, in Bogotá, Colombia.
We have held a tent encampment outside the U.S. Embassy in Colombia for more than 14 years to hold GM accountable for the debilitating workplace injuries that we suffered. After we got injured on the job because of the unsafe working conditions at the plant, we were fired by GM.
We have suffered years of financial hardship, physical trauma, and emotional trauma related to our workplace injuries. These include severe spinal, shoulder and hand injuries.
Watch a one-hour documentary about our struggle
Our fight for justice has been long.
As whistleblowers, we denounced the extremely high rate of occupational injuries at GM's assembly plant in Colombia to the Colombian regulatory agencies in charge of occupational health and safety. After we developed disabling injuries on the job, we were dismissed despite laws that should have protected us. We were left without incomes, with injuries that prevented us from being able to pass the physicals required at hire for other companies, with our backs to the wall.
We set up a tent encampment
We started protesting peacefully in front of the U.S. Embassy, the representative of the U.S. government in Colombia. The Embassy laughed at us and told us they gave us 2 weeks. 14 years later, we're still here.
Hunger strike with lips stitched shut
We were ignored for a year, so we launched a hunger strike with our lips stitched shut with a needle & thread. After 23 days, General Motors agreed to come to the table. Unfortunately their offer wasn't even enough to cover the cost of the surgeries that we need as a result of working in their plant.
International support for our struggle
Members of the U.S. Congress including Keith Ellison and Jim McGovern have come to our encampment to show their support. Religious leaders, academics and celebrities have spoken out in solidarity with us.
Creative direct actions
From protests at GM headquarters, at autoshows and dealerships across the U.S., we received support from autoworkers and community members standing up to GM.
DIRECT NONVIOLENT PROTESTS
While our allies have protested in Detroit and throughout the U.S., we have engaged in a series of creative nonviolent actions right here in Bogota to keep the spotlight on GM's injustices. We buried ourselves in the ground in a symbolic burial action.
SYMBOLIC CRUCIFIXION
Our direct actions have even involved erecting a wooden cross inside the tent encampment and creating a symbolic crucifixion. We ended the action when the Human Rights Office of the Mayor's Office brought us an agreement from GM to sit down and negotiate. But when the day of the negotiations came, GM got up and walked out saying they were under no obligation to be there.
International Delegation
Industriall, the UAW and Conlutas came to Colombia on an international solidarity delegation. They visited us in the tent encampment, did media work, met with the CUT labor federation and visited with Colombian and U.S. government officials.
Interamerican Commission for Human Rights
We filed a complaint with the Interamerican Commission alleging that the Colombian government failed to uphold its regulatory responsibilities, allowing GM to operate in Colombia without implementing required health and safety standards.
