File spoon-archives/aut-op-sy.archive/aut-op-sy_1997/97-04-23.075, message 91


From: "Curtis Price" <cansv-AT-igc.apc.org>
Date:          Sun, 20 Apr 1997 09:15:42 +0000
Subject:       (Fwd) Colombian truckers to begin nationwide strike


------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date:          Sat, 19 Apr 1997 17:57:30 -0700
From:          NewsHound <speak-AT-hound.com>

Reply-to:      speak-AT-hound.com
Subject:       Colombian truckers to begin nationwide strike



Here is your NewsHound news article from your "STRIKES" hound with a score "64."  For more information, visit the NewsHound website at http://www.newshound.com or send an email to speak-AT-hound.com.


Posted at 1:46 p.m. PDT Saturday, April 19, 1997
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Colombian truckers to begin nationwide >>strike<<


BOGOTA (Reuter) - The head of Colombia's main truck drivers' union said a
nationwide >>strike<< would begin at midnight Saturday after 11th-hour
talks with the government failed to produce agreement over key demands.

``The >>strike<< begins at zero hour,'' Javier Suarez, leader of the
Colombian Truck Drivers' Association (ACC), told Reuters in a telephone
interview.

``The >>strike<< will go forward no matter what,'' he added, dismissing
reports of a possible delay in the work stoppage set to begin at 12 a.m.
(0500 GMT) Sunday. The ACC represents about 80 percent of Colombia's truck
drivers.

The ACC called the >>strike<< in March on grounds that the government, and
private companies alike, had violated terms of a pact that ended a
crippling 11-day ACC >>strike<< last October.

That >>strike<<, which brought most highway freight to a standstill and
wreaked havoc with exports of coffee, sugar and other commodities, ended
with a pledge to increase freight rates by 18 percent in January.

No such increase has been implemented so far, and the ACC says most of its
rank-and-file members are on the verge of bankruptcy because of soaring
operating costs.

The government said it may declare the >>strike<< illegal.

Government officials fear leftist guerrillas may seek to take advantage of
the truckers >>strike<< to add to Colombia's chronic law-and-order
problems. Reut16:35 04-19-97 

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This material is copyrighted and may not be republished without permission
of the originating newspaper or wire service.
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+



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