Media Center

Press Release

OAS Secretary General: Respect for the Rights of Workers is “a Fundamental Aspect of Democracy”

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, called respect for the rights of workers “a fundamental aspect of democracy” during a dialogue between the Heads of Delegation of the member countries of the OAS and workers’ representatives on the theme of the 40th OAS General Assembly—“Peace, Security and Cooperation”—that begins today in Lima.

Insulza said that “this space for dialogue has been growing with time” and explained that this event began in 2008 and took place in the General Assemblies of Medellín, Colombia, that year and in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, in 2009, as well as during the Fifth Summit of the Americas in 2009. “To us it was very important for this dialogue to take permanent form because the subject of the respect of the rights of workers is consecrated in our Inter-American Democratic Charter as one of the fundamental aspects of democracy.”

This dialogue between the OAS and workers’ representatives, Secretary General Insulza continued, “seemed to us fundamental, and we are very happy to have increased such participation within the organization.”

The event was also attended by OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert R. Ramdin; Peru’s Minister of Labor, Manuela García; and the representatives of the Member States of the hemispheric organization. Three workers’ representatives participated in the dialogue: Julio César Bazán, Vice Chairman of the Trade Union Technical Advisory Council (COSATE) and President of the Unitary Confederation of Peruvian Workers (Confederación Unitaria de Trabajadores del Perú or CUT); Dalila del Carmen Alemán, Women’s Secretary of the Sandinista Workers’ Centre (CST) of Nicaragua; and Antonio Jara, on behalf of the President of COSATE and the Trade Union Confederation of Workers of the Americas (Confederación Sindical de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras de las Américas o TUCA/CSA).

The rights of workers in the continent and of migrant workers; the criminalization of migration; the prevention of conflict and peace in the Americas; the importance of education, jobs and development in creating peace, security and cooperation in the countries of the hemisphere; and the fight against poverty were the main subjects participants addressed during the event, held in the Museo de la Nación.

The Minister of Labor of Peru highlighted the importance of the existence of a space for dialogue “that promotes the participation of workers of the Americas in the activities of the OAS and at the same time seeks to continue the progress achieved in the dialogue begun during the General Assembly in Medellín in 2008.” He added that to Peru “peace, stability and security, as well as social and economic development, cannot be the responsibility of a single sector but a collective responsibility that brings together the whole of society and where each individual and group has an individual role. This collective responsibility must begin with an inclusive approach between governments, the employment sector, workers and civil society.”

The workers’ representatives gave the member countries of the OAS the “Workers Declaration before the General Assembly of the OAS at its Fortieth Regular Session,” a document that consolidates a group of ideas and recommendations on the subject of the General Assembly.

Representatives of the delegations of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Nicaragua, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and the United States spoke at the meeting.

A photo gallery of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org

Reference: E-225/10