Uribe will claim that he has made important labor law reforms to address the less egregious, but very widespread problem of subcontracting and "labor cooperatives" that has denied basic labor rights to hundreds of thousands of Colombian workers in all sectors. Decrees meant to address the problem have done nothing on the ground because Uribe has not demonstrated the political will to enforce such measures. Women workers have lost at least 10% of their salaries on average, due to Uribe's labor reforms. Uribe will show that the cut-flower sector has made progress under the free trade model. Read a paper from ILRF's Colombian partner demonstrating that the free trade model has only hurt workers in the cut-flower sector. Read real testimony on what the industries working conditions are like here.

Read ILRF's paper on labor issues in Colombia here.