(Fwd) [61] COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT WORKERS STRIKE, DEFYING FORMER

["Curtis Price" <cansv@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Date:          Tue, 11 Feb 1997 21:24:32 -0500
From:          NewsHound@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (NewsHound)

Subject:       [61] COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT WORKERS STRIKE, DEFYING FORMER ALLY, THE

PRESIDENT
Selected by your NewsHound profile entitled "STRIKES". The selectivity score was
 61 out of 100.

Colombian government workers strike, defying former ally, the president
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA

Associated Press Writer

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Tens of thousands of striking state workers marched in
Colombian cities Tuesday, defying a president they had once backed during the
worst days of his corruption scandal.

At least 300,000 workers participated in the first day of the strike for higher
wages, causing some reduction in transport and communications services. State
teachers, as well as oil, health and telephone workers joined the strike.

Some protesters threw stones at police, as banner-waving marchers poured into
Bogota's main plaza. There were several arrests.

The strike was a blow to President Ernesto Samper, who relied heavily on labor
support when business leaders backed efforts to topple him during a scandal last
 year. Samper was plagued by reports he won the presidential election using
money from the Cali drug cartel.

A loyalist Congress absolved Samper, but the crisis hurt his ability to
implement promised social reforms and has been blamed in part for a faltering
economy.

``Many union leaders have realized the deal with the government is a waste,''
said Evaristo Baron, head of a teacher's union.

Millions of students did not go to class because state and private schools were
closed. Many businesses did not open in Bogota and people not linked to the
strike stayed home, fearing unrest. Police helicopters buzzed across the skies
over unusually quiet streets in the city of 7 million.

The armed forces were on alert to guard against attacks by leftist guerrillas,
who claim to represent the poor. Rebel threats kept most buses off the roads in
Barrancabermeja, a major oil center in northeastern Colombia.

Public bus service was down 20 to 30 percent in Colombia's three largest cities,
 Bogota, Cali and Medellin, the government said.

Dozens of domestic flights were canceled or suspended because of work stoppages
at airports. American Airlines, Continental Airlines and the Panamanian carrier
Copa canceled their Colombia flights.

At least 5,000 oil workers were striking, but the state-owned oil company,
Ecopetrol, said it had contingency plans. Oil is Colombia's chief export.

The state telephone company said long-distance service was operating at almost
100 percent. Many operations are automated.

The government had rejected worker demands for a 21.6 percent wage hike in line
with 1996 inflation; it had originally offered 13.5 percent.

Samper, a lawyer and economist with an elite background, won union sympathy
campaigning as a hero of the working people.

During the political crisis last year, labor leaders visited the presidential
palace to support Samper amid widespread calls for his resignation.

Business leaders say the crisis contributed to sluggish 3 percent growth in
1996, compared to 5.4 percent the previous year.

``We're paying -- and they (the unions) are largely suffering the consequences
-- for the defense of the president they supported,'' wrote a columnist for El
Tiempo, Colombia's most respected newspaper.

Samper said political opportunists and rebel infiltrators had tainted the
protest, which lacks wide popular support and was unlikely to threaten his hold
on the presidency. He must step down after 1998 elections.

AP-WS-02-11-97 1904EST



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