Labor militias in the Venezuelan public sector to be mandatory One of their roles is to ensure services in case of unsettling factors By YANETH FERNÁNDEZ EL UNIVERSAL July 19, 2014
Labor militias in the working structure are likely to happen in the Venezuelan public administration very soon.
The draft "socialist framework collective convention of servers for the homeland," submitted by the National Federation of Public Employees (Fedeunep) and the National Federation of Public Sector Workers (Fentrasep) to the Executive, and which is to be approved shortly, establishes under clause number six that both federations of public workers along with affiliated trade union groups will constitute the labor militias.
The text explains that the main aim is to strengthen the national defensive power with the help of this new way of labor organization, through the consolidation of the military-civilian unit.
Such alliance, that has been a relevant goal sought by the government of Nicolás Maduro, calls the attention of human rights organizations such as NGO Provea, which cannot help worry about the fact that Maduro –being a civilian leader– has gone beyond the borders of the military world even more than late President Hugo Chávez, who was indeed a military man.
Rafael Uzcátegui, an Investigation coordinator from Provea, warned about the danger to the right to work implied in the setup of working militias, and in the mandatory requirement for companies and workers to enroll in the Registry for Integral Defense.
"We relate the militias and other combative bodies to all sort of impediments to exercise the right of strike and to deterrence of labor conflicts," Uzcátegui commented.
Uzcátegui reckons that the fact that the very trade union organizations, in reference to Fedeunep and Fentrasep, are the ones institutionalizing militarism in the core of production centers is worrisome, as it entails a clear contradiction regarding trade union freedom.
He remembered that the only legitimate and constitutional organizations of workers are labor unions.
Although the inclusion of militias is being developed on a draft framework contract, the Director of Provea strongly recommended that labor unions and guilds must remain alert to such endeavors, by claiming that the State is in debt with all collective bargaining agreements and "through the militias, the main purpose is to intimidate so that the reached agreements favor the employer."
Translated by Adrián Valera
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