Colombian Leader, Union Face Test of Will

Colombian Leader, Union Face Test of Will

BARRANCABERMEJA, Colombia - A strike by workers for the state-owned oil company, whose fire-belching refinery is now guarded by troops and police, has entered its third week and become a test of will between Colombia's biggest union and President Alvaro Uribe.

Gabriel Alvis, president of the Syndicated Workers Union, or USO, was fired by the Ecopetrol state oil monopoly this week, joining more than 20 union leaders and members who have been sacked because of the strike.

In an interview, Alvis accused Uribe of mounting an offensive against organized labor.

"Uribe wants to destroy the USO and pretty much aims to destroy unions altogether in Colombia," Alvis told The Associated Press during a protest march Wednesday to Ecopetrol's main refinery, located in this oil town, whose skyline is dominated by the giant smokestacks that shoot flames 24 hours a day.

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