By Hugh Bronstein LA LOMA, Colombia, Nov 16 (Reuters) - A labor union leader at the U.S.-owned Drummond coal mine was pulled off a bus in northern Colombia and shot to death by masked right-wing gunmen one March evening in 2001, according to court papers accusing the company of ordering the killing. The body of Valmore Locarno was displayed to the other passengers as a warning about what happens to labor activists in this war-twisted country where leftist guerrillas are pitted against right-wing paramilitaries. The union's No. 2, Victor Orcasita, was thrown into a pickup truck and killed later. "The paramilitaries boarded the bus and asked for Locarno and Orcasita by name, saying that these two had a problem with Drummond," a court document says. The U.S. federal lawsuit filed in Drummond's home state of Alabama has gained attention in Europe, where power companies DONG of Denmark and Essent of the Netherlands said last week they halted new coal purchases from the company. Both are minor clients. The case highlights the dangers faced by workers in Colombia and the problems faced by multinational companies working in an often lawless country where illegal armed groups control wide swathes of territory. Drummond on Thursday denied the accusations in the suit. "We are under a restricted comment directive from the court regarding the lawsuit in question," a Drummond official said. "While we cannot comment on specifics, we strongly deny the accusations and look forward to evidence being heard with complete exoneration." More than 4,000 Colombian union leaders have been assassinated since 1986, according to the U.S. State Department, a figure it says accounts for most union murders in the world. "Local managers working for transnational companies have been free to take illegal steps against unions because authorities look the other way," said Mauricio Romero, a political commentator and paramilitary expert. "They have been known to contract armed groups to kill union leaders in order to keep workers quiet about wages and other conditions," Romero said. "These cases don't go to court in Colombia because witnesses would also be threatened." The killings, which Romero said are carried out mostly by paramilitaries and state security forces, have fallen over the last four years under President Alvaro Uribe, popular for his tough, U.S.-backed security policies. Companies such as Coca-Cola <KO.N> and British Petroleum <BP.L> have faced criticisms from human rights groups over labor issues. Chiquita Brands International <CQB.N> pulled out of the country after admitting it had paid an illegal militia for protection. UNION RISKS Locarno and Orcasita were in contract talks, which had bogged down over wages and workplace safety, with Drummond when they were killed. The suit on behalf of their families and that of another Drummond mine union chief killed later in 2001 was filed the following year by the United Steelworkers of America. "Drummond is knowingly engaged in an ongoing campaign of terror against trade unionists in Colombia," according to the complaint in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama. More than 31,000 paramilitaries have handed over their guns in exchange for benefits including reduced jail terms under Uribe. But officials say many have formed new crime gangs. "The security situation is worrying. I see men following me in pickup trucks and on motorbikes," said Raul Sosa, the union's current president. He lives near the open pit mine in La Loma, a dusty town where traffic is often slowed by cattle crossing the roads and neighborhood football games played by barefoot children are interrupted by wondering pigs. In October 2001, Locarno's replacement as union chief Gustavo Soler was also pulled off a bus and shot dead. His family had pleaded with him not to accept the presidency. "But Gustavo refused to let the union die," said someone who knew him but requested anonymity. "He defended that choice to the end."
