Non-governmental organizations. This section is contributed by NGO’s and other institutions Profiles Trade Union Confederation, CUT The Trade Union Confederation of Colombia (CUT) was established in November 1986 as a pluralistic trade union organization open to all political leanings in Colombian society. The process of formation of this Confederation came about as a result of Colombian workers' will to organize into a strong trade union, capable of leading their struggle for economic, political and social rights against the neo-liberal policies that started to be implemented in the country towards the end of the 1980s. Their cause of obtaining better living conditions for workers and the Colombian population in general, has been advanced in the past few years within a context of constant violation of civil and political rights, with the murder of many their leaders, activists and workers. The Trade Union Confederation currently has close to 600,000 members. In the 15 years since its creation, over 3,000 leaders have been murdered. More that 50 per cent of their leaders are now under threat, and an indeterminate number of forced disappearances and attacks have taken place. This situation has led to the displacement of trade unionists, who have been forced to seek refuge in the principal departmental capitals and even in the country's capital. A large number of them have had to leave Colombia.