By Hugh Bronstein

BOGOTA, July 6 (Reuters) - Alabama-based Drummond coal company goes on trial on Monday in the United States facing charges it paid right-wing paramilitaries to kill workers in its Colombian mine.

In a civil case that lawyers say could set a precedent for U.S. companies accused of human rights abuses abroad, privately held Drummond denies involvement in the 2001 deaths of three union leaders near its open pit mine in northern Colombia.

The lawsuit alleges Drummond's top Colombian executive was seen handing money to paramilitary thugs in exchange for killing the men, who were arguing with the company over higher wages and better workplace safety at the time.

"If we win, it will be the first time that a U.S. company is found guilty by jury of committing human rights abuses abroad," said Dan Kovalik, a lawyer for the Pittsburgh-based United Steelworkers union, which helped bring the civil suit on behalf of the families of the dead miners.

"We hope it will send a signal that companies need to respect the rights of their workers, wherever they operate," he said.

The lawsuit names Drummond Ltd. and seeks an unspecified amount in damages. Jury selection begins Monday in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama.

Earlier this year, in a case that never went to trial, U.S. banana giant Chiquita Brands International Inc. pleaded guilty to paying $1.7 million in protection money to Colombian paramilitaries between 1997 and 2004.

Such payments are not uncommon in this Andean country gripped by a 4-decade-old guerrilla that kills thousands every year.

SHOT EXECUTION STYLE

Last month, Colombia's Congress approved a free trade deal with the United States but Democrats who control the U.S. Congress say the measure is not likely to come up for a vote any time soon due to concerns about labor rights in Colombia.

The Drummond case centers on union leaders Valmore Locarno, Victor Orcasita and Gustavo Soler, who were pulled off buses and shot to death by masked gunmen near Drummond's mine in the town of La Loma.

More than 4,000 Colombian union leaders have been assassinated since 1986, according to the U.S. State Department, accounting for most union murders in the world during the period.

"The Drummond case highlights the precarious situation that Colombian trade unionists and other human rights defenders are in," said Andrew Hudson, Colombia specialist at New York-based Human Rights First.

The paramilitaries were formed in the 1980s to help cattle ranchers and other rich Colombians protect themselves from leftist rebels. They soon turned into death squads funded by extortion and Colombia's multibillion-dollar cocaine trade.

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