Mintrabajo orders General Motors to stop closing operations and laying off employees: company analyzes the measure

As explained by Gloria Inés Ramírez, Minister of Labor, Before starting the mass dismissal of the personnel who work in said companies, the respective authorization to proceed had to be awaited, something that was not fulfilled in this case.

The official added that “the decision is due to the lack of guarantee and certainty regarding the condition of the workers involved in the authorization process for the total and definitive closure of work and consequently the collective dismissal of the workers.” .

Consequently, the Ministry of Labor ordered the company General Motors – Colmotores and the Zona Franca Industrial Colmotores company, Zoficol, to refrain from initiating and/or carrying out any administrative procedure related to their corporate purpose and the economic activities they carry out, aimed at reorganizing. , redesign, dissolve, become insolvent and/or liquidated, until a substantive decision is adopted by the Government.

He also ordered them to stop the dismissal of the workers who are the subject of the request for authorization for the total and definitive closure of work and consequently the collective dismissal of 600 workers. of the work plant of the company General Motors – Colmotores SA, and 128 workers of the work plant of the Zona Franca Industrial Colmotores SAS Zoficol company, regardless of whether they have signed voluntary retirement plans, until a decision is made. background by the Ministry of Labor.

The closure of the Colmotores plant, which completed nearly 70 years in Colombia, implies the dismissal of 550 workers.

In turn, in an interview with EL TIEMPO, Santiago Chamorro, president of GM South America, revealed that The corporate decisions of the company in Colombia first contemplated all possible solutions to the closure of the plant in Bogotá, with multimillion-dollar investments to avoid it.

Along the same lines, the company first of all guaranteed the well-being of the 550 employees who must leave through the corporate movement, whom “We are offering them a very generous retirement package, which is born from the love and gratitude we have for them. This includes a job transition service, either for those who decide to become entrepreneurs or for those looking for another job,” Chamorro explained.
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Knowing the measures adopted by the Government, General Motors indicated that “the legal area is analyzing the order of the Ministry of Labor”, so they will not comment at the moment.

As is remembered, General Motors- Colmotores and Colmotores Industrial Free Trade Zone, Zoficol, requested on April 26 from the Ministry of Labor the total and definitive closure of work and authorization for the collective dismissal of workers. 600 for the first and 128 for the second.

For this reason, the Ministry began the administrative and in-person inspection procedure, in which it was evident, as reported by that portfolio, that the companies ceased activities on April 25, without prior authorization from the Ministry of Labor and unilaterally closed the plant. of work.

They also indicated that said inspection revealed non-compliance with the standards established by the Ministry of Labor, which require the employer to wait for official authorization to advance the closure of the companies and subsequent dismissal of their staff.

The ministry also reported that currently “access is not allowed to the workers of the company General Motors – Colmotores SA, even that the main entrance that allows vehicular and pedestrian access is completely fenced with colored road cases. orange; and that the work plant of the company General Motors – Colmotores SA, does not present a dismantling process.