10:12 AM
President Gustavo Petro’s labor reform continues to advance in its first debate in the Seventh Commission of the House of Representatives. At 8:00 am This Thursday, the discussion was resumed with the elimination of 20 articles that, according to the Ministry of Labor, sought to update union rights to be in line with international agreements.
It was a proposal presented by 11 congressmen and which had 13 positive votes and only 5 negative ones. According to the representative speaker, María Fernanda Carrascal, the decision was agreed upon with the Liberal Party and other opponents. Among this block, article 25, which spoke about learning contracts for Sena students, was also eliminated.
The other 19 articles were the following: 66 talked about guarantees for the exercise of the right of union association, 88 about freedom of association, 69 talked about the summary procedure for the protection of social rights, 74 mentioned the retention of union accounts and sought voluntary dues from workers and through payroll accounts, 83 provided more guarantees for the right to strike. Also removed were 68, 70, 72, 73, 75, 76, 78, 79, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, and 89.
Representative Jorge Quevedo, of the Conservative Party, described this elimination as a mature decision by the Government. He said that the decision was made due to the current business reality and given that most of the companies are small and medium-sized in Colombia, so he did not consider the eliminated articles convenient.
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His voice was joined by Andrés Forero, legislator from the Democratic Center, who explained that approving these articles would have affected employment and created conflicts between employers and workers. “The right to strike is so advanced in the country, that today they are holding a strike at the Ministry of Labor, what happens is that they intended to regulate strikes and not have a time limit, as exists today, a maximum of 68 days,” said.
For his part, Alfredo Mondragón, of the Historical Pact, stated that the proposal was a little trick to avoid discussion. And he highlighted that most of the articles dealt with collective rights for workers. “It is not a communist or socialist proposal that societies have unions, it has been a necessity in capitalism because there is an evident asymmetric relationship between employers and workers, because businessmen are looking for an increasingly higher rate of profit, while workers are looking for a better income that allows them to have greater dignity in their lives,” he said.
Minister Gloria Inés Ramírez said that although the constitution included the right to strike, it did not provide full guarantees for such a dangerous activity.
“What you want is for the guarantees not to be modernized and to remain as they are in the Substantive Labor Code; “And what we want is that given today’s conditions, it is very important that it be updated to bring it into line with international agreements,” said the portfolio manager.
At this time the debate continues to progress in the Seventh Committee of the House of Representatives.
Continue reading: Key day for labor reform: House approves three more articles of the bill
