The Permanent Commission for the Agreement on Salary and Labor Policies, made up of the trade unions, unions and the government, met this Mondays to advance in the consolidation of the final text of the labor reform and that will be filed this Thursday, March 16, before the Congress of the Republic.
The Minister of Labor, Gloria Inés Ramírez, recognized and thanked the members of tripartism for the judicious manner in which they have worked to advance the proposed objective, which is the bill that will be debated in the Congress of the Republic.
“We will make an effort to advance with the articles and it must continue to be strengthened through social dialogue for its construction, in the midst of the difference. In addition, I reiterate the will and political decision that the Coalition Commission has to present to the country the central elements that we are collecting and that we need for change”, assured Minister Ramírez.
For the construction of the law initiatives, more than 142 meetings have been held in the subcommittees with experts, in the regional and alternate tables of the process and it has accepted the basic principles of the International Labor Organization, ILO.
The components
The reform document by means of which some articles of the Substantive Labor Code, Law 50 of 1990 and Law 789 of 2002 are modified, was developed in three parts: Constitutional principles of labor law with equal opportunities for workers, minimum remuneration, with minimum benefits guaranteed to social security, special protection for women, maternity, among others.
The second component refers to individual labor law so that there is reinforced labor stability, prioritizing indefinite-term contracts and collective labor law, leaving labor outsourcing to its minimum expression, defining the daily schedule, recovering nighttime surcharges and holidays, protection for work on digital platforms, especially in distribution or delivery platforms, agricultural work, the future of fragmentation and decarbonization of jobs, and gap reduction.
The third component has to do with the collective right to work such as union association, collective bargaining and strike.
reactions
For his part, the president of the CUT, Francisco Maltés, stated: “we are making an effort so that the reforms become a reality”.
The president of ANDI, Bruce Mac Master, celebrated that social dialogue is the way to seek consensus and reduce differences: “I give special recognition to the Minister, for activating the subcommittee both with employers and union centrals in where there are several agreed aspects related to the defense of workers’ rights and that have to do with not affecting employment and reducing the informality of the country”.
Finally, the president of the ACOPI National Board of Directors, Jairo Pulecio, said: “We are pleased to have carried out this truly democratic exercise and consensus on fundamental and structural issues for business strengthening and the defense of labor rights”.
From a political point of view, the Partido de la U asked the Government to include in the project clear mechanisms that allow the generation of more formal employment in the country, the representative Saray Robayo affirmed: “Unemployment and informality in the country are worrying. Unemployment at 13.7%, with the aggravating circumstance that of the 21.49 million employed Colombians, 57.9% are informal. Of every 10 employed, 6 do not have a formal employment relationship. The reform must focus on generating formal employment”.
Senator Paola Holguín affirmed that: “what we have to do is adapt labor standards to the new reality. to the new markets, to the different expectations that young people have”.
David Racero, president of the Chamber pointed out: -Agreements with banks to lower interest rates. Consultation with employers and workers for the labor reform. Agreements with parties to carry out health reform. This is the government of dialogue. We do not polarize, we unite.