DIARIO DEL HUILA, ECONOMY
Various unions have expressed their reservations and concern about the effects that the labor reform that the National Government filed in the Congress of the Republic would have, since some proposals that were included are considered controversial.
The president of Andi, Bruce Mac Master, stated that the bill did not include some proposals that solved the concerns that the businessmen had raised during the four months of talks and that were in the draft they had last Monday.
“The final version differs in several very sensitive points for us from what was seen on Monday. The Government had the power to do it, but that leads to the concertation being in fewer points than we had originally seen, ”he added.
One of them was the possibility of gradually implementing the provisions of the labor reform to the extent that greater economic activity was generated in the country.
The union leader also stated that an important concern is the higher costs that may eventually be generated, some inflexibilities that are being generated and the impositions of outsourcing.
«We are convinced that we have to give SMEs and micro-enterprises the opportunity to be able to sell products to large companies. If large companies are forced to produce everything they need or contract everything directly, a large number of SMEs and small and medium-sized companies will disappear”, he asserted.
In turn, Javier Díaz Molina, the president of the National Association of Foreign Trade (Analdex) said that for the foreign trade sector it is important to have job stability, but also the reform must adapt to what international business demands.
According to Díaz, for the foreign trade sector it is key to have other options, depending on the moment and the opportunity. In other words, “not allowing contracts for short periods, days or hours is a mistake,” he explained.
In the case of Fenalco, the union of merchants and businessmen in the country, points out that the project was not really arranged despite its participation in the different technical tables, but only some articles, of the almost 80 that it contains the project, were agreed by the parties.
Jaime Alberto Cabal, president of the union, indicated that “the project leaves out 2 out of every 3 Colombians that make up the economically active population.”
Also, Fenalco draws attention to the increase in costs that it implies for merchants regarding personal hiring. For them it would imply an increase of between 30 to 35 percent.
In the same sense, the union highlights that the labor reform project punishes trade and service activities that take place at night and destroys 24-hour production strategies.