This Thursday, March 16, a symbolic act was held in the Plaza de Armas of the Casa de Nariño in which the government of President Gustavo Petro settled the labor reform project.
(Relive the presentation of the labor reform of the Petro government).
The first part of his speech revolved around the working day, to media criticism of his reforms and what he considers a “anachronistic system”.
“Forget that analysis that when the different labor reforms were presented, all tending in general to reduce wages, extend the working day and remove the last loopholes of labor stability in Colombia. We have obtained from that moment until now, if we look at the law 50, a totally adverse result to which critics point out”he stated.
According to the president, it has been precisely the reduction in wages and job instability that has not allowed the growth of productivity in Colombia.
Petro referred again -as he already did on his Twitter- to the OECD statistics that indicate that Colombia is one of the countries with the longest working hours, but with lower productivity.
“The news talks about bank failures, demonstrations trying to prevent the pension age from being raised, that there be more free time for the worker. (…) The only way to overcome the economic crisis in the world is for families to have higher income”he added.
(With doubts about employment and informality, the labor reform was filed).
For Petro, with this bill what is sought is to dignify work, stop sexual and labor harassment and put an end to the instability of bimonthly contracts.
“Two-month contract has condemned the woman to sexual harassment by employers. Instability brings mental problems, destruction of quality of life and drop in productivity,” pointed out.
Despite the fact that the president arrived late for the event, this did not prevent worker and student unions from congregating in front of the presidential palace in the afternoon, a site where three groups of protesters arrived from different parts of Bogotá.
At the event – which bears similarities to the filing of the health reform and which was preceded by a march of workers’ unions – were Vice President Francia Márquez, Minister of Labor Gloria Inés Ramírez, Minister of the Interior Alfonso Prada, and other cabinet members. Likewise, the president of the Senate, Roy Barreras, and the president of the House of Representatives, David Racero.
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