The labor reform faces an important week in the Congress of the Republic, where it still needs three debates to become law, with just over three months on its agenda and most of the legislators’ attention focused on issues such as the Budget or the Financing Law, while the speakers and The Ministry of Labor continues to put pressure on it to prevent it from collapsing.
Although the path is not easy for this initiative, there have recently been reports important progress to ensure that the bill reaches its second debate and overcomes the obstacles presented in the House of Representatives, taking into account that the entire process in the Senate is still pending.
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María Fernanda Carrascal, the coordinator and rapporteur of the reform, said that during the votes on September 17 and 18, it is hoped that the entire preliminary phase required for the legislative process will be completed, so that the representatives can concentrate on the articles of the project and on whether or not the House will give the green light.
“This week we begin the second debate in the plenary session of the House of Representatives, we will begin with impediments that I am sure will be many, then recusals that take place and later we hope to begin the presentations, I will give a positive presentation that has been signed by seven of the nine sponsors of the Labor Reform,” said the congresswoman.
Labor reform – filing of second debate.
Courtesy.
Thus, he added that “I have great hope that there will be a very good debate in the plenary session, a broad debate, a debate with several voices and a debate that will only legitimize all the spaces that have been built in these two years from the Salary Concertation Commission where the first project was built, all the debates, technical tables, hearings, meetings that we have had both the National Government and the Congress of the Republic, the speakers and other congressmen.”
It should be noted that according to the laws that regulate the procedures in the Legislativethe labor reform has until December 16 to complete the three debates it needs, otherwise it will fail again, since it would complete a year without any major progress. This is why the Ministry of Labor has been asking for speed in the programming of debates, in a Congress that has much to debate.
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“I welcome the debate and hope it is the best for the working class of this country, who have been waiting for decades for a reform that truly protects them, boosts their productivity, and promotes better living conditions to benefit the businessmen and women of this country who are also waiting for conditions to improve,” said Mafe Carrascal.
Seeking consensus
One of the challenges facing labor reform at this time It comes from the surprising turn that the Liberal Party took with regard to several articles of the project, announcing that they do not fully convince them, some in lines classified as vital for President Petro.
Labor reform.
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Most of the concerns of this group are on issues such as severance pay, paternity leave and working hours, and they announced the creation of a Special Study Commission. Because of this, the most prudent thing according to experts is to seek consensual solutions and avoid the debate dragging on longer than necessary.
This is taking into account that the Liberal commission will be in charge of thoroughly examining the reform project, establishing proposals and limits that the Liberal bench will defend in the parliamentary debate. The Liberals emphasize the need for concerted solutions to improve the quality of lives of workers and address structural problems in society.
