The latest proposal in the form of payment of the layoffraised in a project that is being studied in a commission of the Chamber of Deputiescollided this Thursday with little support from legislators from different parties, as well as worker unions and the Minister of Labor, who were closed to any possibility of modifying this benefit for evicted employees.
The deputies Ramón RaposoRafaela González, Nurca Luciano, Aníbal Díaz, José David Báez and the president of the commission studying the proposal, Mélido Mercedes, expressed their opposition to the payment of the layoff be calculated with a limit of six months’ salary, as proposed by legislator Carmen Ligia Barceló in a bill.
With the widespread rejection in the Chamber of Deputiesthe point of the layoff seems headed to the same destination as in the Senatewhere the proposal was also discarded in the labor reform approved.
Rejections of the proposal
He deputy Ramón Raposoof the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), member of the commission that evaluates the labor reform and the proposals on the layoffdescribed it as “reckless” for proposals to modify this employee benefit to arise from Congress itself.
“”We do not see it prudent to be touching and pulling on the issue of unemployment. We call on each of the deputies to, under no circumstances, touch this issue, not to invent with unemployment, because this would bring alarming situations for Dominican society.”PRD deputy
For his part, the deputy Aníbal Díazof the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), also rejected any variation in the layoffby stating that he himself President Luis Abinader has no interest in modifying the calculation of that benefit.
“That’s a closed debate. There will be no discussion about the layoff“said the deputy of the National Districtclarifying that, although he respects the initiatives of his colleagues, he disagrees with the project presented by legislator Barceló.
He deputy José David Báezof the People’s Force, who is also a member of the commission that studies the labor reformassured that “in no way” will he raise his hand in approval of possible changes in the layoff and affirmed that the Dominican workers “can rest assured,” since, as he said, the mood in the Chamber of Deputies is not to touch the subject of layoff.
Likewise, the deputies Rafaela González and Nurca Nieves Luciano, also from Fuerza del Pueblo, recalled that when the Labor Code In 1992, the payment of the layoff It constituted “a conquest” for the workers, in the face of what they described as a “failed” pension system that did not provide assistance to employees fired without justification.
The president of the Permanent Labor Commission, which studies the labor reformexpressed that, in particular, he would not vote for any change that affects the layoff. He added that, although all the proposals will be analyzed with the same rigor, the one referring to the layoff will not have your support.
Rejection grows
The Minister of Labor, Eddy Olivares, has a similar opinion to the deputies and recognized the right of legislators to present proposals, but considered that the debate is already exhausted.
“This is a project that has been discussed for more than four years, with the participation of all sectors. It has already been approved by the Senate and contains very important and convenient aspects for the business sector“, he expressed.
The unions
The president of the Autonomous Classist Trade Union Confederation (CASC), Gabriel del Río Doñé, described it as unnecessary and “irresponsible” to reopen the debate on the layoff when he Senate He has already approved his permanence.
Del Río insisted that the current system does not represent an obstacle to the economic growthand remembered that the layoff “It is only paid when the employer dismisses without just cause.”
Defense of the project
The Employers’ Confederation of the Dominican Republic (Copardom), through its president Laura Izquierdo, positively valued Representative Barceló’s willingness to keep the debate on the reform open, considering it “a democratic exercise that strengthens plurality and the collective construction of solutions.”
While the Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic (AIRD) supported the representative’s initiative and said that her project consolidates the construction of consensus in Congress.
The unemployment
In the midst of studying labor reform which has already approved Senate In two readings, the Permanent Labor Commission of the Chamber of Deputies analyzes four reform projects to the Labor Code, among which is one that proposes modifying the calculation of the layoff and establish a ceiling of six salaries.
According to the Labor Code Dominican, the layoff It is compensation that employers must pay to employees only when they are fired without good cause.
