Colombia’s business elite deplore Senate support for labor reform – Colombia News

Business associations have rejected a labor reform bill that was approved by the Senate after immense pressure from the government and labor unions.

The reinforced labor reform, among other things, forces employers to pay extra if they want their employees to work between 7PM and 6AM or on Sundays and holidays.

According to Bruce MacMaster of the National Businessmen’s Association of Colombia (ANDI), this “will produce informality and will produce unemployment.”

The president of the National Federation of Entrepreneurs Merchants (Fenalco), Jaime Alberto Cabal, said that the reform “will harm thousands of Colombians.”

As we have warned, this reform will increase labor costs between 18 and 34%. It will affect micro, small and medium-sized companies, especially those that work at night, on Sundays and holidays.

Fenalco president Jaime Alberto Cabal

The business associations have been among the most vociferous opponents of labor rights and supported what the government called a “regressive” labor reform that would allow employers to sign contracts per hour.

The business associations and their labor reform proposals have been opposed by labor unions, who celebrated the compromise made between the coalition of President Gustavo Petro and the opposition in Congress.

Fabio Arias, the president of labor union CUT said in social media platform X that the reform that was approved by the Senate was a “step forward.”

The labor unions have been organizing marches and strikes in support of the labor reform for months and are among the strongest supporters of forcing the Congress to improve labor rights through a referendum.

Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said that the president would revoke the decree that called the referendum if the Senate’s labor reform is maintained by the House of Representatives.