Colombia’s labor unions to meet over general strike on Monday – Colombia News

With the support of President Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s labor unions have begun organizing community councils that could decide to shut down the economy in an attempt to force Congress into approving a labor reform.

The General Labor Confederation (CGT) and the United Workers Central (CUT) said that they will hold a “social, political and popular summit” at the National University in Bogota on Monday.

We will respond to the Senate, which once again says NO to the Labor Statute. The only thing left to do is to organize, mobilize and fight for the labor reform.

CGT president Percy Oyola

In the Caribbean port city Barranquilla, the Colombian Energy Workers Union will hold a similar community council meeting.

Interior Minister Armando Benedetti traveled to Barranquilla to tell the labor representatives that he hoped that the council will vote for a general strike.

In an address to the nation, the president on Wednesday called on the people to organize community councils that would allow them to respond to the Senate’s refusal to ratify a referendum on Petro’s labor reform proposals.

Instead, the Senate voted to revive a watered down version of the reform bill that had been removed from the agenda by its social policy committee in April.

Petro and Benedetti accused Senate president Efrain Cepeda of the Conservative Party of fraud and vowed to file another referendum before Congress.

The president and his interior minister hope that mass mobilizations will create enough pressure on the Senate to approve either the referendum or the labor reforms as they were originally proposed.

The latest spat between Petro and Congress followed a series of failed attempts to push the leftist president’s reform agenda through the Senate where the government can only count on the support of a minority.

The congressional opposition has vowed to torpedo all of Petro’s reform proposals and has so far been successful.