Congress of Colombia archives labor reform, one of the axes of President Petro

The Congress of Colombia archived the labor reform presented by the government of Gustavo Petroone of the axes of the campaign that led him to the presidency last year.

A Legislative commission did not obtain the necessary assistance to advance in the first debate, which caused it to collapse due to lack of time to continue with its process in Congress.

The Colombian president described on Wednesday the failure of his treatment as “very serious” and added that it shows that the “owners of capital and means” they got “co-opt” to Congress against the dignity of working people.

The labor reform of Petro generated a strong controversy in Colombiaespecially due to the new conditions that it proposed for some workers and that -in the opinion of several economic experts- raised labor costs.

Among the government’s proposals was the prioritization of indefinite-term contracts -which ensured the job stability of many workers-, the increase in the requirements for companies to make layoffs and an increase in payments to workers for night work shifts, among other points.

The Economist Luis Fernando Mejiadirector of Fedesarrollo -one of the main research centers in the country- recently stated that the increase in labor costs for companies would increase unemployment and informality.

This position is shared by the director of the Labor Law Department of the Javeriana University, Juliana Morad Acero, who explained that most employers in Colombia do not have sufficient resources to assume new labor costs.

The failure of the labor reform meant a severe blow to Petro’s key proposals, which include changes to the health and pension systems.

Some unions also spoke out about the failure of the labor reform. Francisco Maltesepresident of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores, affirmed that the opposition congressmen used “tricks” to archive it.

The government has said that it will present it again in a few weeks, when Congress begins its regular sessions again.

The rejection of the reform has been interpreted by some analysts as the new tone that most political parties would have towards Petro, who faces a political and institutional crisis due to allegations of possible crimes during his campaign and in the exercise of the presidency.