This is how the historic signature was reached to begin collective bargaining in football

After almost five years of push and pull, This Tuesday, at the Ministry of Labor, the act was signed that gives free rein to collective bargaining between the Colombian Football Federation, Dimayor and the players, represented by the Colombian Association of Professional Footballers (Acolfutpro).

The participation of the Government and the International Labor Organization (ILO), plus the monitoring of Fifa, made it possible to unblock an issue that seemed to be at a stalemate, due to the fact that the FCF and Dimayor did not recognize Acolfutpro as an interlocutor, consider that there was no employment relationship with them.

The issue was so radical on the part of the managers that they even stood up from the table at a meeting of the National Commission for Safety, Comfort and Coexistence in football, on March 18, when they noticed the presence of the representatives of the union.

The agreement finally came to light on April 2, when the Vice Minister of Labor Relations and Inspection, Edwin Palma, summoned the president of Dimayor, Fernando Jaramillo; to the general secretary of the FCF, Andrés Tamayo; to the representatives of the clubs (the presidents of Equidad, Carlos Mario Zuluaga, and Millonarios, Enrique Camacho), and to the directors of Acolfutpro.

There, an act was drawn up that marked the beginning of the negotiations, which had to go through a filter: the club assembly. This finally gave the green light to the issue on Monday, with votes in favor from 32 of the 36 professional teams.

“We appreciate the management of the President of the Republic Gustavo Petro in this historic achievement, of the Minister of Labor Gloria Inés Ramírez and especially the tireless work and support of Mr. Edwin Palma, vice minister of labor relations, who will be a mediator in the conversations” Acolfutpro said in a statement.

“After more than two years of being in this process we have managed to open up not only the challenge of having a social dialogue, with a clear will and recognizing the workers, it is very important. This has led to the withdrawal of the complaint that had been filed with the ILO for not negotiating. Dialogue is worth it and we must build on the difference”, said the Minister of Labor, Gloria Inés Ramírez.

What comes next for the negotiations

The signing becomes a historic event for the players, who have been seeking recognition of their rights for many years, since the creation of the defunct Association of Colombian Soccer Players (Afucol), in the 70s, which even cost several of its leaders the veto to be part of the national teams.

The current Acolfutpro was born in 2004 and since then it began to seek the negotiation of a collective agreement, as already exists in other countries.

In September 2019, the association presented a ten-point list of requests, with issues related to the competition, such as the coordination of the calendars of the tournaments organized by Dimayor, the rest and recovery periods, the consolidation of the Women's League and the creation of a single contract minute.

In addition, he made other requests, such as the holding of a Colombian National Team match in his favor, complementary health policies, tickets for the National Team's matches and local tournaments, two meetings a year with the players of the national teams of both. branches and policies against racism and discrimination.

The negotiation is already underway and it will be necessary to see to what extent the managers grant all or some of the ben
efits requested by the players. But the fact that it has already started is historic for Colombian soccer.

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