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Chile and Colombia, countries whose governments are characterized by proposing initiatives that improve the quality of life of citizens, have opened the debate on rights and benefits for workers. In the case of the first, its president Gabriel Boric asked to resume in Parliament a proposal to bring the weekly workday to 40 hours. In Colombia, expectations are growing around a labor reform that will be discussed in 2023.
In recent years the way of working has changed. The pandemic opened up wide possibilities of working from home, while the digital world offers new opportunities to which more and more workers are joining.
Despite this, in Latin America several countries have labor legislation that dates back several years, and even decades, based on a demographic situation that is not similar to that of the current times.
In this sense, Chile, and thanks to a statement by its president Gabriel Boric, is willing to join the few Latin American nations that have made changes in their labor legislation and especially in terms of the duration of working hours. On August 23, the head of state asked Congress to discuss the reduction to 40 hours per week of the working day, a request that is presented a few days for consultation on the new Constitution.
“This is a Profamilia project, which aims to live well and I have no doubt that these improvements are essential means to get closer to a new Chile, one that is fairer and more inclusive,” said the president.
The petition brings to the fore an initiative proposed in 2017 by then-deputy Camila Vallejo, currently a minister in Boric’s Cabinet, who based her project on the fact that she herself could generate employment in the country.
“I believe that approving the 40 hours is a way to respond to a cry that has been present for a long time in workers and working families: put at the center that work serves to live and not live simply to work. I believe that this is the fundamental meaning of the project, and I believe that it is also part of the demands of the people of Chile,” Vallejo said on that occasion during an interview offered to Radio U of Chile.
On the other hand, and unlike Vallejo’s initiative, the new proposal will incorporate a gradual approach to the establishment of the new day. In this sense, a period of five years is established in which companies, in accordance with their reality, will be able to adapt to the new day.
Colombia: Petro delayed the presentation of the labor reform for 2023
Another South American nation that has been working with a view to bringing its labor laws up to date, and also offering a better quality of life for workers, is Colombia.
President Gustavo Petro announced on August 23 that his labor reform bill would be presented in 2023. However, the remaining months to end 2022 will be used for debate with businessmen, unions and other sectors in order to improve the working environment.
“We have called on business associations and workers’ unions to agree with the Ministry of Labor on a labor reform and a labor statute that dignifies the working people,” Petro wrote on Twitter.
We have called on the business associations and the workers’ unions to agree with the Ministry of Labor on a labor reform and a labor statute that dignifies the working people.
The result of this agreement will be presented as a bill. https://t.co/7QY2dMUKTg
– Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) August 24, 2022
Among the aspects highlighted by the initiative, the Government seeks a vindication of labor rights, among them, the payment of night hours which, according to what was reported, could begin to be counted as of six in the afternoon.
On the other hand, the project provides for salary equality between men and women in addition to putting an end to contracts for the provision of services that allow greater job stability.
On August 25, the Ministry of Labor reached an agreement with the sectors involved for the presentation of reports before the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The aforementioned office reported that this year the nation must submit 28 reports to the ILO, including those referring to working hours, weekly rest, vacations, maternity protection, occupational safety and health, and wage setting. .
Lula would seek to repeal the 2017 law
According to Brazilian media, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, candidate for the Presidency of Brazil for the Workers’ Party, would be working on a project to repeal the labor law established in the country in 2017 under the presidency of Michel Temer.
According to the political organization, the current law would be replaced by legislation “that will protect workers, restore their rights while strengthening unions by building a new collective bargaining system that will pay attention to informal and application workers.” , explained the PT in a document quoted by the publication ‘Bloomberg Línea’.
With EFE and local media
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