While the Minister of Labor, left-wing politician Gloria Inés Ramírez, prepares to speak on behalf of the Colombian Government at the International Labor Conference, which takes place every year in Geneva (Switzerland), three union leaders from her portfolio are preparing a meeting with the Committee on Freedom of Association of the International Labor Organization. According to Leidy Cortés, president of the union, the administration of Minister Ramírez, who has a long union history, has not fulfilled her commitments to the workers “because she is focused on carrying out the labor reform in Congress.”
The unions in charge of labor relations went on strike on May 23, and “zero hour,” when workers sealed the main headquarters of the Ministry in protest, was on May 31. The cessation of activities is maintained. It is a panorama similar to that of many other Governments, but in this case the minister has been a union leader, was a member of the executive committee of the Unitary Central of Workers of Colombia (CUT), the largest union center in the country, and was president of the Colombian Federation of Educators, the largest union in Colombia, with more than 270,000 members.
Ramírez, a member of the Communist Party, was one of the first cabinet members appointed by President Gustavo Petro, the first leftist president of contemporary Colombia. Upon her appointment, Petro described her on her social networks as “a defender of human rights and workers’ demands.” Her trust in Ramírez has been such that she is one of the heads of portfolios that he has not relieved in 22 months of his mandate, and he also entrusted her with two of his three major social reforms: that of the pension system and that of the labor.
Despite all this, since the Government has one of its political and social bases in the unions, the Ministry of Labor faces a labor crisis. The 16 unions that officially have their portfolio requested at the beginning of the year the negotiation of a collective agreement. The discussion formally began on March 17, 2023 and ended with a list of commitments that, according to the union members, have not been fulfilled. One of the breaks occurred at the end of May, when the minister reported that the Government had approved a special bonus that is established in the agreement. According to Cortés, the union leader, it was not enough. “The bonus announced by the minister is for one time only, this year, but the negotiation indicated that it had to be perpetual. That resolution is a little content, we are not alms officials,” she indicated.
With the indefinite strike underway, three trade unionists traveled to Geneva to participate in the International Labor Conference. They seek to have a space to present their disagreements with Ramírez’s management to union leaders from around the world. Although they still do not have a date for the meeting, one of the three delegates, Arturo Gómez, confirmed to this newspaper that they are looking to speak at the Freedom of Association Committee next week, just before the minister’s arrival at the event. The Ministry’s press office assures that the date on which Gloria Inés Ramírez will speak before the great world assembly of the ILO has not been defined.
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Union pressures beyond the Ministry
Although the Ministry of Labor is the only entity of the Executive in which the strike has been declared, the Government elected with the flags of the social movements is also carrying out difficult negotiations in other entities such as the Colombian Pension Administrator (Colpensiones) and the Directorate of National Taxes and Customs (Dian). Sebastián Galeano, labor lawyer and representative of several unions, explains that in them the Government has used the same discourse. “I am not surprised that the negotiations do not reach the best conclusion, because their messages have been clear in their macroeconomic policy. They have been more fiscal and have raised the flags of austerity more than any other Government. “His message is that of austerity in all entities, and in negotiations, that is what prevails,” he told EL PAÍS.
Galeano legally represents the union Asociación Sindical por la Integridad de Colpensiones (Asincolp), which brings together Colpensiones officials, an especially important entity for a Government that is close to carrying out a pension reform in which all workers will make contributions to the public system. . The lawyer explained that this Thursday, June 6, the union members left the negotiation table, after the entity’s representatives demanded that they leave their cell phones in a basket before entering the room, to avoid leaks. “That goes against the principles because our negotiation has been public. First, because there is nothing to hide; Second, because in the opening minutes we made it clear that electronic devices were going to be allowed,” he noted.
According to Galeano, although the negotiation table has been active for more than a month, issues related to salary or economic issues have not yet been discussed. “Very small agreements have been reached in the first stage; Then the negotiation in the welfare chapter stalled,” he explained. This newspaper sought out the Colpensiones press office to find out their version of the progress of the negotiation, but until the time of publication of this article they had not responded.
María Alejandra Martínez, the president of Asincolp, also mentioned that in 2023 the same president of the entity, Jaime Dussán, promised the unions that he would listen to the requests and demands of his workers. “But we do not see the will of the entity. And we did not expect that having a director who comes precisely from the union movement.” Dussán was also president of Fecode, the largest educators’ movement in the country. The union leader does not rule out that Colpensiones, like the Ministry of Labor, will go on strike if negotiations are not reached with the Government.
Another union that has maintained its discontent is Sintradian, made up of officials from the National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN). Last May 18, shortly before the then director Luis Carlos Reyes was appointed by the president as Minister of Commerce, the 19 union organizations of the DIAN marched in Bogotá. They demanded the resignation of the academic. John Restrepo, a member of Sintradian, said that the negotiation table is paused due to the change of director, but warned that they have in their list of requests more than 100 demands pending to be discussed, such as promotion contests within the entity. The new head of the entity, Jairo Villabona, took office this Wednesday, June 5.
While the Government that was elected with the support of unionism faces these simultaneous negotiations, its labor reform presented remains stalled in the first debate in the Seventh Chamber Commission. With less than two weeks left before the end of the legislature, its collapse is imminent.
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