{"id":47861,"date":"2025-04-22T17:27:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T21:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/colombian-government-reveals-questions-it-plans-to-pose-to-voters-in-referendum-on-labor-reform\/22\/04\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T17:27:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T21:27:31","slug":"colombian-government-reveals-questions-it-plans-to-pose-to-voters-in-referendum-on-labor-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/colombian-government-reveals-questions-it-plans-to-pose-to-voters-in-referendum-on-labor-reform\/22\/04\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Colombian government reveals questions it plans to pose to voters in referendum on labor reform"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n<\/p>\n

\n

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 Colombia\u2019s government Tuesday published the contents of a proposed referendum on reform of the nation\u2019s labor laws<\/a>, that seeks to give employees greater access to health benefits and overtime pay. If approved, however, it could make it harder to create jobs in Latin America\u2019s fourth largest economy.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of the Interior published 12 questions that it plans to include in a national referendum, known in Colombia as a popular consultation. A date hasn\u2019t been set for the referendum, which still requires approval from Colombia\u2019s Senate.<\/p>\n

The questions ask voters if they agree or disagree with reforms to Colombia\u2019s labor laws, including requiring food delivery platforms to provide health insurance for freelancers and requiring companies to pay their employees double their daily rate when they work on Sundays.<\/p>\n

Another question asks voters if “daytime work should go from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.\u201d implying that employees working outside those hours should be paid extra.<\/p>\n

The government has previously proposed that companies pay employees a 35% bonus for any time worked outside regular daytime hours.<\/p>\n

Business groups in Colombia oppose the reforms, arguing they will make it harder for small and medium enterprises to provide proper labor contracts to their workers, while encouraging them to hire people informally, paying them in cash. Trade groups have also argued that the government’s reforms do little to create new jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government\u2019s reforms do not recognize the reality of 16 million informal laborers and unemployed people in Colombia,\u201d Jaime Alberto Cabal, the president of Colombia\u2019s National Association of Merchants said in a video published on X.<\/p>\n

The referendum will also ask voters if a special fund should be created to provide pensions to rural workers, and if companies should be obliged to hire \u201cat least two people with disabilities for every 100 workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a speech on Monday, President Gustavo Petro<\/a> said he will lead a march to Colombia\u2019s Congress on May 1 to pressure legislators into giving the referendum a green light.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for the people to make their own decisions\u201d Petro said Monday in a nationally televised speech, where he argued that Colombia\u2019s Congress has been trying to \u201cdeny the people\u201d the right to decide their future.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s push for a referendum comes as Colombia\u2019s president fails to get the nation\u2019s Senate to pass legislation on labor laws and health care, which are central to his economic agenda.<\/p>\n

Petro is now trying to get around this impasse by getting some of his reforms passed by way of a referendum, a move that no Colombian government has tried before.<\/p>\n

Political analysts say it will be tough for the president to get enough voters to support his proposals, even if they sound attractive for workers seeking more rights.<\/p>\n

Under Colombian law, at least one third of the nation\u2019s eligible voters must participate in popular consultations for their results to carry any legal weight. That means the proposed referendum would need approximately 13 million votes for its results to be implemented.<\/p>\n

Petro won the 2022 presidential election with 11 million votes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere might be institutional actors, such as labor unions, who are very interested in this referendum\u201d said Yan Basset a political analyst at Bogota\u2019s Rosario University. \u201cBut their capacity to mobilize voters is limited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basset said the referendum gives Petro a reason to mobilize his party\u2019s bases, ahead of next year\u2019s presidential election, giving the president’s party somewhat of an electoral advantage.<\/p>\n

But if the referendum does not pass, it could also hurt the president, Basset said, because \u201cthe idea that he is representing the interests of the people\u201d would lose credibility.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s government Tuesday published the contents of a proposed referendum on reform of the nation’s labor laws, that