For the Government, the approval of the labor law is due to the popular consultation

The labor reform was approved this Tuesday in its third reading by the Fourth Committee of the Senate . This time, the bill had minor modifications compared to the one presented in the House of Representatives.

Among the new developments, the approval of Article 11 stood out, which seeks to have the night surcharge begin at 7:00 pm; and Article 15, which seeks to ensure full pay for holidays worked, following a proposal by Senator Angélica Lozano.

(You can read: Labor reform passed its third debate in the Senate's Fourth Committee ).

Now, the bill remains for one final debate in the Senate plenary session , where it will face challenging discussions, given that the government lacks a majority in this legislative body.

Sanguino highlights the popular consultation

At the press conference following this month's session, Labor Minister Antonio Sanguino emphasized that several points of interest to the Government that were included in the report submitted to the House of Representatives were " rescued ."

(More: Popular consultation by decree goes against separation of powers, says Efraín Cepeda ).

" We managed to keep the night, Sunday, and holiday surcharges in place, maintain open-ended contracts as a general rule, limit fixed-term contracts, and limit service-based contracts ," he said.

And he added: " Labor formalization was also maintained for populations such as community mothers, those who manage school feeding programs, and other important population groups, such as journalists, cultural workers, and others ."

Likewise, the head of this department stated that several high-priority government issues remain pending, " such as the issue of employment contracts for SENA apprentices. This is an issue we will continue to focus on ."

(More: National strike: meeting points for the mobilizations on May 28 and 29 ).

Finally, Sanguino highlighted the role of the referendum in the revival of the reform as it moves through Congress, also mentioning that the government remains confident that this initiative will survive and can be convened .

" Thanks to the referendum, this labor reform was revived. Without it, this reform would be buried. For that reason, for us, the lifeline for labor and social reforms is the referendum, and we remain committed to the Colombian people exercising their power at the ballot box ," he emphasized.

PORTFOLIO