Labor reform: Senate adjourned and debate continues this Thursday

This Wednesday, the discussion of labor reform began in the Senate plenary session. The Senate pledged to advance the initiative in the coming days to reconcile the proposal with the House vote six months ago.

Senate President Efraín Cepeda said the voting process for the articles will continue on Thursday, June 12, starting at 8:30 a.m.

The debate resumes

With 66 votes to 25, the majority report was approved and voting on the articles begins.

Labor Minister Antonio Sanguino requests approval by the House of Representatives. " This decree calling for the referendum, which meets all legal requirements, will remain in effect until Congress discusses and processes the labor reform as it emerged from the House of Representatives ."

Senator Felipe Lemos, the rapporteur, devoted a section to presenting the issues that remained from the labor reform approved by the Chamber. Among the aspects that remained intact were: domestic service, flexible hours for workers with care responsibilities, teleworking , and others.

See more: 'Petro signed a self-coup': Miguel Uribe's video on the referendum

Jhon Jairo Roldán emphasized that conciliation in the House is still pending. The other coordinator and rapporteur stated that the report contains multiple agreements and that even the conciliation of the House text could lead to more consensus-building positions.

After more than an hour of recess, and in the midst of signing the decree calling for the referendum, the plenary session resumed debate . Amidst the discussion of the proposals, a one-hour recess was declared to reach a consensus.

In the midst of the debate, senators and representatives of the Historic Pact rejected the claim that their report only reflects the leftist perspective . They assert that these are the agreements reached in the House.

Senator Juan Felipe Lemos, the second coordinating rapporteur, noted that seven points separate the majority's report from Aida Avella's. He asserted that the text of the Historic Pact "represents a single vision."

Jhon Jairo Roldán spoke on behalf of the rapporteurs who signed the majority text. Although he asserted that they respect the position of Senator Aida Avella, he requested that it be archived, as it does not reflect all the agreements. Although Senator Avella asserted that there are several points in common, she emphasized the differences: employment contracts for SENA apprentices, prohibition of union contracts, extension of paternity leave, among other points. During the plenary session, Miguel Uribe's colleagues in the party paid tribute to Miguel Uribe following the attack that has him fighting for his life.

At the beginning of her presentation, Aida Avella focused on the regression of workers' rights over the past 30 years. She also outlined the actions against unionism during that time.

Before the start of the debate

Before beginning the presentation of the labor reform, Senate President Efraín Cepeda reported that Senator Aida Avella was with the other speakers outside the chamber seeking consensus on the report. Senator Aida Avella began her presentation by reporting that her proposal has several articles in common with the majority report.

The session began at 10:00 a.m. After nearly two hours of reviewing obstacles, the discussion of the presentations began.

Juan Sebastián Lombo Delgado THE TIME