Colombia’s Senate approves labor bill that would mean more pay and protections for workers

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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s Senate on Tuesday night approved a labor bill that is expected to grant workers more overtime pay while making it harder for companies to hire employees on short-term contracts.

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The bill’s approval comes as tensions have been increasing between the Senate and President Gustavo Petro over reforms to the economy and health system that have polarized the nation’s politics and tested the separation of powers in Colombia’s fragile democracy.

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Petro has repeatedly accused Congress of blocking his reforms and last week issued a decree that called on Colombia’s elections agency, the National Registrar, to organize a referendum on labor laws.

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The agency said Tuesday it would wait for Colombian courts to decide if it was legal for it to organize the referendum, because the Senate had voted against the referendum last month.

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Petro has threatened to change Colombia’s constitution, by calling for a constituent assembly, if his request for a referendum on labor laws is not granted, and in a post on X Tuesday, said that those who did not approve the referendum were committing “treason.”

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Opposition leaders have accused the president of developing an authoritarian streak, as he tries to override decisions made by Congress.

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The labor bill approved by Colombia’s Senate on Tuesday includes many of the changes to Colombia’s labor laws proposed by Petro’s party, the Historical Pact. It increases surcharges paid to employees who work Sundays and also makes companies pay more for late evening shifts, which is likely to apply to many retailers, restaurants and hotels.

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The bill also says delivery apps must formally hire delivery workers as freelancers or as full-time employees and help to pay for their health insurance.

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Business associations in Colombia oppose the changes, arguing they will raise the cost of employing people and could ultimately increase unemployment.

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Currently, 56% of Colombian workers labor with no contracts, in what is known as the informal economy. Economists expect the reforms to push more people into informality, while supporters of the bill argue they are just pushing for the restoration of rights workers had in the early 1990s, before Colombia began to make labor laws more flexible.

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The Senate and House of Representatives must now reconcile the differences in the bills each chamber drafted and then agree on a final version of the bill.

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Petro wrote in a message on X that he will continue to push for the referendum until legislators from both chambers have voted on a final bill.

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