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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Lawmakers in Colombia on Wednesday once again blocked President Gustavo Petro’s efforts to overhaul the country’s labor laws, this time by rejecting a referendum that would have asked voters whether workdays should be limited to eight hours and whether workers should receive double pay if they work during holidays.
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Petro asked Congress earlier this month to approve the 12-question referendum to give voters a chance to decide on the changes that lawmakers themselves had already rejected twice. He had warned lawmakers against blocking the referendum, saying before thousands of people gathered for a Labor Day demonstration on May 1 that if they did not approve it, Colombians would punish them at the polls during the 2026 legislative elections.
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After an intense debate Wednesday, 49 senators voted against the measure and 47 in favor.
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Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, characterized the vote as fraudulent. He has repeatedly accused lawmakers of blocking his social initiatives and ignoring the demands of Colombians.
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Had lawmakers approved the referendum, voters would have answered questions such as whether daytime workdays should end at 6 p.m. and whether open-ended contracts should be offered to workers to prioritize job stability.
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In a rarely used maneuver, a group of congressmen on Wednesday successfully appealed the March dismissal of Petro’s proposed labor reform. The move allows lawmakers to again debate his proposals and potentially approve them. Lawmakers face a June 20 deadline to do so.
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