The reform must be applied in every public or private company… Ignoring the law is to break democracy, he said.

At midday on Wednesday, Colombian president Gustavo Petro will sign the Labor Reform law, which Congress approved on June 20.

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His signature will put this law into effect, returning rights and recognizing the dignity of working people, the Colombian president said on social media.

“We invite you to the Quinta de Bolivar Museum House in Bogota to celebrate this historic act by which workers win. Colombia wins!” it added.

During a demonstration in Medellin on Saturday, Petro announced that thousands of Ministry of Labor inspectors will be hired to ensure compliance with the reform.

The text reads, “In Colombia, labor reform was implemented 34 years late. There are Colombians who have not been able to live their lives because before the 1991 Constitution, they had no labor rights, and after that Constitution, they waited 34 years,” said Juan Carlos Monedero, an academic and international political analyst.

“The reform must be applied in every public or private company, from media outlets to factories, from the countryside to working-class neighborhoods. Ignoring the law is to break democracy,” the Colombian president said.

The law seeks to improve conditions for more than 10 million formal workers registered in the country. Among its most important benefits is the gradual increase in the additional compensation paid to workers who labor on Sundays or holidays to 100 percent.

The labor reform also defines nighttime working hours as beginning at 7 p.m., establishes employment contracts for apprentices of the National Learning Service (SENA) and eliminates the possibility of hiring workers by the hour.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: Colombian Presidency

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