This article develops a reflection
on the labor situation in Colombia in 2024.First, a characterization of the local working class is addressed, to
then focus on
the labor policies of the Petro government, and
finally, the current state of the union movement and recent labor
struggles are reviewed.
Characterization of the local working class
According to DANE, by 2023 the country's working class
was made up of some 25,288,000
people. Of that total, the employed population is made up of some 22,788,000
people for the same year. Additionally, and
according to data from the Ministry of Labor,
approximately 40.8% of this population (8,992,000)
are women and 59.2% (13,040,000) are men.
On the other hand, unemployed women
account for about 2.5 million people,
10.2% of the active population in 2023, according to
DANE, which represents a small decrease of
one percentage point compared to the previous period.
However, in the unemployment phenomenon,
the gender gap remains, since while women
record unemployment of 12.8%,
men experience 8.2%.
The employed women are distributed, according to
DANE, as follows:
Category Jobs %Tot
Commerce and vehicle repair
4'000.000 17.6%
Agricultural activities 3'200.000 14.4%
Public administration and
social services
2'738.000 12 %
Manufacturing industry 2'401.000 10.5 %
Arts and recreation 1'925.000 8.4 %
Professional and administrative activities
1'822.000 8 %
Transportation and
storage
1'706.000 7.5 %
Accommodation and food 1'639.000 7.2 %
Construction 1'565.000 6.9 %
Public services 589,000 2.6 %
Financial activities 422,000 1.9 %
Telecommunications and
information
403,000 1.8 %
It can be inferred that about 59.5% of female workers are employed in
the commerce and
private, public and social services sector, while 17.4% of the total
work in industry and construction, followed by the agricultural sectors,
which represent 14.4% and transport and logistics with 7.5 %.
In addition, of the global total, 12.8 million female workers and 58.8%
of the total receive a minimum wage or less, according to the Ministry
of Labor.
Of that number, 15.7% receive one (1) minimum wage and 43.1% receive
even less than that figure. Additionally, there is 16.4% of female workers
who receive between 1 and 1.5 minimum wages. Therefore, in the overall
total, 75% of female workers earn between less than 1 and 1.5 minimum wages.
The Petro government's labor policies
The Petro government and the Ministry of Labor, headed by the former
union leader of teachers, Gloria Inés Ramírez, have proposed to carry
out a change with respect to the neoliberal labor policies that have
dominated the country
for the last thirty years, achieving modest results so far.
Thus, in June 2023, the government's labor reform project was defeated
in the House of Representatives, controlled by the right-wing
opposition. The project sought to reverse the
most damaging aspects of the Uribe labor reform, Law 789 of 2002, and to
do so it prioritized
indefinite-term contracts, labor formalization, and the reduction of
outsourcing, while
reestablishing Sunday surcharges
of between 75 and 100% and the daytime workday from 6:00 a.m.
to 6:00 p.m. (current labor legislation establishes
the daytime workday until 10:00 p.m.) and extended
paternity leave.
On the other hand, in March of the same year the third National Labor
Conference was organized,
a political and academic forum, organized by the revived National
Unitary Command (CNU) and the Ministry of Labor, which sought to promote
labor reform and what union organizations have called the public policy of
decent work. Likewise, in the last 2 years there has been a change in
the negotiation policy of the minimum wage and the salary of state
workers, with
a government that is understanding and presents proposals for increases.
However, in 2023
an agreement was not reached with the union organizations in the
Concertation Commission either,
because the workers demanded a greater increase
in the minimum wage.
Current situation of the union movement
The unionization rate represented 4.6%
of the total employed population, according to the
2017 National Union Census and 3.2% according to
DANE. However, this percentage increased,
naturally, to 13.5% among the salaried population,
according to the Census and 6.5% according to the Department, and rose
again to 17.9% or
9%, depending on the source, among formal salaried people. In general,
it can be said that
there are between 1,500,000 and 800,000 unionized female workers in the
country.
The trade union movement continues to be organised around three large
trade union centres: the
majority, the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT),
followed by the Confederación General del Trabajo
(CGT) and, with a greater distance, the Confederación de Trabajadores de
Colombia (CTC). In addition, there are
four other more recent centres with weak sectoral and regional presence,
as well as a huge number of non-confederated unions, generally company
unions, with little activity and scarce membership.
In February of this year, the CUT held its
VIII Congress, which was intended to elect new delegations. In these
elections,
340,811 CUT members participated, which could represent
between 30-50% of the members, who voted
mainly for 41 lists in order to elect
the 21 members of the Executive Committee of the organisation. In the
elections, there were also about 26,571 blank votes, a significant
percentage, close to 11%. The board of directors that emerged from the
last election includes representatives from 17 unions, although a large
majority of them, 10 of them and 58.8% of the total, are state teachers
belonging to the regional unions of FECODE, from regions such as Bogotá,
Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Antioquia (the one with the largest number of
delegates), Tolima, Córdoba, Santander, La Guajira and Risaralda. In
addition, there are two delegates from the associations of
administrative workers in education such as SINTRENAL and SINTIES.
Therefore, in general, 12 boards of directors of the central and 70.5%
of the total belong to representatives of the unions of teachers and
workers in public education, the largest and most active sector of the
national union movement. In addition, there is representation from the
oil industry employees affiliated with the USO (Union
Sindical Obrera), who obtained the largest number of individual votes,
and from the public services of
SINTRAEMCALI, from the social sector of
SINTRAONGS, the recently incorporated ACEB (Colombian Association of
Bank Employees) and the agro-industrial sector,
represented by the controversial SINTRAINAGRO (the private union with
the largest number of
delegates on the board). At the last Congress of the CUT, one of the
central debates was that of the
relations of independence and cooperation with the state, where
independence was stated,
but above all support for the government of change was emphasized. On
the other hand, since 2023 there has also been a generational renewal in
the leadership of the CTC, after decades of continuity of an aging
board, as well as the departure of some of its largest organizations,
such as the ACEB of the banking sector. There is also the crisis and
division of the CGT, between a seemingly minority Uribe sector that is
organized in the so-called new board of directors led by Myriam Luz
Triana, who has come out to support the mobilizations of the right-wing
opposition and a majority and official sector, closer to the Petro
government.
Recent struggles
As we mentioned in our analysis of the situation, in 2023 there were
important workers' protests such as the mobilization at the beginning of
the previous year of the teachers of the public sector in the department
of Cauca, grouped in ASOINCA (Association of Teachers and Workers of
Education of Cauca). This mobilization reached the Plaza de Bolívar in
the capital, to denounce the poor conditions of their health service.
Also noteworthy are the protests of the provisional teachers of the
district in Bogotá, grouped in the ADE (District Association of Workers
of Education), for
perspectives of job continuity and contingency plans.
In addition, there were conflicts such as those of the workers of the
transport company
Recaudo Bogotá for stability in their contracts, the employees of
Bancamía, for better salaries and
of Bancolombia for a new collective agreement, as well as the workers of
Bavaria and Cervecería del Valle for a new convention
(deputies in the board). At the last Congress of
the CUT, one of the central debates was that of the relations of
independence and cooperation with
the state, where independence was stated, but above all support for the
government of
change was highlighted.
On the other hand, there has also been a generational renewal in the
leadership of the CTC since 2023, after decades of continuity of an
aging board, as well as the departure of some of its largest
organizations, such as the ACEB of the banking sector. There is also the
crisis and division of the CGT, between a seemingly minority Uribe
sector that is organized in the so-called new board of directors led by
Myriam Luz Triana, who has come out to support the mobilizations of the
right-wing opposition and a majority and official sector, closer to the
Petro government.
Recent struggles
As we mentioned in our analysis of the current situation, in 2023 there
were important workers' protests such as the mobilization at the
beginning of
the previous year of the teachers of the public sector in the department
of Cauca, grouped in
ASOINCA (Association of Teachers and Workers of Education
of Cauca). This mobilization
reached the Plaza de Bolívar in the capital, to
denounce the poor conditions of their health service. Also worth
highlighting are the protests of the
provisional teachers of the district in Bogotá
grouped in the ADE (District Association of
Education Workers), for
perspectives of job continuity and contingency plans. In addition, there
were conflicts such as those of
the workers of the transport company Recaudo Bogotá for stability in
their contracts, the employees of Bancamía for better salaries and
of Bancolombia for a new collective agreement, as well as the workers of
Bavaria and Cervecería
del Valle for a new union agreement that
improves their working conditions.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Uhqplnc2cfcjAwT97QZiyI8umDFkxL8/view?pli=1
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