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For the Minister of Labor, Ángel Custodio Cabrera, the remarkable job recovery recorded by Dane in August is a clear sign that the country’s economic recovery has already begun, and he foresees that the figures for September will be much more encouraging. With optimism, the minister affirms that the government programs to be executed will generate more than two million jobs.
Minister Cabrera refers in the following interview to the readjustment of the minimum wage, the definition of which is about to begin at the labor agreement table, and states with marked emphasis that “the readjustment has to protect the purchasing power of the worker.” Cabrera does not say so clearly, but the analysis he makes leads to think that the government’s position will be to defend an increase that will range between 5 and 6%. Despite the figures that reveal an improvement in the unemployment rate, the business community insists on making hiring rules more flexible to create jobs …(You may be interested: This has been the recovery of formal jobs in the country).
Does the Government intend to authorize changes in the labor regime?
The National Government has been clear that any proposal for a labor reform will be the product of a prior social dialogue. Although it is true that the health emergency has led us to adopt innovative strategies for job creation, to respond to structural issues we have been working in the Employment Mission, which has already started and is an initiative that seeks to deliver preliminary recommendations in a short time . That is why it is important that everyone participate in this dialogue.
In any case, it is not about major reforms, but about facilitating hiring …
Today, hiring in Colombia offers multiple alternatives that are adjusted to the needs of each employer. We have fixed-term, indefinite-term contracts, contracts for the provision of services; Even part-time hiring is possible today in Colombian labor regulations.(You may be interested: In four months, more than three million jobs were recovered).
Do you think the hopeful trend in August will continue?
Yes. From September and the following months, with the entry into operation of more economic activities, it is predictable that if entrepreneurs and the general public take self-care actions with full awareness, the reactivation of economic sectors will allow the gradual reincorporation of of work to the labor market, with a notable improvement in the indicators, and far exceeding this critical panorama of the months of April to July.
What stimuli does the Executive plan to adopt to promote the generation of new jobs?
With a set of 465 projects, which include 5 commitments, such as: job creation, clean and sustainable growth, support for the poorest and most vulnerable, legal support for the countryside and peace, as well as the health of all Colombians, which will generate close to 2 million direct and indirect jobs and will have public and private investment. for more than $ 150 billion.
Will about 2 million jobs be created, from when?
The idea is that the projects begin to be executed as soon as possible to reach that figure. The projects include works with executions from this year and others in 2021 and 2022.(Also read: Keys to getting a job during the pandemic).
And what works will generate so much hiring of employees?
I can mention key projects such as the Bogotá metro, the new airports in Cartagena, San Andrés and the Aerocafé, and highways such as ALO Sur. There are projects to connect the country with more than 14 national and 8 regional roads.
But those are works of other ministries, and that of Labor?
In the first job certification for young people under 28 years of age, also for older adults who have not yet achieved their requirements for a pension, and in the identification of barriers to access to the labor market, our study of labor gaps in sectors such as laboratories clinical and orange economy.
What exactly are those barriers that you denounce?
They are structural type barriers. We are detecting deficiencies in the training of human talent.
And what will be done to eliminate them?
These identified gaps are the first input for academic and technical training entities, the Sena, and other public and private entities, reinforce their curricula and education and training programs.
Will there be any kind of encouragement for companies to rehire their laid off employees?
The key lies in the reactivation of the economy, in safe conditions and self-care by employers, workers and citizens in general. I don’t dislike considering measures to encourage new hires, but we have to keep watching how the figures evolve, which in August already gave us a very good sign of recovery, with over three million jobs since April.(We recommend: The unemployment rate for August was 16.8%).
Consider measures and incentives like what, Minister?
A very important incentive that we have taken forward is to support payroll and premiums for companies with financial difficulties. Soon we will present an incentive to protect workers who must undergo preventive isolation by medical order, the idea is always to protect employment.
American companies that operate in Colombia insist on the need to adopt an abbreviated procedure to speed up dismissals, which consults the reality of the employer and the worker, what do you answer them?
I have not considered it. In any case, the issues that employers and workers want to put on the table deserve a broad dialogue. In the Employment Mission, precisely one of the technical tables studies issues of our labor regulations, and we want to hear all the ideas, both from some and others.
How is work progressing in the Employment Mission?
I want to share with you that the International Labor Organization (ILO) has expressed its support for the Mission and is offering us technical assistance for its development. This week we received this accolade in a virtual meeting with Guy Ryder, the CEO. The Mission, in fact, has already started and is progressing very well, the expert tables are already walking to have inputs in the short term.
In Congress, the bill that authorizes the withdrawal of up to 10 percent of the pension savings of workers who are not contributing to the system advances …
We do not accompany him, and I tell him why. The Government has always considered protecting the old age of Colombians, and that is why protecting the savings that workers are making is essential. As Minister of Labor, my role is to think about the future of the worker and guarantee the fundamental and inalienable right to a pension. The pandemic is a conjunctural situation that we must overcome, without having to compromise the pension savings of Colombians.(Also read: The number of young people who neither work nor study is increasing).
In a few days the labor agreement commission will begin to meet to define the increase in the minimum wage … With such low inflation and negative productivity, what does the Government plan to do?
Sit down to negotiate and guarantee social dialogue, as always. The fundamental thing is to protect the purchasing power of the worker. The Ministry of Labor, in its role as guarantor, will invite workers and employers to have an open and constructive dialogue that allows reaching agreed agreements.
To preserve purchasing power, Minister, it will be essential to maintain the 6% readjustment level that President Duque has decreed during his years in office. Are you in favor of this being the case?
I cannot advance you a figure, because we have not even installed the table. The figures depend on the productivity indicators reported by the Dane and on the inflation caused, and those figures must be fresh, that is, we need the most recent figures when we sit down at the table.
Do you aspire to reach an agreed agreement?
Of course. That is the very idea of negotiation. Two years ago it was achieved; last year, no. Obviously I prefer that we can re-arrange.
Can workers expect a readjustment of no less than 6% in the minimum wage for next year?
There has to be an adjustment that at least responds to inflation and preserves purchasing power. It is important to note that during the first two years of the current government, the minimum wage has increased by 6 percent both times, both in the 2018 and 2019 negotiations. That, taking into account inflation, which was barely 3.2% in 2018 and 3.8% in 2019, represented a real increase of 2.8% and 2.2%, respectively. That gives us 5% accumulated in the two years; This government has decreed the largest real increases of any government in the last 30 years.
That 5% you mention lowers purchasing power …
No, on the contrary, as I was saying now, that figure represents the increase above inflation, that is, an improvement in purchasing power.(We recommend: Retail and vehicle sales were down 12.4% in July).
Former President Uribe proposed an additional increase to that decreed by the Government, as a formula to boost the economy. He did it before the pandemic. Doesn’t it make much more sense to do it now?
I think that the employment figures are showing us that the economic recovery is the boost we needed. I do not think that this measure is necessary.
With the reactivation that has occurred differently in each city, do you think that the time has come to study a minimum wage by region?
The Ministry conducts studies to identify gaps and barriers in the labor market to propose differential public policy actions by sector and by territory.
Does the Government think of reducing the working day to facilitate work at home?
No, the National Government has not considered the reduction of working hours during the health emergency. What is allowed during the emergency, exceptionally and by mutual agreement between the employer and the worker, is that the ordinary weekly working day of forty-eight (48) hours may be distributed over four (4) days a week, with a maximum daily work of twelve (12) hours, without it being necessary to modify the internal work regulations. This measure was supported by the Constitutional Court.
And specifically what will be done to generate employment for young people?
We are going to give new impetus to the Young State program, which is an initiative led by the Ministry of Labor in coordination with the Administrative Department of Public Function, which includes incentives to carry out their work practices in the public sector.
What incentives?
The incentive consists of remunerating the practice of young people in the public sector, and giving them coverage for occupational risks. I tell you that it is a new impulse because a ruling of the Constitutional Court prevented the financing of the program with parafiscal resources from the compensation funds. Now we are going to relaunch it with resources from the nation.
YAMID AMAT
Special for THE TIME
