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For some time now, Uribismo has sung siren songs with its political proposals: pension bonus for one of the newborn children in the poorest homes; free education, according to the socio-economic level; cut in Congress by 30 percent; freeze what this community calls “the unpleasant” salary of congressmen; working days of maximum 40 hours a week for workers, among others.
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Could there be any of these ideas that the common man dislikes? If they are so good, why doesn’t the government of President Duque, a member of the Democratic Center, put them into effect?
Everything indicates that, as often happens in politics, one thing is speech and another is reality.
In the case, for example, of the bill that reduces the working day in Colombia from 48 to 40 hours, which ex-senator Álvaro Uribe Vélez enthusiastically proposed and that after being approved in the Senate and now will continue to be processed in the Chamber, restless in the House of Nariño and also among businessmen.
(In context: Project that reduces working hours in the country advances)
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Indeed, Bruce Mac Master, president of the National Association of Businessmen of Colombia, Andi, argued his rejection because this, he said, would make job creation more expensive.
To make matters worse, little Mac Master estimates that on average, companies will have to bear a weekly cost of $ 85,309 per person to cover the eight hours.
“This, scaled to 6.2 million employees who work more than 40 hours, would mean an annual cost of $ 26.9 billion for the economy, that is, an impact of about 2.7% of GDP in 2019”, estimated Mac Master on the morning of this Monday in the microphones of On the radio.
And, as was almost foreseeable, the proposal was rejected in the Palace, according to this station.
Sources from the Ministry of Finance assured The W that at this moment this initiative is not a good idea because it makes the labor market more expensive.
To this is added a concept that had been sent by the technical vice minister, Juan Pablo Zárate, indicating that this portfolio refrained from issuing a favorable concept to the project because “the reduction of working hours would generate negative effects on the national unemployment rate , which at this moment is high and is increasing. For this reason it is not prudent to promote this type of initiative “.
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The reduction of working hours would have negative effects on the national unemployment rate
Another argument against the modification of the working day provided by the Ministry of Finance is that, if it is reduced, the labor cost would increase due to the need to hire more workers, which would increase the cost of the payroll in a difficult context for unemployment.
In the recent past, the Palace had let former President Uribe know that it was not the time to promote some of his initiatives.
It happened when the ex-president spoke of the need to hold a Constituent Assembly to settle justice problems once and for all. An initiative that in those days had the enthusiasm of the entire bench, who positioned the urgency of such a drastic step in networks.
At that time, in an interview with FMThe President stressed that, although the country does need a reform of the justice system, he considered that this should not be done through a Constituent Assembly.
“There is a great national consensus among political sectors, parties, and the judicial branch, which have expressed that a reform of the justice system is required to correct faults, a justice closer to the citizen, that gives confidence to Colombians, and that gives guarantees to the exercise of defense and that allows citizens to exercise it in freedom as the first line, ”said Duque.
Pasture: The times that Uribism has talked about making a constituent)
Although, yes, the President rejected the categorical way of reforming the Magna Carta and qualified:
“We must look for the most expeditious mechanism that offers a prompt solution.”
But why isn’t there a tuned speech between the President and the party that brought him to power?
Carlos Arias, expert in Political Communication, believes that it is “It is very possible that the CD is seeking to connect with the citizen to balance positions that from the Executive have been more in favor of the entrepreneurs.
The most expeditious mechanism should be sought and one that offers a prompt solution
“It should be noted that the transit of this initiative he has received discussions inside the Uribista awnings; voices like those of Rafael Nieto Loaiza or even Gabriel Jaime Vallejo, Representative for Risaralda, they have shown that the initiative does not have absolute consensus ”, recalls this expert in political narratives.
“I see an eagerness to connect with citizens with measures that favor more Colombians who are at the base of the socio-economic pyramid and this may be due to the sustained decline of the President in his favor and perception of management,” says Arias.
“In addition, due to the proximity of elections in which, beyond the Executive, the parties that have more presence and strength in the Legislative, need to show solidarity with the feelings and needs of Colombians.”
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Former President Uribe, for his part, is moving forward. For him, it is not necessary to put citizens in a dilemma whether to reduce the working day: Is it labor populism or a way out of unemployment?
“I think that these qualifiers are not appropriate, nor am I going to answer them, I think that answer is not an argued answer and we hope that the debate will be generated in the Chamber, because the company must be projected into the future and the public company has many enemies politicians, “he said on Monday morning on La FM.
Thus, although there are political ideas from Uribe that are unworkable for Duque, the former president will continue forward. It is very possible that his gaze is already set on 2022 and there has been a politician in the country who separates what people want to hear is him.
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