{"id":3837,"date":"2025-06-24T13:11:29","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T17:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/?p=3837"},"modified":"2025-06-24T13:11:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T17:11:31","slug":"colombias-president-bypasses-lawmakers-and-issues-decree-to-let-voters-decide-on-labor-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/?p=3837","title":{"rendered":"Colombia\u2019s president bypasses lawmakers and issues decree to let voters decide on labor reform"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday bypassed legislative opposition and signed a decree summoning voters to the polls in August to decide changes to the country\u2019s labor laws, including whether workdays should be limited to eight hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decree fulfilled Petro\u2019s threat to Congress to put his labor system overhaul<\/a> before voters should senators not approve the 12-question referendum themselves. He issued the measure in a tense political climate following the Saturday shooting of opposition senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay during a public event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The referendum has become the crux of long-running tensions between the executive and legislative branches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Congress rejected Petro\u2019s labor reform twice<\/a>, most recently in March, he sent lawmakers a 12-question referendum proposal on May 1 as Colombian law requires that the Senate rule on the advisability of referendums. The legislative body two weeks later voted 49-47 against the measure, prompting Petro to accuse lawmakers of fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petro, Colombia\u2019s first leftist president, has accused Congress of working against the interest of workers and has asked them to demonstrate across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The referendum\u2019s questions include whether workers should receive double pay if they work during holidays; whether daytime workdays should end at 6 p.m.; and whether open-ended contracts should be offered to workers to prioritize job stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The disagreements between Petro and Congress<\/a> date back to the start of his term in 2022, but they have heightened as he seeks to consolidate his legacy ahead of next year\u2019s legislative and presidential elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uribe remained in critical condition Wednesday following his shooting in broad daylight Saturday during a political rally in the capital, Bogota. Authorities investigating the motive have not ruled out the possibility that it was a targeted attack on the opposition. They are also considering whether it was an attempt to destabilize the current government, or retaliation by illegal armed groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In anticipation of court challenges, Petro on Wednesday said his government will send the decree to Colombia\u2019s Constitutional Court for review. At the same time, the Council of State is considering a lawsuit seeking to annul the Senate\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 Colombian President Gustavo Pet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3839,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3837\/revisions\/3839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}