Impact on the negotiating faculty of the unions facing an eventual labor reform

Abstract

Through this work, reflection will be made on the impact that the eventual labor reform could have on unions in Colombia, regarding their ability to negotiate individual petition lists. To achieve this, consultation and investigative analysis of national and international authors were employed, using descriptive methodology that involves comparative analysis of the regulation of the principle of negotiation autonomy in Colombia in comparison to other legal frameworks such as Argentina and Mexico.
In general, the results obtained regarding the ability to negotiate individual petition lists in each of the aforementioned countries are as follows: (i) In Colombia, currently, negotiations of petition lists by labor unions mostly occur individually, with some exceptions; (ii) in Argentina, individual negotiation is more frequent than in Colombia, unions have less presence in the country, and employees have more autonomy to negotiate their working conditions; (iii) Similarly, in Mexico, individual negotiation is more common than in Colombia and Argentina, with unions having less presence in the country and employees having more autonomy to negotiate their working conditions. Generally, the results obtained regarding the ability to negotiate individual petition lists in each of the mentioned countries indicate similarities in their negotiation form, largely based on the autonomy of labor unions.
Therefore, we can conclude, based on the arguments outlined here, that an eventual reform affecting the ability to negotiate individual petition lists would have a significant negative impact. As included in the current labor reform articles, aimed at modifying negotiation unity, such changes would weaken the position of unions as employee representatives, leading to greater inequality in labor conditions and making it more difficult for these organizations to advocate for the rights of their members.