Breaking News: Colombian Senate Blocks President Gustavo Petro’s Bid for Labor Plebiscite

This afternoon, the Colombian Senate voted 49 to 47 to defeat President Gustavo Petro’s bid to take a controversial 12-point referendum to Colombian voters that would massively alter Colombia’s current labor regime. Petro called for the referendum after the initiative repeatedly failed to pass out of congressional committee in its legislative form—once in 2023, and again earlier this year.

The initiative’s blockage caused outrage among Petro, his supporters, such as his Minister of The Interior, Armando Benedetti, some labor unions and segments of the public, but also relief among much of his political opposition, almost all of the organized business community, and even many activists and academics who claim that the initiative would worsen Colombia’s serious problem of informal employment.

According to Bogotá think-tank, Instituto de Ciencia Politica Hernán Echavarría Olózaga, the initiative “imposes formalization requirements that hinder microbusinesses and small enterprise access to the formal market, perpetuation of labor informality, already at 55.2%,” according to government statistics, while the elimination of “temporary and seasonal contracts limits the ability of sectors such as construction and services to adapt to market needs.”

Petro’s failed labor reform would have among other new rules, demanded paid time off for women experiencing menstruation.

“We urge the Senate to rethink the structural elements of the Labor Reform to take into account the disincentives to formalization, transaction costs, and citizens’ freedom to participate in the labor market. The debate must take into account that the business community is made up of more than 93% MSMEs, as well as the economic reality the country is experiencing due to political decisions. The true precariousness of employment is condemning people to informality,” added Carlos Augusto Chacón, executive director of the think tank.

Petro & Comrades Left Outraged

While many were breathing a sigh of relief, Petro and his political team were left fuming. Minister of the Interior and Petro’s primary political fixer Armando Benedetti accused the Senate President Efraín Cépeda of fraud, and threatened criminal charges, repeatedly calling him and others who disagreed with the president “malandrines” (scoundrels).

La ira es súper dañina para la presión arteriaaajajajajajajaja pic.twitter.com/qOlzodZYGy

— Miller Soto (@millersoto) May 14, 2025

“The elections were stolen, there was fraud, and they completely damaged everything related to labor rights for the working class. Poor workers. Here in this country, people don’t have a decent salary or decent jobs because of the congressmen. I think they have to appeal and see what happens in the Senate of the Republic because there was fraud there, there was an appeal, and they have to vote again,” said Benedetti in a hallway after leaving the senate chamber where he lost his composure, grabbing papers from others and pounding his fists on the bench.

Petro, who spent the last week in China committing Colombia to the country’s “Belt and Road” initiative, also denounced the senate, accusing them for fraud, apparently for voting against his wishes. After doing so two weeks ago, he called on his supporters to take to the streets On Twitter/X he said:

The referendum didn’t fail. It was scuttled by fraud, as on April 19, 1970. Senator Efrain Cepeda, knowing that the votes that gave him a majority were coming in, closed the voting process. We are facing fraud, and the people must decide. I immediately propose a meeting of the labor unions, the peasant coordination, the community action boards, the neighborhood youth committees, and the indigenous movement to take the next step. The order as president of the Republic of Colombia is that, at this time, the public forces must not use their force against the people. Their presence must be sufficient to protect the buildings of the institutions and guarantee peaceful coexistence among the citizens. Preserve peace and joy. Now it is up to the coordination of the popular movement to take the next steps, in accordance with the Constitution. The people cannot be silenced by deception. I am ready for whatever the people decide. Efraín Cepeda made the worst mistake that could possibly be made in Colombia: using fraud.

No se hundió la consulta popular. La hundieron con fraude, como en un 19 de abril de 1970.

El senador Efrain Cepeda sabedor que ingresaban los votos que la hacían mayoría, cerró la votación.

Estamos ante un fraude y el pueblo debe decidir.

Peopongo de inmediato la reunión de… https://t.co/oA1iwd3TbC

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) May 14, 2025

Former Finance Ministers Applaud The Senate

Former Finance Minister under the centrist Juan Manuel Santos administration, Mauricio Cárdenas said that he “Celebrates the Senate’s decision to say ‘no’ to the referendum. It’s the responsible decision; the Senate did a great job.”

Cárdenas also said that holding Petro’s referendum meant “throwing 750 billion pesos into the trash (cost of holding the referendum) when the country needs them to support young students who have had their Icetex loan subsidies cut off.” Icetex is a student loan program in Colombia that under Petro’s administration, despite his campaign promise of making university affordable or free, is facing a funding crisis and cannot meet student loan obligations, cutting off access to attendance.

Former Finance Minister José Manuel Restrepo also admonished Petro for his polemic statements this afternoon, saying “don’t put democracy at risk, and instead respect the institutions and their decisions. That is acting like a true democrat and a symbol of national unity.”

The Changes Petro’s Labor Reform Would Have Demanded

The key provisions of Petro’s labor reform are the following, with light analysis added by Finance Colombia. Colombia already has a somewhat restrictive labor regime, making formal employment very expensive, and keeping millions stuck in informal employment. For example, part-time and hourly employment is forbidden by law in most cases in Colombia, so a university student could not—formally, at least—work his or her way through college by working the dinner shift as a waiter. Colombian law currently requires employers to buy clothing for workers under a certain income threshold (double minimum wage), even if there is no dress requirement. This is a relic from the time when most workers were either agricultural or industrial. President Gustavo Petro’s referendum proposes the following:

1. Limit the normal workday to 8 hours between 6am and 6pm only.
2. Double pay for work on Sunday and holidays.
3. Preferential rates and incentives for micro, small and medium businesses, no details on what these rates or incentives may be, or who qualifies.
4. In addition to medical leave already covered by law, female workers would be given paid time off for menstrual periods.
5. 2 of every100 employees must be disabled, apparently with no exception for high risk, high agility jobs such as construction, agriculture. or mining.
6. Mandatory employment for college and trade school interns – obligation on the employer, not the students.
7. Mandatory social security and health coverage for delivery freelancers, such as ÜberEats, Rappi, DiDI, InDrive, etc.
8. A new labor regulatory regime for agricultural workers, no details given.
9. Eliminating outsourcing via union contracts that violate existing, or these new regimens.
10. Eliminate freelance or contractual employment for athletes, journalists, drivers, domestic workers, and babysitters – for example, the common practice of hiring freelance journalists, or paying athletes for participating in a competition would be forbidden. They must become traditional, long-term employees, as temporary contracts appear to be forbidden under the next provision:
11. Indefinite (open-ended) contracts would become the rule, so no temporary, or term contracts, such as to finish a construction project, or harvest seasonal agriculture.
12. Creation of an additional pension fund, beyond the existing, mandatory government pension scheme, for agricultural workers.
    

    Official government pamphlet promoting the referendum, with its twelve proposals.