The bill, which the government claimed was intended to improve workers' conditions and offer them guarantees, collapsed after eight of the 14 senators voted to dismiss it.

A Colombian Senate committee on Tuesday rejected a labor reform promoted by the government of President Gustavo Petro, in another legislative defeat for the president in his bid to approve decisive economic and social changes he promised during his campaign.

Labor reform was one of the main initiatives of Petro, who took office in August 2022 as the first leftist president in Colombia's history, with the promise of reducing inequality, exclusion, and poverty in the country of 50 million people.

The bill, which the government claimed was intended to improve workers' conditions and offer them guarantees, collapsed after eight of the 14 senators on the Seventh Committee voted to dismiss it, although six opposed it.

This is the second time the reform has been rejected. In June 2023, a legislative committee rejected it, forcing the government to reintroduce it.

The reform sought to increase the surcharge from 75% to 100% for working on Sundays and holidays, set the daytime work schedule between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., increase the nighttime surcharge, guarantee union rights, extend paternity leave, and regulate work on digital platforms.

The project had sparked opposition from business associations due to the increase in labor costs, which they said would translate into reduced hiring.

The initiative failed despite Petro calling for demonstrations on Tuesday in support of labor and health reforms, in which thousands of people took to the streets of major cities to demand Congress approve the reforms.

The president also recently announced a referendum to allow citizens to decide on the future of the reforms, given the lack of support in Congress, which he described as a blockage to his initiatives.

"The Colombian Congress is turning its back on the people (...). The people must rebel with the greatest possible force. We do not tolerate tyrannies," Petro told a crowd before the commission rejected the labor reform.

The Government announced the issuance of decrees to improve workers' conditions.

Petro secured approval in mid-2024 for a pension reform that was challenged before the Constitutional Court, which could overturn it.