Colombia: first employers’ union in the country established

On 2 November the Colombian ministry of labour gave approval to the Sindicato de Empresarios por Colombia (Siempre Colombia) as a union organisation for employers, making it the first of its kind in Colombia. “This new union aims to present a model of social innovation that fosters the country’s development and features entrepreneurs from various sectors of micro, small, medium and large companies from different productive sectors of the country, with a modern and disruptive vision but that focuses on market development and promotes enterprise,” the employers’ union told the press. Siempre Colombia brings together more than 500 business leaders from different regions of the country. Unlike trade unions, which only defend their members in Colombia, the employers’ organisation says it will work for all businesspeople. “We will not proselytise politically or be registered in a party, but we have a political spirit of governance. We want to be part of the decision-making process, to be part of negotiations over the minimum wage and, why not, to represent employers at the [International Labour Organization]. We also want to work in the regions,” underlined the organisation’s president Juan Nicolás Gaviria Bermúdez.