Workers organizations called on the Colombian government Wednesday to address unemployment in the country which stood at 12.5% in January 2012, Caracol Radio reported.
The labor groups aked the government to convene March 5 or 6 to analyze the current situation and come up with plans to generate new jobs.
Julio Roberto Gomez, the president of the General Labor Confederation (CGT) said that he is not surprised by the unemployment figure because the development model established in the country does not address the reality as growth is based on the oil and mining sectors. “In Colombia employment needs to be continually formalized, the development of policies needs to be focused on controlling the curse of unemployment and increase staff numbers in the public sector,” said Gomez.
The president of the Unitary Workers Exchange (CUT) Tarsicio Mora lamented City Halls and regional governments firing employees without filling the empty posts. Mora said “We know that the majority of interim and temporary workers are being fired without appearing on official registers.” He added that there is no real commitment by the business community of Colombia to guarantee the reduction of unemployment which leads to an increase in informal employment or “moon-lighting.”
Both the CUT and the CGT stated that if there is not a solution to the employment problem, especially among young people in the county, pension contributions will not be made and the pensions time-bomb will continue ticking.
Earlier on Wednesday the national statistics agency DANE revealed the country´s unemployment statistics for the month of January.