The Chilean Parliament definitively adopted, on Tuesday April 11, a law reducing working time from 45 to 40 hours per week. The country thus joins Ecuador and Venezuela, the only other countries in Latin America where the working week is 40 hours, when it is 48 hours in the majority of the other countries in the region.
With our correspondent in Santiago, Naila Derroisne
After six years of discussions and parliamentary shuttle, Congress approved Tuesday, with a large majority, the bill on the reduction of working time, which was established until then at 45 hours per week. It was one of President Gabriel Boric’s campaign promises. The measure will be implemented little by little: this year, the week will increase to 44 hours, next year to 43 and so on until reaching 40 hours.
In fact, several companies had already implemented this measure, but for certain professions, it is a real small revolution. This is particularly the case for domestic workers who live with their employers from Monday to Friday. Maria Cotal Neíra has been practicing this profession for 38 years, she is also president of the union that represents her profession. ” We get up at 6 o’clock in the morning, she explains, we prepare the children for school, we serve breakfast. And then it’s routine: cleaning, shopping, cooking, walking the animals, watering the plants. And we finish around 9 or 10 in the evening. »
“ This is great progress »
With her colleagues, they work days of an average of 12 hours and often work in Santiago. They rarely see their families since many live outside the capital. ” Of course it affects the family, she testifies. Sometimes, when I want to stand up for my grandchildren, my daughter tells me that I have no say. She said to me: “You don’t know what it’s like to be a mother”. But of course only if I know! I had to raise another woman’s children to put bread on your table. »
For these women, the week will not be reduced to 40 hours but the new law provides that they will have two additional days off per month. ” This is a great step forward and we are very happy, emphasizes Maria Cotal. But the Chilean employer still thinks that we are his slaves, in an elegant way, because he would never assume the bottom of his thought. »
According to official figures, there are 400,000 domestic workers in Chile. But it is estimated that for each declared worker, there are two, or even three, who are not.
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