Colombia gov't labor bill shelved after failing to reach quorum in first debate

A labor reform pushed by Colombia's government was shelved on Tuesday after a first debate failed to reach quorum in a committee in Congress' lower house, in a major legislative defeat for leftist President Gustavo Petro.

The reform aimed to reduce working hours and boost overtime pay to fight poverty. Critics said it could hurt job creation by increasing salary costs, but Petro argued the bill would solve issues like contractual instability which hurt growth.