Aguas Andinas Unions Report Company Refusal to Implement 40-Hour Work Week Law

Original article: Sindicatos de Aguas Andinas denuncian que la empresa se niega a aplicar la Ley de 40 horas

A serious issue has been raised by the Workers’ Union No. 2 and the Professionals and Technicians Union of Aguas Andinas, who reported that the company is refusing to enforce the 40-Hour Work Week Law.

In a public statement, the employees explained that «on April 26, a reduction in the workweek from 44 to 42 hours will take effect, and the company must comply with this regulation.»

They noted that «according to our collective agreement, the meal break is included within the work schedule. In this context, the correct application of the law would imply a workday of 38 hours and 15 minutes of effective work, plus 3 hours and 45 minutes of meal breaks per week.»

Furthermore, the unions stated, «Aguas Andinas scheduled a meeting with us on April 8 to present their latest proposal for reducing hours, without any possibility of counterproposal and with the aim of preemptively addressing the full reduction mandated by the 40-Hour Law by 2028.»

«This proposal entails modifying our collective contract, removing meal breaks as part of the workday, despite this being a historically acquired right through collective negotiations,» the statement adds.

«In practice, this would mean being left with 39 hours of effective work, plus 3 hours and 45 minutes of breaks, totaling 42 hours and 45 minutes a week,» the workers emphasized, stating that Aguas Andinas expressly indicated that, if we do not accept this modification, the company would prefer to pay the applicable fines and defer this dispute to the next collective negotiation, exercising the legal authority to deduct the meal times as a minimum standard.

Additionally, the company suggests that the ‘reduction’ apply only to administrative workers who have a recorded schedule, excluding shift workers and those contracted under Article 22, Paragraph 2.

«As union boards, we completely reject the insufficient proposal from the company, as we believe that the rights acquired through collective instruments should have been recognized, rather than failing to comply with the law, opting to pay fines, and threatening to escalate collective negotiations instead of genuinely applying the reduction in working hours,» both unions stated.

Read the full statement below:

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