Jaime Alberto Cabal, president of Fenalco, filed a lawsuit with the State Council to temporarily strike down the decree raising the minimum wage by 23% this year. He argues the measure lacks technical backing and violates the legal framework. He warns it could lead to the loss of 772,340 jobs and the closure of numerous small and medium enterprises.
Jaime Alberto Cabal, president of the National Federation of Merchants (Fenalco), has asked the State Council to provisionally suspend the presidential decree setting a 23% increase in the minimum wage for 2026. Cabal states that the government shifted from economic variables justifying a 6.21% adjustment to a 23.7% rise, without clear and verifiable explanation.
In a statement, Cabal explained that this decision disregards the legal and constitutional framework by prioritizing the 'vital wage' concept, drawn from non-binding International Labour Organization (ILO) references. It also overlooks the exclusive authority of the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane) to define the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket, crucial for inflation measurement. 'The Executive's decision disregarded the current legal and constitutional framework by applying criteria not contemplated in the law and replacing the mandatory variables for setting the minimum wage—inflation, productivity, GDP, and wages' share in national income—with the 'vital wage' concept, built from ILO references without binding force. Furthermore, it disregarded Dane's exclusive competence as the technical authority to define and certify the CPI basket, an essential foundation for inflation measurement in the country,' he detailed.
Cabal stressed that the lawsuit aims to protect the rule of law and economic stability, not to harm workers. 'It is a defense of the Rule of Law and the country's economic stability. We call on the State Council to prioritize the general interest of the country over the government's partisan interests,' he said. If the increase remains, it is estimated to result in the loss of about 772,340 jobs and the closure of countless micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (mipymes), potentially raising inflation and directly impacting workers.
