As per reports, trade unions in Ecuador have announced a nationwide mobilization and strike for 13 March, in protest against Agreement 046 issued by the Ministry of Labor, which allows the reorganization of the 40-hour workweek into schedules that could extend up to 12 hours per day.

• The call to mobilize was led by the United Workers’ Front (FUT) and supported by the Ecuadorian Confederation of Free Trade Union Organizations (CEOSL) and the General Union of Workers of Ecuador (UGTE).
• Union leaders argue that the measure undermines existing labor protections, enables employers to unilaterally define work shifts, and effectively eliminates overtime pay, which can represent up to 30 percent of workers’ income.
• Labor Minister Harold Burbano described the proposal as a final draft to be discussed with employers and unions and stated that the 40-hour weekly limit would be respected, with overtime compensated through time off rather than pay.
• However, unions reject this approach, arguing that in practice it modifies the standard eight-hour workday and allows night and weekend work without legally mandated surcharges.
• The FUT has announced it will file constitutional challenges against Agreement 046, while accusing the government of adopting the draft law without incorporating union or parliamentary amendment proposals.