Chile's Central Clasista union protests Kast labor reform

On 31 July, under rain in Santiago, leaders of the Central Clasista de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores de Chile handed a letter to Labour Minister Tomás Rau rejecting the labour‑reform package promoted by President José Kast’s government. The union denounced 22 measures presented by the Mesa de Reactivación Laboral, including greater flexibility of working hours, the removal of severance indemnity and the replacement of it with a minimal “event‑based” payment, calling the reforms a grave threat to hard‑won workers’ rights.

The protest coincided with the release of the National Employment Survey (ENE) showing unemployment rose 9.4 % in the April‑June 2026 quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. Union president Andrés Troncoso also recalled the six miners who died in the El Teniente accident a year earlier, linking the current reforms to broader safety and labour concerns.