Protection of fundamental rights and labour law: from hedgehog to fox

Abstract

Clustered around a new Employment Tribunals Procedure, the rules for protecting workers' fundamental rights are far from being just another procedural reform; they are the clearest sign left on the Chilean Legal System of the attempt to make constitutional rules effective in the labour sphere. At the same time, these rules represent a remarkable political expansion of Labour Law which, becames to be not only concerned with the wages conditions of the employee —as the weaker party— but is also concerned about the exercise of his constitutional rights —as citizen— within the company.