La apuesta por un reconocimiento constitucional amplio del derecho al trabajo y a la seguridad social en Ecuador

The recognition of the right to work in the post-war social constitutionalism was marked by, among many things, the inclusion of the division of labor between the paid and the unpaid one. On one hand, the paid labor was integrated and recognized in the constitutional norms and was the base for many social rights. On the other hand, unpaid labor is completely deprived of constitutional and normative recognition and therefore is deemed to be ignored and accumulated under the paid labor. This classification is based on the division of work by gender introduced by the alliance between the patriarchy and the capitalist system that was absorbed by the norms of the post-war social constitutionalism. The division of labor by gender under this constitutional frame has pervaded the norms that have ruled the social security of workers. Is it possible to recognize the unpaid labor (or care-work) in constitutional terms and ensure its rights? This article supports the idea that it is not only possible but also essential; the recognition process must involve the protection of the rights of the people that do unpaid care-work. Ecuador’s constitution shows the way in which new Latin American constitutionalism has included a wide conception of labor, a definition that encompass labor valued in economic terms or paid as well as unpaid work related to care and life reproduction. Nevertheless, Ecuador’s example is central to strength the normative development of the previous law, because it shows that even when it is possible to change the definition of work it does not imply that it is going to be easy in legislative technical terms and from a doctrinal point of view. La integración del derecho al trabajo en el constitucionalismo social de posguerra se caracterizó, entre otras cuestiones, por la incorporación de la división del trabajo, diferenciando entre aquél remunerado, integrado en las normas constitucionales y sobre el que se asentó en gran medida el reconocimiento de un amplio conjunto de derechos sociales; y el no remunerado, ausente del reconocimiento constitucional y normativo y condenado a la invisibilización y a ser acumulado sobre el anterior. Esta diferenciación se fundamentó, evidentemente, en la división sexual del trabajo integrada en la conjunción del patriarcado con el sistema capitalista y recogida en las normas del constitucionalismo social de posguerra. Sobre un marco constitucional permeado por esta división sexual del trabajo, el conjunto de normas qu