Port-au-Prince, Feb 21 (Prensa Latina) Haitian textile workers will take to the streets today to demand salary increases and denounce that the government’s salary adjustment proposal is insufficient, confirmed trade unionist Dominique St. Eloi.
“Employers are required to pay 1,500 gourdes (about $14.70) as salary adjustment and social support. On Monday we are going to change the system,” the coordinator of the National Center of Haitian Workers wrote on his Twitter account.
St. Eloi assured that the authorities proposed fees of 750 gourdes per day (about 7.30 dollars), half of what the employees claimed, arguing the high prices of basic necessities, transport and services.
The Salaries Council (CSS), for its part, offered an even lower figure of 650 gourdes per day (almost 6.40 dollars), which was flatly rejected by the trade unionists.
“We are announcing that all workers are mobilizing against the CSS mafia proposal,” St. Eloi said in response.
The Senate came out in defense of the workers, denounced the police repression and asked the head of the body to initiate an investigation to determine those responsible and punish those responsible.
Despite the recent support for the protesters, a salary increase proposal approved in the Lower House in 2019 is shelved in Parliament and was never discussed by senators.
At the time, the deputies’ recommendation generated controversy and employers threatened a wave of layoffs. Textile workers have been demanding better wages and working conditions for years, while pointing out that their productions increase the profits of big brands such as Gap, Old Navy, H&M, JC Penney and Zara, and the workers receive only a few dollars.
jf/ane
