Haiti garment workers protest over wages, again
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Garment workers have taken to the streets of the Haitian capital for the second time in two weeks to demand a minimum wage increase.
The workers at factories making T-shirts, pants and other apparel were also demonstrating Monday against the firing of roughly 40 union members at a Port-au-Prince industrial park.Reginald Lanfontant is a union coordinator and one of the fired workers. He asserts the dismissals are “abusive” and demonstrations will continue.They’re demanding 800 Haitian gourdes per eight-hour work day. Based on current exchange rates, that’s roughly US$12.47 per day. They now earn 300 gourdes, or US$4.67.Factories are operational at the park that employs some 18,000 people.Monday’s protest had nearly 500 participants, a far smaller turnout than a May 19 rally that attracted thousands.
