Reacting to a report on the Bonao free zone carried last week by the daily El Siglo, Minister of Labor Dr. Rafael Alburquerque announced yesterday that his department will initiate an investigation into alleged worker abuses in the zones. The paper’s reporters claim to have personally witnessed blows against pregnant workers. Women workers told the reporters that they receive slaps, kicks and threats with scissors if they refuse the sexual advances of floor supervisors. The paper also reported worker claims that they are summarily fired without dismissal pay if they ask for overtime pay or join a trade union, while the provincial representative of the Ministry of Labor does nothing out such abuses. Dr. Alburquerque said that he takes the charges seriously and will have all the facts checked out. Zone businesses found to be practicing such abuses would be banned from the Dominican labor market. If Ministry of Labor workplace inspectors are found to have ignored such abuses, "they will pay for their errors." Alburquerque said that a formal complaint of physical abuse against a worker has not been filed with the ministry since 1991, and a tripartite (government, labor, business) commission has been created precisely to avoid such situations by dealing jointly with any worker complaints.
