Minister of Labor Rafael Alburquerque said that the government will not issue permits for new workers to be recruited in Haiti to cut sugar cane in the DR. He said that the new owners of the state sugar mills and plantations will have to improve working conditions in order to attract Dominican workers or Haitians already living in the DR, most of whom originally came to cut sugar cane and then moved on to the better-paying construction jobs. The Minister said that he is abiding by the law that establishes that only 20% of the employment of a company can be foreign. He said that the Ministry of Labor has penalized 300 companies for violating the measure. The companies prefer to pay the fine, which is not high, and continue to hire the Haitian workers. Undocumented Haitian workers accept less pay than Dominicans, work longer hours, demand little regarding their working conditions and are less likely to request fulfillment of labor legal benefits. Meanwhile, Senator for Pedernales, Angel Pérez y Pérez denounced that army trucks are being used to transport Haitians recruiting in Haiti to cut sugar in the DR.
