The different labor unions represented at the discussions covering possible minimum wage increases rejected a proposal for a 15% increase made by the Dominican Management Confederation (Copardom) in the presence of the Minister of Labor. The meeting in which the business sector revealed their proposal of a 15% wage hike was conducted in the offices of Labor Minister José Ramon Fadul, before the start of the formal meeting of the National Salary Commission (CNS).
Management offered the 15% pay raise, but conditioned this to a reclassification of companies by size, arguing that not all companies can afford the 15% increase.
The labor representatives are demanding a 30% across the board increase in pay. Jacobo Ramos and Rafael (Pepe) Abreu, the presidents of the National Confederation of Dominican Workers (CNTD) and the National Council of Syndicate Unity (CNUS), called the offer “unacceptable and insensitive.”
The meeting was also attended by representatives of the business sector, Fermin Acosta, the head of Copardom, and Circe Almanzar, the executive vice president of Copardom.
At the same time Ramos and Abreu said that the worker’s patience was wearing thin and this unacceptable proposal by management is pushing the workers to strike and protest, putting an end to peace in the labor sector.
Minister Fadul told reporters from the El Nacional newspaper that the government position is that the sectors involved must come up with the salary increase, as suggested by President Danilo Medina. He stressed the need for a consensus of the parties involved. Ramos, speaking for the CNTD, called management’s offer “indecent” and said that he expected a better offer in the coming days.
The Minister of Labor called on the business sector and the unions to reach an agreement because the two-year deadline for obligatory increases in minimum wages is fast approaching.
The most recent minimum wage increase was in June 2015, when wages were increased 14%. The 2015 resolution established that the minimum wage for large companies to be RD$12,873 a month, while for medium and small-sized companies minimum wages are set at RD$8,850 and RD$7,843, respectively.
30 March 2017
