Labor takes Dominican leader to task: Raise wages

Santo Domingo.-Labor leader Rafael Pepe Abreu on Thursday challenged president Danilo Medinato ´practice what he preaches´ raising government wages, while employersjustify the private sector´s low wages.

Abreu reacted toMedina’s statement that the country cannot compete with low wages andinformality. “The President forgets that as head of state he´s the mainemployer.”

The head of the CNTDlabor union said Medina should go from words to deeds by including a wageincrease for low-income public sector employees in next budget year´s.

He said it´sbeen eight years since the Government increased salaries despite the fact thatthere are workers and pensioners who earn as little as RD$5,000 (US$111.00) permonth.

Tit for tat

Meanwhile thepresident of the Dominican employers association (Copardom) said to improve wages,productivity must be increased.

Joel Santos saidthe increases in private sector salaries have been “dignified,” despite that thehighest minimum wage is around RD$12,800 per month, and while monthly expenses foran average family of four exceeds RD$27,000.