Dominican Republic workers want a 17% wage hike not “ridiculous” 11%

Santo Domingo.- The labor unions on Friday proposed a salary increase of 17 percent for this year and revised to negotiate another hike in 2014, according to the inflation and the cost of basic staples.

Jacobo Ramos, spokesperson of the labor unions grouped in the CNTD, said employers have offered three “ridiculous and unacceptable” salary increases of 8%, then 9%, and yesterday’s 11%, which he affirms is nowhere near the 17% adopted two years ago.

"If employers want to get out of the gridlock, let the wage increase talks flow, want their employees to improve their standard of living and do their job with ease and efficiency, we place this proposal on a silver platter for them," he said.

Ramos warned that though the unions don’t want a showdown or problems in the labor sector, and a solution to the salary issue instead, it has to be "one that is fair, dignified and meets the needs of workers, whose wages have lost buying power with the tax reform and the high cost of staples.”

He said the basic staples for a family in Greater Santo Domingo cost 26,000 pesos per month, and even higher in the provinces.