Dominican Republic unions break off talks with a warning

Santo Domingo.- Dominican Republic’s labor unions on Wednesday warned Congress against amending the Labor Code unilaterally "and above all if it reduces workers’ rights."

The warning came from Unions Federation (CNUS) president Rafael Pepe-Abreu during a meeting with legislators in a hotel in the capital yesterday. He said labor decided to withdraw from all talks in the heels of the National Salary Committee’s failure, “where government and private sector agreed to impose a minimum wage."

He said decisions taken without labor’s presence violate Dominican Republic’s commitments to international treaties, especially the Free Trade Agreement with Central America and United States (DR-CAFTA).

Abreu said the unions withdrew from the talks after the Wages Committee issued a resolution derived in his view from an agreement between employers and government.“Any amendment to the Labor Code must be based on benefiting the worker instead of harming them, like businesses want.”