Dominican employers, big business also slam lawyer’s ‘mafias’

Santo Domingo.- The Dominican EmployersFederation Copardom and the National Business Council (CONEP) agree withcomplaints from two construction companies that lawyer’s “mafias” filefraudulent lawsuits against them and "buy" cases of workplacedisputes.

Copardom president Joel Santossaid in addition to the construction sector the mafia “cells” figure in casesof foreclosures in hotels full of guests, industries and retail businesses invarious provinces.

Newspaper Diario Libre last weekreported on a lawyer and a builder affected by the alleged mafias using fakeemployees to file lawsuits for workers and demand compensation.

The Housing Builders and DevelopersAssociation (Acoprovi) and the Dominican Construction Chamber (Cadocon) alsoagreed that the practice jeopardizes the entire sector, which they affirm hasbeen occurring for a long time, but which authorities have done nothing to prevent.

Santos stress the harm to the country’sinternational image.

He said aberrations point to thelabor code’s urgent reform to make it a tool to promote formal jobs, legalsecurity, competitiveness and development of the productive sector. "Withinthe Labor Code’s amendment we expect an update of the procedural aspects atpresent, to avert indelicacies that, as I mentioned, our labor legal framework allowstoday."

Big business

In a statement the CONEP said theLabor Code hasn’t changed in 24 years, whereas the economy and labor relationshave changed to keep the pace of the times. "The CONEP insists that shouldculminate the process of reform and present to the public a new Labor Code,which promotes the development of harmonious relations between employers andemployees as well as benefits that will improve their quality of life andcontribute to sustainable development."