Dominican Republic workers mark Labor Day with wage protest

Santo Domingo.- International Workers’ Day finds the country’s labor and management in the midst of heated dispute over a wage increase.

The unions grouped in the CNUS), the CASC, and other associations have been denouncing that the labor situation, especially salaries, jeopardize the workers.

CASC general secretary Gabriel del Río listed the loss of purchasing power among the workers’ gripes, which in his view “affects our rights, and to some extent affects the economy of all.”

He said large companies currently pay an “insufficient” minimum monthly wage of RD$12,872 (US$268.16); medium-sized companies RD$8,849; and small ones RD$7,843.

Del Río took part in a protest Monday at Parque Independencia. to demand improvements in their rights to social security, freedom to unionize, better wages, collective bargaining, and “the possibilities to live with dignity.”