Press Release for Picket in Solidarity with Haitian Minimum Wage Struggles

march on parliamentMiami, FL– A group of community residents will gather in front of the Haitian Consulate of Miami on Wednesday, August 19th, from 12-2pm to support workers in Haiti who are fighting for a minimum wage of 200 gourdes a day (5 USD).

Although Parliament passed legislation raising the minimum wage to 200 gourdes, President Préval has blocked its implementation, and instead is attempting to negotiate a lower wage of 150 gourdes (3.75 USD) per day. President Préval argues that the increase will cause massive unemployment and disinvestment by corporations with factories in Haiti.

In response, on August 4, 2009, over 10,000 workers took over factories in the sweatshop district of Port au Prince in protest to this proposed cut. Despite studies done by the Haitian government and the Worker Rights Consortium, which suggest that 200 gourdes per day is less than half the subsistence needs of family of three, workers see this adjustment as a starting point in a struggle for fair wages.

The Miami picket line is a coordinated day of action with other Haitian solidarity groups in the United States that are supporting the call for a more just minimum wage in Haiti.