textile workers protest,
A textile worker chanting an anti-government slogan to demand the minimum wage to be increased to 1,500 gourdes during a Feb. 10 protest. Eleven days later, the government announced that textile workers' minimum wage will only be raised from 500 to 685 gourdes, leaving factory workers still unsatisfied. Photo credit: AP/ Odelyn Joseph

CAP-HAITIEN — It is a lose-lose situation, the way the experts explain it.

Haitians cannot live off the country’s minimum wage, even if the government goes through with plans to raise it by an average of 54%. So, textile workers are still demanding an increase to 1,500 gourdes per day, or $14.44, and are back on the streets protesting. However, if the government were to raise the minimum wage, some businesses would cut jobs to lower expenses, experts and some business owners said.

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Email me at onz@haitiantimes.com
Onz Chery is a Haiti correspondent for The Haitian Times. Chery started his journalism career as a City College of New York student with The Campus. He later wrote for First Touch, local soccer leagues in New York and Elite Sports New York before joining The Haitian Times in 2019.