Haiti
Haiti, garment workers, worker rights, Solidarity CenterIn Haiti’s export apparel industry, the Solidarity Center joins with unions to educate workers about their rights under national and international labor laws. Credit: Olton dorvelus
In Haiti, the Solidarity Center provides training and mentoring support for union organizing and advocacy campaigns, and assists workers in building sustainable, democratic and inclusive unions. Finding decent work in Haiti is a fundamental challenge. Most workers are engaged in informal economy jobs, and weak labor protections leave workers vulnerable to severe exploitation, such as low wages and inappropriate working conditions, such as sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence. Solidarity Center studies repeatedly have demonstrated the daily minimum wage is far less than the estimated cost of living in Haiti. More than 6 million of Haiti’s population of 10.4 million (59 percent) lives below the national poverty line of $2.41 per day, and more than 2.5 million (24 percent) fall below the national extreme poverty line ($1.23 per day). In Haiti’s export apparel industry—composed primarily of women and the largest source of formal economy jobs in Haiti—the Solidarity Center joins with unions to educate workers about their rights under national and international labor laws. The Solidarity Center also works with unions to mobilize workers to build and balance power, advocate for wage increases and improved labor laws, and connect with global allies to leverage support for fair labor standards and labor law compliance.

Media Contact

Kate Conradt
Communications Director
(+1) 202-974 -8369

 

Haiti’s Mining Industry: Worker Rights in Peril

If the current political impasse in Haiti is resolved, lawmakers are likely to consider how to develop the country’s untapped gold and copper veins—and the process will determine the extent to which workers achieve their share of economic prosperity. “Given the dearth...

Haiti Earthquake Anniversary: Garment Workers Still Struggle to Survive

Six years after a major earthquake devastated the Haitian capital and its environs and the international community promised to “build back better,” Haitian workers say their daily lives are a struggle for survival, with their meager wages insufficient to cover basic...

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Workers of Haitian Descent: A Legacy of Discrimination

Workers of Haitian Descent: A Legacy of Discrimination

Tens of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitian migrant workers face imminent deportation from the Dominican Republic in a “crisis that has been building for many years,” says Cathy Feingold, AFL-CIO International Department director. “There is a long...

Dominicans of Haitian Descent About to Be Deported

Dominicans of Haitian Descent About to Be Deported

Hundreds of thousands of workers in the Dominican Republic without official identification papers have until today to register with the government or face deportation. The move—condemned widely as a violation of human rights—could leave as many as 120,000...

Haitian Workers Not Sharing in Nation’s Economic Growth

Haitian Workers Not Sharing in Nation’s Economic Growth

Up to 70 percent of the Haitian workforce lacks formal jobs—but the notion that “any job is better than no job” is not a goal that should be embraced, says Lauren Stewart, Solidarity Center program officer for Haiti and the Dominican Republic. “I visited a factory...

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