President Jean-Bertrand Aristide ordered Haiti's minimum wage more than doubled, officials announced Friday in a move that immediately raised tensions with business owners.
Workers complained the increase, the first in 15 years, wasn't enough.Employers said the new wage, which raises the minimum above that of neighboring Dominican Republic, would knock another nail into the coffin of Haiti's economy.
A statement from the Ministry of Information said that on June 1, the daily minimum wage will go up from 15 to 36 Haitian gourdes ($1.07 to $2.57) under a decree Aristide signed Thursday.
"If there aren't any jobs, there won't be any wages to fix," retorted importer Gerard Bailly, former president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Already, about 70 percent of the work force is underemployed or unemployed.
Bailly predicted the sharp pay raise would create more unemployment, discourage investment, drive production further down and increase inflation.
Parliamentary debate to raise the minimum wage in 1991 contributed to the military coup in which Aristide was ousted. Many businessmen, frightened by Aris-tide's populist rhetoric, initially supported the soldiers.
A U.S.-led intervention in September disbanded the army and paved the way for Aristide's return to power in October. Haiti's fledgling democracy will be put to the test in late June when long-delayed legislative elections are held.
Because of international sanctions to punish coup leaders, about 150,000 jobs were lost during three years of military rule, including 40,000 in the assembly industry. Only 3,000 assembly jobs have been recovered since Aristide's return, and no permanent new jobs have been created.
Deteriorating roads, sporadic electric power, insecurity and the highest port charges in the Caribbean make Haiti an unattractive investment.