Both Oars In Pride and Sorrow

Aug 7, 2009

Imagine how proud you would be if you were the first and only democratically elected president to complete a normal term of office in the second oldest republic in the Western Hemisphere.  Imagine how much prouder you would be if you were elected to a second term. On the other hand, imagine how you would feel if the country you serve were unable to establish a minimum wage equivalent to five U.S. dollars per day. 

 

This is President Rene Preval’s unenviable position. His big job is to bring Haiti peacefully to its fourth real presidential election, but there is a black cloud sitting on his otherwise sunny, tropical horizon. Before he can set the country up for its next presidential election, he must work through the immediate challenge created by a formerly simmering, now boiling dispute over the national minimum wage.

 

Preval, a populist president, is in the ironic position of being very unpopular with his people.  On Tuesday, several thousand workers marched on the capital to pressure the parliament to pass legislation that would nearly triple the national minimum wage against his warning that it would be too much, too fast. Preval’s concern is that radically increasingly the minimum wage, as deplorably low as it is at $1.75 a day, may cause Haiti to lose even more textile and light manufacturing jobs.  The concern is valid. Insecurity and political unrest have cost Haiti tens of thousands of jobs already.     

 

At day’s end, the Chamber of Deputies, Haiti’s equivalent to our House of Representatives, compromised, passing a bill asking for 25% less than the original. Unfortunately, their attempt at being conciliatory may turn out to be unconstitutional in terms of process.  The hope of the lower house is that the bill will nonetheless go to the Senate for consideration. The deputies’ proposal of $3.75 is closer to Preval’s earlier suggestion of $3.00.

 

Preval is no hardnosed capitalist. He is a man of the people. Yet, he has resisted the minimum wage increase out of concern that it will deter further job development in one of the poorest countries in the world. [He may also have some political concerns as well.] Haiti already suffers from nearly sixty percent unemployment. The fact may be that we live in world that is just cruel enough to deny a worker in Haiti even five dollars for a days work. 

 

Haiti is dependent on the global textile industry for many of the few manufacturing jobs it wins from the global market.  Haiti competes directly with China and several countries in which China has invested in order to take advantage of U.S. trade policy aimed at helping poorer nations compete for our coveted teenage driven clothes market. Opportunities for job growth in Haiti are few; new jobs are measured in thousands, not millions. Yet, it is millions that wait for work. 

 

To be fair to President Preval, this issue should have been taken care of years ago.  But, much of the past decade has been spent in political turmoil sufficient to distract even the most focused leader from accomplishing labor reform.  The delay only exacerbates the problem by making the magnitude of change an issue. While it is obvious that $1.75 is too low, the only workable solution may require patience of people who are justifiably pushed by hunger, real hunger, into being aggressive about better wages.  

 

Labor has the right to organize, but not to destroy property or to intimidate those who wish to work into striking. This happens too often in Haiti. Business owners should show as much concern for their employees as profits—in dire situations such as these, maybe even more.  This, like in many places, often happens too late in Haiti. In the end, labor and capital have been hurt by the turmoil and insecurity caused by the few who seek political and economic advantage in Haiti’s recurring chaos.  In charged moments such as these, it is good to remember Pope John Paul II’s exhortation that both laborers and capitalists are people.

 

What about our role? We may have more choice in how much Haitians earn than their president. We can choose to buy textile goods assembled in Haiti. We can make a visit to Haiti to rekindle the nearly extinguished tourist industry.  We can support educational missions which improve the employability of the Haitian youth. [In the interest of full disclosure, I lead one of those programs.] We can encourage investment in Haiti. Certainly, the potential for mutual benefit is greater when partnering with Haiti, our oldest fellow republic in America, than with the Far East.

 

We can also keep concerns about China’s dumping and aggressive competition in front of our politicians. Surprisingly, the streets of Haiti are swirling with suspiciously cheap Chinese motorcycles. China’s UN contingent is housed in the same industrial park as Haiti’s few remaining textile factories—a place I often visited while our troops were here restoring democracy to this proud nation in the latter half of the 90’s. It is unclear if that is just a coincidence, or a strategy.   

 

What is clear is that Haiti’s pride is justified; its sorrow is not.