During a press conference held at the headquarters of the Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES) on Monday, May 4, Minister of Economy and Finance Serge Gabriel Collin announced an upward revision of the minimum wage. Minister Collin specified that the minimum wage for workers in the subcontracting sector is now set at 1,000 gourdes per day. He further indicated that this revaluation would be progressively extended to all relevant segments to ensure balance and sustainability.
Complementary measures were also announced, including a reduction in electricity prices at the Caracol Industrial Park starting in January 2027. Recognizing the private sector’s strategic role, the government has engaged in talks to lower energy costs, particularly for renewables. Consequently, the electricity rate in the Caracol Park area will drop from 30 cents to 21 cents per kilowatt. Additionally, a direct aid package of 625 million gourdes will be mobilized to support workers’ purchasing power for the final five months of the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
Dominique St-Éloi, a member of the National Central of Haitian Workers (CNOHA), welcomed the decision. Speaking to the newspaper on Tuesday, May 5, the unionist described the increase as a victory resulting from two weeks of intense mobilization. “We demanded 1,500 gourdes, and negotiations led to 1,000 gourdes. We are satisfied because the employers would never have given this without our shield-raising movements,” St-Éloi stated. The new scale sees Segment A rise from 770 to 1,000 gourdes, Segment B from 715 to 900, Segment C from 540 to 760, and Segment F from 685 to 1,000, among other adjustments.
