More than 1,000 workers protested Monday outside Sonapi, a state-owned industrial park in Port-au-Prince, pressing for increases to Haiti’s minimum wage amid surging oil prices and higher fuel costs that protesters said are squeezing their ability to afford food and transportation. Employees gathered at the industrial park’s gates and demanded wage changes, saying their pay has not kept pace with the escalating prices of everyday essentials.
The workers’ grievances centered on fuel-driven cost pressures that they linked to the wider conflict in Iran, which they said is helping push up oil prices. They also said the cost pressures are compounding existing hardships for families living under gang violence and a broader economic slowdown.
Employees at the Metropolitan Industrial Park, informally known as Sonapi, said they have not received a raise since 2023. They said they can no longer afford basic goods after the government increased diesel prices by 37% and gasoline prices by 29% earlier this month, according to protesters describing the impact on their household budgets.
Marc Jean Jean-Pierre, a 47-year-old father of two who works in a factory making jeans, said gasoline costs more than his minimum daily wage. He said he earns 685 Haitian gourdes (about $5.23) a day while the price of a gallon of gasoline is 850 gourdes (about $6.49), adding, “You can see what we’re going through.”
Jean-Pierre said he previously took public transportation to get to work but now walks for an hour to save money because the round-trip fare has risen by 100 gourdes (about 76 cents). He said he and other workers would remain in the street until the government hears their demands, telling the crowd, “We will be in the street until the government hears our voice.”
Maxime Excellence, a 49-year-old janitor at the factory, said the rising costs extend beyond fuel to transportation and basic needs. He said he cannot spend the whole day without eating and warned of uncertainty about what he would be able to afford at home, telling protesters, “On top of it, I have to eat. I can’t spent the whole day not eating,” and adding, “God knows what I’m going to have to eat when I get home.” Excellence said he believed the workers’ demands are fair and said he would continue protesting until his demands are met.
Other workers also raised wages and working conditions as part of their message. James Cardichon, a 37-year-old worker who makes T-shirts, said factory conditions needed improvement in addition to pay. He told protesters, “We need a revolution for them to understand,” and said workers are leaving behind “our sweat” as they seek salary increases so their children do not face the same problems, adding, “We are leaving our sweat behind.”
Cardichon said some of the pressure families face is tied to gang violence that affects travel and daily expenses. He said “the bus charges more because they have to pay the gangs to get through, and we end up paying for everything,” and said he was also angered by government promises that, in his view, have not translated into action. He said, “We are tired of promises,” and told the crowd, “We want them to take action, and quickly.”
Some protesters at the demonstration were not employed at Sonapi but said they wanted to express frustration with Haiti’s broader crises, including deepening poverty and escalating gang violence. Garry Jean Paul, a 35-year-old cellphone seller in the area, said rising oil prices were making the situation worse and described income swings that can leave families with nothing on some days.
Jean Paul said, “Some days I make a couple hundred of gourdes, some days I have to go home with nothing,” and said that when families face that kind of uncertainty, they sometimes resort to desperate measures. He said, “Families are doing things they are not supposed to be doing. They are begging.”