the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
May 4, 2026
This article is translated from the April 25 issue #1370 of Combat Ouvrier (Workers Fight), the paper of the Trotskyist group of that name active in Guadeloupe and Martinique, two islands that are French overseas departments in the Caribbean.
Textile workers demonstrated for three days in the industrial zone of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince and free trade zone Ouanaminthe.
In Port-au-Prince, at the call of textile unions, several thousand workers demonstrated from April 13 to 16 along the road leading to the SONAPI industrial park. They walked off the job to join the march. They demand a higher minimum wage. Among their angry shouts: “I get paid on Friday, and by Saturday, I already have to borrow money.” “When you’re hungry, you don’t joke around!”
Using the war in Iran as a pretext, starting April 2 the Haitian government decreed 37 and 29% higher diesel and gas prices respectively. A gallon of gasoline now costs $6.50 (850 Haitian gourdes), while the average worker’s daily wage is only $5.23. The government set the minimum daily wage in 2022 following worker protests and hasn’t raised it since.
Owners of companies which reopened after making deals with gangs have intensified exploitation with increased production rates to fulfill U.S. orders. Soaring transportation costs have led to higher food prices. Workers can’t afford basic necessities and are cutting even further back on meals.
Workers demand an increase in the daily minimum wage to $22.90 and an immediate cut in fuel costs. The transportation sector joined the movement. Motorcycle, car, and bus drivers also demand lower fuel prices and the elimination of subsidies.
The government did not react. Gangs attacked a neighborhood near the industrial area and the airport, interrupting a flight on April 20. The unions called for another demonstration on April 20. Despite pressure from gangs, several hundred workers returned to the streets, marching under police surveillance. They would not give up.
During the 2022 mobilization, workers whose wages are lower than in textile, such as supermarkets, warehouses, and security, demonstrated and won a pay raise.
Workers’ strength always comes from their solidarity in struggles. They never got help from any government. What they got, they won themselves. In their fight against oppression by the bosses, textile workers show the way to overcome oppression by all capitalists and gangsters.