SANTO DOMINGO. - Dominican Free Zones Association (Adozona)president Fernando Capellan said yesterday the Labor Code must be modified to guarantee competitiveness by those companies and eliminate the mafias of "shark lawyers" who spur lawsuits from senior workers in Santiago province.
Capellan and Adozona’s former president Carlos Manuel Alvarez, interviewed by the newspaper Listin Diario, said at least one third of the 60,000 jobs that were lost in Santiago resulted from the uncertainty created.
They said of the 60,000 jobs lost from 15,000 to 20,000 would’ve been saved if the problem of the labor liabilities originating in the work contracts had been corrected two years ago, which had been finalized and reinitiated annually in the free zones.
Capellan said some companies closed because the amounts they had to pay for workers lawsuits were greater than their working capital.
As to competitiveness, the business leaders said the local currency is overvalued and its true cost should be RD$37 per dollar, as established in the Budget.
They also complained of the high cost of energy and aspects such as labor legislation, which they said should be revised.
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