Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic: Government and Politics
although increasingly many also want democracy and respect
for institutions and the rule of law.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, many middle-class elements
supported Balaguer because he was thought to stand for
those things they wanted; later, chafing under Balaguer's personalism
and economic decline, they supported the PRD governments
of Guzman and Jorge Blanco. As a result of the
failure of these governments to reform conditions in the country,
which led thousands in the middle class to migrate, they
turned away from the PRD, toward either the PRSC or the
PLD. Partly, their turn from the PRD came because many held
anti-Haitian sentiments and thus did not wish to support the
PRD's Peha Gomez. In 1996 many supported the PLD.
Trade Unions and Popular Organizations
Organized labor in the Dominican Republic has always been
weak (see Labor, ch. 3). Labor was repressed under Trujillo,
who passed very restrictive legislation in 1951; labor also experienced
severe restrictions under Balaguer in the 1966-78
period. Although a labor code passed in May 1992 established
new rights for workers and unions, organized labor remains
weak and politically divided in three larger and several smaller
labor confederations that represent 12 percent of the work
force. Even following passage of the 1992 labor code, many
employers replace workers who try to organize. They can do so
because the country has high rates of unemployment and
underemployment and a surplus of unskilled labor. The practice
of replacing workers is especially prevalent in the country's
export-oriented free-trade zones, where unionization and collective
bargaining are largely absent. Some of the strongest
unions are found among middle-sector professionals employed
by the public sector, such as medical personnel and teachers;
such professionals often obtain salary increases only after
threatened or actual work stoppages.
Trade union organizations have often been closely allied
with individual political parties; in recent years, however, identification
of the major confederations with individual political
parties has declined. Rivalry across trade union federations has
often been intense, and most of the union organizations have
suffered from weak funding and limited staff. In recent years,
support from international labor federations and NGOs has
supplemented more modest domestic revenue sources. Sometimes
employers have engaged in what could be described as
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