Six principal labor federations represent about five percent of the total labor force, including about two to three percent of labor in the industrial sector. Each maintains some fraternal relations with various international labor organizations. Unions are theoretically free to pursue their goals, although government efforts to enforce the law are non-existent. Unions complain that employers do not allow unions access to workers, and individuals who attempt to join unions risk being fired. The high unemployment rate and anti-union sentiment among some factory workers has limited the success of union organizing efforts.
Collective bargaining is nearly nonexistent, especially in the private sector.
Haiti has no export processing zones, and the labor code does not distinguish between industries producing for the local market and those producing for export. Wages appear to be somewhat higher in the more capital-intensive industries producing for the local market. The labor code prohibits forced or compulsory labor. However, some children continue to be subjected to unremunerated labor as domestic servants. Rural families are often too large for the adult members to support, and children are sometimes sent to work for urban families in exchange for room, board and schooling.