Call # 271 From 25 March to 30 May 2004

The bicentenary of Haiti’s independence was marked by extreme tension culminating in President Aristide’s departure. Today the situation is far from stable. The conditions of the former president’s hasty departure and the ambiguity of some members of his opposition are cause for concern. Everything has to be rebuilt in this country devastated by the policies of the Lavalas Party and its leader. In a country with no revenue, no administration and no power structure, civil society is nevertheless trying to ensure that a few basic democratic rules are applied. For those who take advantage of the country’s weaknesses for their own profits, business carries on as usual despite the crisis. Organizations like Batay Ouvriyé are confronted with huge problems in their struggle for the recognition of workers’ and peasant’s rights, including the right to organize.

Joseph Egains is 27 years old. He used to be a teacher in the little town of Ouanaminthe, in north-eastern Haiti, near the Dominican Republic border. Since August 2003, however, Joseph has been making Levi’s 505 and 555 jeans in the Codevi factory that Grupo M, the Dominican Republic’s biggest textile company, recently set up in this new free trade area.

Material for the jeans arrives from the capital of the Dominican Republic capital to be assembled in Ouanaminthe. The clothing is then returned to the capital for the finishing touches before being sent to the USA. In the Haitian factory 300 workers produce 8,000 items per week for a weekly wage of 16 euros. This is equivalent to twice the minimum wage in Haiti but barely 40% of the Dominican wage. Grupo M plans to triple the surface of its production site and the number of workers employed on it in the next few months.

A highly questionable view of development

It was a longstanding wish of former President Aristide and his Dominican counterpart to set up a free trade zone. As soon as the project was officially announced in April 2002 it was fiercely opposed by peasants on the fertile Mariboux plain, the site chosen for the zone. Their efforts to refuse expropriation of their land were supported by all environmental protection organizations and many other NGOs in both countries concerned. From the outset Batay Ouvriyé (see below) participated in this mobilization. What was the point of setting up an industrial site in a fertile area in a country with serious food supply problems? Why chase peasants from their land if they are left with no alternative but rural exodus? Why worsen the island’s deforestation and threaten the region’s ecological balance? The answer to these questions lies in the Ouanaminthe’s geographic situation, two hours from the Dominican Republic’s capital and 90 minutes from Haiti’s second largest town. Joseph Villardouin, the peasant leader at the head of the protest movement, had ample time to contemplate this sad reality during his imprisonment from May to September 2003.

Bulldozers cleared the land in March 2003, removing maize and peas that were to be harvested shortly afterwards.

Commitments not met

From the outset Grupo M seemed to be the main beneficiary of the operation. The Dominican Republic’s main employer is known for the harness of its social policy. Several investigations in its factories have revealed serious violations of labour legislation and ill-treatment of workers. Trade unions and people’s organizations led by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, relayed in Europe by the Haiti Support Group, have mobilized to obtain guarantees from the company.

On 9 October 2003 the World Bank, which financed the Ouanaminthe factory with a $20m loan, announced that its participation was subject to the group’s compliance with labour standards, starting with workers’ rights to organize in independent unions. An agreement on this was signed between the World Bank and the textile company.

On 13 October 2003 Batay Ouvriyé wrote to Mr Capellan, Chairman of the Board of Grupo M. The union announced the creation of a branch in the Ouanaminthe factory and requested a meeting to discuss the terms of a company convention. They received no reply.

On 16 February 2004, as the Haitian crisis reached a turning point that led to President Aristide’s departure, Batay Ouvriyé undertook the required steps at the Labour Ministry to register its presence in the Ouanaminthe factory. The new branch of the union also sent a letter to the manager of the site, Mr Limbert Cruz, who gave a favourable reply concerning the principle of such a meeting.

The ’rebel’ army intervenes

However, on 25 February there was a change of tone. Union leader Ariel Jérome was summoned by his supervisors, hit with the butt of a gun by company security guards, and forced to hand in his entry badge.

The next day the union launched a protest strike and demanded that its leader be allowed to return to work. Limbert Cruz cancelled the worker’s dismissal, promised to have him examined by a doctor, and promised an inquiry into the beating for which two security guards were responsible.

On 1 March the situation switched once again when the factory management informed workers of layoffs due to breach of contract by the contractor, Levi’s.

On 2 March members of Batay Ouvriyé demonstrated again against the 37 dismissals that happened to concern union members. This time it was the militia of the ’rebel army’ from the north that intervened directly to suppress the gathering, at the company’s request. Questioned by US organizations alerted by Batay Ouvriyé, the Levi’s group denied any breach of contract. It pointed out its code of conduct and denied any involvement in the conflict.

On 5 and 8 March an attempt at conciliation was made at the Grupo M. head office in the Dominican capital. The group’s directors tried in vain to persuade World Bank representatives that it was the union that had provoked the violence. On 8 March a long absence from the negotiating table was intended to show their contempt for this type of discussion. Batay Ouvriyé representatives and their lawyer pointed out just how much stronger this contempt towards workers was on the factory floor where no witnesses were present. They appealed to all solidarity movements supporting them to intervene, to ensure that Grupo M would meet its commitments to its sponsors and so that real negotiations could finally take place.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Levi’s code of conduct

This leading textile brand points to its code of conduct to convince its opponents of its good faith in affairs in which its sub-contractors are accused, for instance in Mexico recently (Call n° 268) and currently in Haiti.

The quality of Levi’s products is the same, irrespective of the place in which they are produced. The multinational has the means to persuade its suppliers to show as much concern for the quality of labour conditions as for that of the work carried out in its factories. It still has to show how it intends to ensure that the clauses of its famous code of conduct are to be enforced.

Batay Ouvriyé

is a Haitian organization that supports the creation of unions in free trade areas (Call n°178 and 194), local industries (Call n°262) and plantations (Call n°210, 228 and 242). It also supports small farmers in rural areas. Relations between the solidarity network of Peuples Solidaires and Batay Ouvriyé are regular and have involved extensive interaction and many visits between the leaders of the two movements. www.batayouvriye.org

Call in liaison with:

Haïti Support Group : www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org

WHAT TO DO ?

By letter: copy or download the standard letter below by clicking here.

Don’t forget to date and sign your letter and to add your name and address.

Reaction time: As soon as you receive this call, or until end-may 2004

Letter to:

Señor Fernando CAPELLÁN

Presidente Grupo M, S.A.

Parque Industrial Caribeño

Santiago

REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA

Le : / /2004

Señor presidente,

Me informó Réseau Solidarité (10 quai Richemont 35000 Rennes - FRANCE) de la represión llevada a cabo en contra de los obreros de su nueva fábrica de Ouanaminthe (Haiti).

Le ruego tajantemente cumpla con los compromisos que usted ha contraido acerca del Banco mundial (Corporación internacional de finanzas del Banco mundial) para financiar esta inversión.

De inmediato, le exijo :

  que ponga fin a las brutalidades y demás atropellos en contra de los sindicalistas en su empresa.

  que queden disueltos los servicios de seguridad armada dentro de la fábrica.

  que se le brinde asistencia médica al sindicalista Jérôme Arriel

  que se emprendan verdaderas negociaciones con el sindicato Batay Ouvriye.

Atentamente

Translation

Dear Sir,

I have been informed by Réseau-Solidarité (10 quai de Richemont, 35000 Rennes, France) of repression against workers at your new plant in Ouanaminthe, Haiti, and wish to remind you of the importance of meeting the commitments you made to the World Bank which financed this undertaking.

I therefore demand:

  an end to brutality and anti-union practices in your company

  the dissolution of armed security services within your company

  adequate medical treatment for trade unionist Jérome Arriel, and

  real negotiations with the union Batay Ouvriyé.

Yours faithfully,

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