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Haiti Free Trade Zone Update!Workers at Codevi FTZ still fighting injustice!Information for this alert comes from the Batay Ouvriye (Workers' Fight) Please take action today in support of Codevi workers in Haiti. These workers, who produce garments for Levi Strauss, have had a serious ongoing labor dispute with factory management and though an agreement was reached in April, they are presently confronted with severe violence. Following a one day strike on June 8, workers were locked-out and urgently need your support. SUMMARYAfter a representative of the SOKOWA union was fired and brutally beaten up in February 2004, factory workers at the Codevi Free Trade Zone in Ouanaminthe stopped working in protest. The conflict worsened in early March when 33 trade union members were attacked and illegally dismissed from the factory. Workers at the factory were reportedly attacked several times by management-hired rebel thugs and by the Dominican army. Following an international campaign in support of the workers, negotiations in April lead to an agreement between management and the workers. In mid-May all workers were back to work but still the SOKOWA union had not been legally recognized by the Haitian government. A breach of the agreement led to a one-hour warning strike on Thursday, June 4 when all workers stopped work. The following day, the head of Grupo M arrived at the plant to tell workers that the plant would probably shut down. In the afternoon, management called in the Dominican Army to expel workers from the free trade zone, after another dispute had developed after management forcibly removed the t-shirts and ID badges of a group of women. Haitian death squad members have reportedly been circulating in Ouanaminthe. A full day of strike took place on Monday June 7. Workers agreed to return to work on Tuesday June 8 despite the continuing presence of the Dominican Army on-site, because management had agreed to negotiate with the union. When workers showed up to work at 5:30am , however, they found that they were locked-out. This factory was set up with financing from the World Bank that was conditional upon respect for trade union rights! Please take action today to demand that Dominican Army Forces are withdrawn immediately and permanently from the Codevi FTZ; that all violence against workers ceases and all management personnel found to have committed a violent act against a worker is disciplined; that Grupo M negotiates in good faith with SOKOWA and Bataye Ouvriye (an association of unions, committees, and workers from the industrial, agricultural, and info rmal economy in Haiti that has been supporting the union in this case) and ceases to threaten closure; that the IFC and Levi's demand that the Haitian government give SOKOWA its legal registration, as required by law; and that Levi's does not cut and run. Write letters to Grupo M: Fernando Capellan Limbert Cruz To Levi-Strauss: Michael Kobori Cc: Miriam Rodriguez, Regional Compliance Manager Thank Levi Strauss for the attention they have given this matter so far, but info rm them that the Codevi Ouanaminthe workers have been confronted with violence again. To the World Bank: The World Bank's International Finance Corporation E-mail: bmcnamara@ifc.org To the Haitian government: Minister of Social Affairs and Labor
Prime Minister Write to the Haitian government to express your concern about the situation at the Codevi Free Trade Zone and urge the Haitian government to give SOKOWA its legal registration, as required by law and to ensure that workers are able to exercise their rights to freedom of association and bargain collectively. For additional details, contact batay@batayouvriye.org. |
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