15509: Orenstein replies to Arthur/Raber re assembly jobs (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: katie orenstein <katie@orenstein.com>


Re labor organizing and the recent assembly industry exchange:

Raber wrote that hundreds of workers lost their jobs between 1995 and 2001
as a result of a "boycott against Disney", and Charles Arthur responded that
there was no boycott, only efforts to organize workers into unions, and that
in fact, "the number of assembly plant jobs in Port-au-Prince has stayed
more or less the same throughout this period - fluctuating around the 21,000
mark, if the figures are to be believed."

That may be, but it seems also worth noting that not so long ago the numbers
of assembly jobs used to be MUCH higher. The government gave a figure of
around 80,000 assembly jobs in the late 80s, and that number didn't
immediately plummet - it came down in great cuts, as subcontractors'
outsourced to other locations, one contract at a time.  I was there the day
the Rawlings baseball factory closed in 1990: if my memory serves, I believe
that was 900 employees laid off on a single day.  Production moved to Costa
Rica.

In any case, aren't the issues Raber raised valid even if his details, as
Charles pointed out, were inaccurate?  There *are* less assembly jobs in
Haiti now than there were some years ago. A lot of factors have led to the
assembly industry's decline - political instability, poor infrastructure,
etc. - but isn't it worth acknowledging that among these factors labor
disputes, or threats of disputes, have in fact contributed on occasion to
sub-contractors' decisions to leave Haiti?   What's more, it's my
understanding that Haitian factories are not all operating at enormous
profits, and that if not for Haiti's low wages they might not be able to
compete for contracts against countries with much better infrastructure, or
other advantages.  If that is so, how should labor organizers working for
more jobs and higher wages proceed?

Catherine Orenstein