15512: Smith: No Disney Boycott? Smith replies to Arthur (15501)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Merrill Smith <MSmith@irsa-uscr.org>
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I'm afraid this is a bit misleading.  True, campaigners said they weren't
seeking a boycott.  Nevertheless, they were picketing outside Disney
outlets in
the U.S. where the Haitian-assembled products were being sold and
distributing
"Mickey is a Rat!" coloring books.

The Haitian workers were not on strike.  They were not the ones who
organized
these actions.  Instead, the campaign was largely financed by the American
apparel sector union, with predictable results.

In the early 1990s, U.S. sporting goods companies were subject to activist
shareholder and other actions over baseball manufacture in Haiti.  I doubt
many
of the shareholders were Haitian baseball stitchers.  They, too, pulled
out.

It's odd to take comfort that the Haitian assembly sector is somewhat
stable at
the pathetically low figure of 21,000 jobs.  It could employ hundreds of
thousands.  Political instability and bad government may be the main
culprit.
But the pattern of activists harassing investors abroad has surely played
a
significantly unhelpful role.