20364: (Arthur) Update on campaign to support Sokowa union at Grupo M free trade zone (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Haiti: Update on campaign to support the Sokowa union at Grupo M free trade
zone


Grupo M stalls on campaign to re-instate Sokowa union members at the free
trade zone in Ouanaminthe, north-east Haiti.

12 March 2004 - written by the Haiti Support Group

Meetings between the union's representatives and Grupo M managers have taken
place.
Management remains intransigent and is refusing to re-instate fired workers.
Urgent need for solidarity campaign to continue.


Thanks to the thousands of emails sent by trade unionists and progressive
activists from all over the world, the Grupo M management was obliged to respond
to the First of May-Batay Ouvriye union federation's request for an urgent
meeting to discuss the violent union-busting at the Ouanaminthe factory that
occurred on 1-2 March 2004.

Two meetings have so far taken place, both of them at Grupo M's headquarters
at the Caribbean Industrial Park in Santiago, the Dominican Republic. Two
delegates from the union federation and a lawyer represented the Sokowa union,
while Grupo M was represented by the Ouanaminthe factory director, Limbert Cruz,
and company CEO, Fernando Capellan. The World Bank's International Finance
Corporation (IFC) - which recently lent Grupo M US$20m to help it build the free
trade zone (FTZ) at Ouanaminthe - was also represented.

At both meetings, Grupo M concentrated on discussing its goals, plans,
general practice and role in developing the FTZ at Ouanaminthe in a thinly-veiled
attempt to avoid the real issue of the day - the violent union-busting which had
seen 34 members of the newly formed Sokowa union fired, and irregular
paramilitaries called to the factory to attack other workers.

Eventually, Grupo M presented their version of events in the form of a
powerpoint slide-show and video which, according to the company representatives,
demonstrated that the union members had initiated the violence at the factory.
This history was hotly disputed by the union representatives, and even the IFC
representative remained unconvinced by the 'evidence' as presented. As this
meeting failed to find any common ground, a second meeting was convened the
following Monday, 8 March.

In both meetings, the Grupo M representatives displayed an arrogant and
disrespectful attitude towards the union federation representatives, even so far as
questioning their right to represent the union, and attempting to interrogate
the union representatives about their motives. This aggressive and dismissive
approach was denounced by Batay Ouvriye's lawyer, who concluded that if this
was the way that Grupo M's senior management responded to the union
federation's delegates, how very much worse relations must be with the workers in the
factory.

During the second meeting Grupo M CEO, Fernando Capellan, walked out before
any agreement had been reached. After he left, the remaining participants
attempted, without success, to reach some conclusions. The IFC asked Batay Ouvriye
to wait until the end of the week before initiating further action.

The Batay Ouvriye union federation delegates point out that the meetings
revealed that, far from wanting a resolution of the dispute, the Grupo M
management is using underhand tactics and blatant dishonesty to cement its success in
breaking the Sokowa union. For example, Limbert Cruz, the factory manager,
pretended that 27 of the 34 people were dismissed not because of involvement with
the union but because the factory had insufficient work. However he himself
later revealed that he had for some time been in possession of a full list of
all 34 union members, and that these were the same 34 people who were dismissed
on 1 March. Furthermore, his claim that 27 people had been 'let go' merely
because a shortage of orders was exposed when the Levi Strauss Company - the main
contractor for the Ouanaminthe factory - in
response to inquiries from US labour organisations, categorically denied that
it had reduced its orders in any way, shape, or form.

The Batay Ouvriye union federation is calling for continuing solidarity in
support of the following demands:
the reversal of the illegal and arbitrary firing of the 34 Sokowa union
members;
an end to both blatant and subtle anti-union practices;
an end to the presence of armed 'company security' within the factory
precincts;
continued medical care for the injured union member, Ariel Jerome; and
respectful and meaningful relations with the reconstituted union in order to
discuss improved pay and conditions.

See: www.labourstart.org for details of the email campaign in support of the
Haitian Sokowa union.

See: www.batayouvriye.org for more on workers' struggles in Haiti.
______________________________________________


This email is forwarded as a service of the Haiti Support Group.

See the Haiti Support Group web site:
www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org

Solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for justice, participatory
democracy and equitable development, since 1992.
____________________________________________