21479: Batay Ouvriye: Haiti Free Trade Zone Workers Reinstated, but Vigilence and Mobilization Continue! (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Batay Ouvriye <batayouvriye@hotmail.com>

VICTORY IN THE STRUGGLE FOR THE REINSTATEMENT OF THE SOKOWA WORKERS ! BUT
VIGILENCE AND MOBILIZATION ARE STILL IN ORDER !


Mobilization of the workers still present at the Codevi factory ;
interventions (towards the factory workers in general, those in difficulty;
the union and its committee, the Ouanaminthe population, national and
international press, groups in solidarity and the public in general, the
Haitian government…); permanent orientation of Batay Ouvriye; active
solidarity (letters, presence in the field and, at times, within the very
negotiations, debates, financial support…), as well from local union
federations (OGITH) and foreign ones (ACILS, FEDOTRAZONA…) and from support
organizations (Batay Ouvriye Solidarity Network, Haïti Support Group,
Réseau-Solidarité – Peuples Solidaires, WRC, Maquila Solidarity Network,
Clean Clothes Campaign…) have allowed, finally, the reinstatement of the
workers that Codevi’s management in the Ouanaminthe free trade zone, in the
North-East of Haiti, was trying to illegally fire.[1]
After arduous final negotiations on Tuesday April 13, 2004, in the presence
not only of all the parties directly concerned (the Sokowa union and Batay
Ouvriye, on one hand, Codevi, the World Bank and Levi-Strauss, on the other)
accompanied by those who concretely participated in the struggle process
(WRC, …), but also a tripartite delegation (the Social Affairs and Labor
Ministry, the Labor Sector, the Association of Haitian Industrialists,
ADIH), management finally decided, thus, to reinstate the following day,
April 14th, all of the workers in conflict, to pay for the continuation of
medical services of the one who had been most severely beaten and still
suffers from various pains, to pay all the time they spent outside according
to the present minimum salary, to concretely recognize union rights within
the factory and, finally, to immediately engage negotiations with a union
delegation to discuss the workers general demands.
It is amidst cries of joy from all of their colleagues, heated applauds and
ardent embraces that the workers walked into the factory right after the
negotiations. Before these effusions and fearing excesses, management even
felt it necessary to read out, on the loudspeaker, its respect for union
rights. That which provoked even greater enthusiasm!
A concrete victory, therefore, has been obtained. Not only for the workers
in conflict, but also for all those in the factory; not only for them, but
also for all those who will be later called to work there; not only for this
future group but also for those who will be called to defend their rights in
free trade zone territories throughout Haiti, as well as in the rest of
dominated countries and in the whole world. This first victory in the first
confrontation in this first Haitian free trade zone thus marks an important
point in the working classes’ struggle internationally, especially when one
considers international solidarity’s vital support. It is thus a victory for
us all. But this success becomes even more fundamental when we consider that
it was the determination of the workers themselves, in the field, and their
own independent struggle that was the true motor of the entire mobilization.

Nothing, however, is totally guaranteed, management having sought, the very
next day, to avoid materializing the agreements established the day before.
Immediately, various tricks starting concerning the workers’ badges
(management tried to give them new ones – which would cause them to lose
their seniority and, with this new status of temporaries, restrain their
movements within the factory, as well as jeopardize their job security).
After that, certain workers were placed in waiting in an unexplainable
manner, others were placed in different positions… Up to present, eight
workers spend their day sitting in the Training Center, waiting for a work
post. Will they be paid for these management delays?
But there’s worse: open threats were clearly and deliberately made not only
against certain Batay Ouvriye organizers responsible for the coordination
and orientation of the mobilization and negotiations, but also against
representatives of support organizations. Furthermore, it is important to
note, from the beginning of the conflict and until presently, the presence
of one of the company’s most repressive “security” heads, Alex Corona. Let
us recall that according to a recent report from the IFCTU, this security
head personally beat a union worker with his colt .45 in the Dominican
Republic! As this report indicated quite clearly: “… the company pays for
this kind of activities… there is a group of 20 people, within the free
trade zone itself…”
The mobilization is thus still active and the struggle has just begun!





[1] See, concerning this, our various Alerts and Updates.