21763: This Week in Haiti 22:8 05/05/2004 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

"This Week in Haiti" is the English section of HAITI PROGRES
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                           HAITI PROGRES
              "Le journal qui offre une alternative"

                      * THIS WEEK IN HAITI *

                        May 5 - 11, 2004
                          Vol. 22, No. 8

MAY DAY 2004:
U.S. DELEGATION INVESTIGATES THE SITUATION OF HAITIAN WORKERS
UNDER THE COUP

>From April 26 to May 2, a delegation of U.S.-based unionists,
religious activists, and journalists visited Haiti to look into
reports that agents of the de facto Haitian regime are targeting
unionists and partisans of the Fanmi Lavalas party. The
delegation presented its findings in a meeting at District
Council 1707 in New York City on Tuesday, May 4. The following is
their preliminary report, which was edited by delegation leader
Dave Welsh.

An Initial Statement on the Current Situation of Workers, the
Labor Movement, and Human Rights in Haiti - Tuesday, May 4th,
2004

>From the International Labor/Religious/Community Fact-Finding
Delegation to Haiti   (April 26-May 2nd) organized by the San
Francisco Labor Council

A nine-member international labor/religious/community fact-
finding delegation has just returned from a week spent in Haiti.
Its objective was to assess and report on the current situation
of Haitian workers, the Haitian labor movement, and the state of
human rights in that country.  Within this mandate, particular
attention was given to understanding the new realities following
the coup d'etat that deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on
29 February 2004.  The brief statement, which follows, is an
initial report on our findings.

The delegation's work focused on interviews with Haitian trade
unionists and workers, as well as political leaders and
activists.  Part of this time was spent attending the National
Congress of the CTH (the Confederation of Haitian Workers), the
largest labor federation in Haiti composed of 11 different union
federations. Based on these interviews and discussions, we can
report that in the labor movement is in significant crisis,
brought on in large part by the decade-long economic and
political destabilization campaign orchestrated in Washington.
The crisis has become much worse since 29 February, with the
campaign of violence by the US-backed opposition that preceded
and followed the coup. Facing a massive problem of unemployment
(estimated at some 70% in the formal economy), the turmoil and
economic difficulties of recent years has only been worsened with
the change of government.

The coup regime was formed by a coalition of the unelected
political opposition; the governments of France and the United
States; former Haitian military and paramilitary death squads
(FRAPH); and the Haitian business elite - particularly the "Group
184", led by André Apaid. Mr. Apaid, a US citizen who is known by
Haitian workers as the single most notorious owner of Haitian
sweatshop factories, has been a virulent opponent of unions
organizing in his factories. The delegation heard reports of
extremely dire working conditions in the Apaid-owned sweatshops,
with little or no access to safe drinking water, and wages at the
legal minimum of 70 Haitian gourdes (approximately US$1.80) per
day - or less.  Those workers courageous enough to attempt the
organization of trade unions face dismissal. Clearly, Mr. Apaid
and his clique are no supporters of Haiti's workers or their
labor movement.

The coup also led to serious attacks on Haiti's trade unions. The
delegation heard reports from one union, the FTPH (Federation of
Public Transport Workers of Haiti), of criminal attacks on over
100 of the buses that they had purchased for use in the bus
cooperative operated by the union. These attacks involved the
torching and destruction of the union co-op's buses, yet
went unreported in the North American media, despite having taken
place in the days immediately following the 29 February coup
d'etat (the peak period of international media presence). Given
their timing, and the fact that the union bus cooperative's
success had been viewed as a positive symbol of social advances
under the Aristide government, such attacks were seen by the
union as acts of political reprisal by supporters of the coup. No
arrests have been made in association with these attacks.

The general living conditions of Haitian workers and the general
population have drastically worsened since the coup of 29
February. The delegation heard that the price of rice has jumped
dramatically, as much as doubling. Other vital foodstuffs have
seen even more serious price inflation.  Several witnesses
testified that whereas before the coup, Haitians were able to eat
at least once per day, the cost of food has reduced this to as
little as 3 meals per week. Even those Haitians fortunate enough
to have a job are barely subsisting.

As for human rights, things are even more serious. The coup which
deposed President Aristide has led to a serious wave of attacks
and persecutions of supporters of President Aristide and his
Fanmi Lavalas Party. The delegation heard testimony from an
elected member of Parliament for the Fanmi Lavalas who is living
in hiding, having been driven out of his town under
gunfire. Other political leaders and known activists have also
been forced into hiding, living underground, fearing the death
threats and violence directed at supporters of the ousted
government. Despite its obvious popularity, the Fanmi Lavalas
movement is not currently able to have political demonstrations
or otherwise take open political action due to the threat
of attack. The coup regime, supported by an international
military coalition led by the US, France and Canada, has
not provided security for those currently most at risk. The names
of Lavalas supporters - and even those suspected of being Lavalas
supporters - are being read off on right-wing radio stations as
an implicit threat. Neither the coup regime nor its international
backers have taken action to contain what many Haitians refer to
as an anti-Lavalas "witch hunt" that continues to this day.

Based on six days of interviews, meetings, recorded testimony,
and on-site examinations, the International
Labor/Religious/Community Fact-Finding Delegation has collected
extensive material to compile and report. We wanted to provide
this brief summary as soon as possible for immediate use. A more
detailed written report will soon be published and circulated
which will contain a more detailed overview of our findings.

Participants

* Reverend Dr. Kwame O. Abayomi is the Baltimore City Council 6th
District Representative and Senior Minister of Unity United
Methodist Church in Baltimore.

* Dave Welsh, a San Francisco Labor Council delegate, was for
many years Executive Vice President of Golden Gate Branch #214 of
the Letter Carriers Union. He has been active in Haiti support
work since 1991, and speaks French. He was part of a Pastors for
Peace delegation to Haiti in 1997.

* Johnnie Stevens is an activist with the International Action
Center. He represented Ramsey Clark on a recent delegation that
met with Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the Central African Republic,
where the Haitian President had been taken after his abduction.
Their meeting paved the way for press interviews with Aristide,
and his return to the Caribbean region. He also attended the
World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, and is a
co-founder of Labor for Reparations.

* Sharon Black Ceci, a Registered Nurse, is Labor Coordinator for
the Haiti Commission of Inquiry. She is a shop steward with
United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local #27, and was a
founding member of the All Peoples Congress, a community
organization in the Baltimore area.

* Charlie Hinton is a member of the Printers Union (GCIU) and a
member of a worker-owned cooperative, the union printing company
Inkworks in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a long-time
solidarity movement activist and member of the Haiti Action
Committee.

* Sister Maureen Duignan, is a Franciscan nun who runs the East
Bay Sanctuary Covenant, which has a long history (as does Sr.
Maureen) of solidarity and sanctuary work with Central American
and other refugees, from the 1980s to the present. Sister Maureen
has been to Haiti a number of times and speaks French.

* Michael Zinzun is director of the Los Angeles-based Coalition
Against Police Abuse (CAPA), which he co-founded in 1975. He was
also a founding member of Police Watch and Communities in Support
of the Gang Truce, and recently attended Haiti's Bicentennial
celebrations in Port-au-Prince. As a result of his activism
around police issues, he suffered a police beating which left him
blind in one eye.

* Kevin Skerrett is Research Officer for the Canadian Union of
Public Employees (CUPE), Canada's largest union. He has done
significant research on the international trade union movement,
and speaks French.

 * Dr. Adrianne Aron is a clinical psychologist who works with
victims of political repression. She has worked in the solidarity
movement for many years, and served as an election monitor in
Haiti during the 2000 elections there.

All articles copyrighted Haiti Progres, Inc. REPRINTS ENCOURAGED.
Please credit Haiti Progres.

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