22340: Durban: on the Grupo M plant Closing (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Lance Durban <lpdurban@yahoo.com>

We learn on the Corbett Forum (Post #22334) that...

    SANTO DOMINGO, June 10 (AP) -- A Dominican factory that
    makes Levi's jeans in a Haitian free-trade zone plans to
    close its doors and lay off 700 Haitian employees because
    of labor disputes, company officials said Wednesday.
    ....
    The decision was made "for security reasons in the face
    of threats and violent actions by a group of activists
    called Batay Ouvriye," Grupo M President Fernando Capellan
    said.
    Representatives of Batay Ouvriye could not be reached for
    comment.

Fortunately we have Charles Arthur and a number of good-hearted
folks from Batay Ouvriye right on this list who can indeed be
"reached".  And personally, given their rather vocal opposition
to factory work in Haiti, I have a question for them:  What do
they have to offer the 700 workers who no longer even have those
crummy sewing industry jobs?  Being instrumental in the loss of
employment for these workers, it would be nice to see what
alternatives Batay Ouvriye will now propose.  Maybe planting
corn on the plant site?  I seem to recall that loss of the
agricultural land under the factory was another of their
concerns.

L. Durban