8889: Fwd: GRAND MARNIER LIQUOR AND HAITI. (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

>From Carl Fombrun carl@fombrun.com or http://www.fombrun.com or Fax 305 270-3799 

A young man working in the tourism industry in Port-au-Prince, I was 
acquainted with Grand Marnier Liquor as the drink of choice to impress our 
visitors at the top notch Riviera Hotel in the 1950s. Mostly if those 
visitors happened to be of the female gender with all the qualities 
attributed to the fair sex. 
 
At the bar-restaurant in the Riviera Hotel where Guy Durosier was the star 
singer nightly, the waiter would be asked for a Grand Marnier "Flambe" that 
would be brought ceremoniously at the table. They consisted of liqueur 
glasses with a shot of Grand Marnier liquor and a purple blue flame lighted 
on top of each. They cost an arm and a leg. 
Grand Marnier describes this specific drink on its label for its qualities " 
of light amber tones " and " excellent lingering after-taste." Far from me 
the thought then, while having this simple but somewhat ostentatious request 
served, that the origin of this French product had roots in Haiti. 50 years 
later it's the reason for this article. 
 
Marnier-Lapostolle's orange plantation is just outside Cap Haitian, not far 
from Limonade. Controversy with workers on Grand Marnier's orange 
plantations in Haiti has been boiling for a long time it seems.  Workers who 
handpick those oranges have " for years earned poverty wages and suffered 
respiratory and skin complaints because of intensive contact with acid 
orange spray. They pick, peel and grate bitter oranges for shipment to the 
company's distilleries in France," as stated by writer Steve Tibbett in the 
Sunday edition of July 8, 2001 of "The Observer" in the United Kingdom. 
 
The Grand Marnier company has been challenged by the workers and human 
rights organizations in Haiti and they have finally agreed to a 55% increase 
in wages as well as 
an improvement in conditions and official recognition of the workers' union. 
Local and international pressure is to be credited for this outcome. 
 
This reminds me of those words by social activist Bobby Duval: " When you 
are an advocate it does have an effect."  For years the workers on the Grand 
Marnier's plantations earned less than $5.00 dollars per day laid down as a 
minimum by Haitian labor laws.  Conditions on the plantations were 
disgraceful. No toilet or first aid, no drinking water, no washing 
facilities permitting workers to remove the citric acid from their skin. 
 
Credit for this change to the better is due mainly to War on Want and Haiti 
Support Group. They did what advocates do by launching an international 
campaign to get the company at the bargaining table. Steve Tibbett of The 
Observer in the UK continues:  "Without the combination of the local trade 
union persuasion and international campaigning, little would have been 
accomplished. 
A constructive dialogue between the workers and company representatives came 
from this amalgam of influences....." Companies that refuse to negotiate are 
swimming against the tide. If there is going to be globalisation, most 
agree, it has to be a humane process with responsible business as a 
cornerstone," as per writer Tibbett in The Observer. 
 
Steve Tibbett is senior campaigner for War on Want. His last paragraph on 
this subject is inspiring: " The workers on Haitian plantations, many of 
whom have devoted their lives to producing for these companies, deserve more 
than a sprightly rebuttal and fine words in the company annual report." 
 
" A similar struggle is being held on Cointreau's orange plantations in 
Haiti, another liquor multinational exploiting Haitian laborers. An injury 
to one is an injury to all. One struggle!," as per the Global Sweats Shops 
coalition and the "Batay Ouvriye" organizer in New York City on July 27, 
2001. 
 
There is a light at the end of the tunnel if one looks for it when the 
subject is Haiti. The idea that Haiti is lost and we should admit it must be 
stopped in its track. Examples like Bobby Duval's, militant human rights 
groups like  Haiti Support Group are starting to multiply. It's definitely 
clear to all of us now that only Haitians can find the way out with 
compassionate international help. 
 
Reading an article about Haiti  in June 28 1992 in the Miami Herald, written 
by Robert Michael Finley Deputy Chief of Staff then for the House Foreign 
Affairs Committe, and a former deputy assistant secretary of state for 
Caribbean affairs, I am happy to see that his predictions were off base. To 
quote:" The grim reality is that in the not too distant future the famine 
now gripping Northwest Haiti will spread throughout the whole country. Tens 
if not hundreds of thousands will die. " This was in 1992 and this prophecy 
of doom and gloom to the extreme has not happened yet. " Pa janm tro konnen, 
Toujou chache konnen " : Knowing too much makes you give up. Although the 
political report on Haiti is grim, let's keep hope alive. 
 
Published in "The Haitian Times" online edition July 15 - July 21, 2001.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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