Stop Union Busting in Haiti

Stop Union Busting in Haiti!

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The Codevi Zone and the Grupo M factories are owned by Fernando Capellan and are located on the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Despite the fact that peasants were forcibly removed from the land, the World Bank's International Finance Corporation gave Capellan a 20 million dollar loan to create this zone. The IFC consistently fails to enforce the freedom of association clause in the agreement, in effect condoning Grupo M practices.

Fernando Capellan is also the president of Adozona, the Dominican Republic's free trade zone industrialists' association. Grupo M's actions in the Codevi zone fit with a pattern of lack of respect for freedom of association throughout the country, in other zones. Because of the power vacuum in Haiti, management can threaten workers knowing these workers have no access to a stable judicial system or a neutral police force. Workers have a meeting on Tuesday, April 13th, with management to discuss these issues.

Despite thousands of solidarity letters addressed to Grupo M, its main buyer Levi-Strauss, and the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank (IFC), Grupo M’s human rights violations continue. Zacarias Gonzales and Genaro Rodriguez, workers at Grupo M in Santiago, Dominican Republic, testified eloquently to the IFCTU (International Free Confederation of Trade Unions):

"One day they called Francisco (Alvarez), our committee’s general-secretary, to the office. When he returned to his work two men attacked him with a chair and a hammer. They beat him so badly he had to be carried away on a stretcher. He was taken to the doctor and then imprisoned along with the two men. The following day all three of them were released. Then, the next day, at nine in the morning, when I was working at my machine, I saw the same two men coming towards me. They were armed with a machete and a metal pipe, and said they were now coming after me because I was number two in the union. I escaped by jumping over three machines and running up to the personnel office on the second floor. Imagine. It isn’t easy to get away when you are in a closed factory. I thought I’d be safe in the office; but they called Ali Corona, the second-in-command of Grupo M security. He knocked on the door but I wouldn’t let him in because I thought the guys were still outside. Then I opened the door a little and this massive man smashed his way in. He had a .45 pistol. He lifted me up and hit me on the neck with the pistol. And then he handcuffed me."

"The company pays for this type of thing, to destroy the unions. There’s a group of 20 people in the free trade zone who are paid to prevent the formation of any unions. Every time they try to form a union, they go and contract these guys and put them inside the factory to start fights with the principal leaders of the committee so that they will lose their rights. They do this every time anyone tries to form a union." (IFCTU Report, disclosed by Charles Arthur, of the Haiti Support Group, September 2003).

Timeline:

February 16th
The new union, SOKOWA (Sendika Ouvriye Kodevi Wanament - Ouanaminthe Codevi Workers' Union) presented a letter to management and Limbert Cruz, the Codevi Director expressed the company's open door policy.

February 25th
Ariel Jerome, a worker, was fired following a complaint. When he protested he was beaten with rifle buts and forced to surrender his worker badge.

February 26th
All factory workers stop working, demanding Ariel Jerome's reinstatement, medical treatment, and the firing of those in management responsible for this (Jean Renaud and Borgella). Cruz agreed to rescind the firing and care for Jerome's health. He claimed he needed to consult about the management firings.

March 1st
No one from management was fired. Renaud spread the word through the factory that Levi Strauss was withdrawing orders, in part because of the work stoppage. Renaud called each of the union members and fired 34. The Dominican military pointed guns at them and seized their badges.

March 3rd
Workers declared a work stoppage and protested the firings. Members of the "rebel" army arrive with guns to "rough up" the workers. The rebels reveal that management called the evening before with a list of people to get rid of.

March 29th
Following protests and international solidarity, the company promises letters of rehiring to the 34 fired workers.

March 31st
The letters, which do not concern rehiring, are sent. Management invites workers to a meeting on Tuesday, April 13th.