veiled4allah: a story from Haiti

In 2002, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the U.S. entered into an agreement to create a "free trade zone" along the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Development began in 2003. Free-trade proponents paint the usual sunny picture of how new jobs will be created and people lifted out of poverty.

However, local groups in Haiti raised a number of concerns, as documented in this report from the Bretton Woods Project. The Maribahoux region is one of Haiti's most fertile regions. Can Haiti afford to turn it to industry and away from agriculture? Were the people who live in the area consulted about whether they wanted manufacturing plants there? Were they compensated for the taking of their lands or were the lands just expropriated? What about the effect on the environment?

Additionally, local NGOs were concerned about worker's rights. American corporations like to have their plants abroad, where salaries are much cheaper than in the U.S. and workers have fewer rights that need to be respected. In many cases, it seems that they would like to keep it that way and therefore resist the efforts of their workers to organize and demand better pay and better working conditions.

The first stage of the development project is a garment factory in Ouanaminthe run by Grupo M, a Dominican company. It provides jeans for American companies such as Levi Strauss, Tommy Hilfiger, Eddie Bauer, Polo, and Hugo Boss, primarily Levi Strauss. Grupo M, which is the largest garment manufacturer in the Dominican Republic, has a long history of abusing worker's rights.

Grupo M sought a development loan from the World Bank (the occasion for the Bretton Woods report). This was finally approved on January 21 of this year, with a provision specifically requiring respect for worker's rights:

Last week, after determining that many of the allegations about Grupo M’s anti-union practices were substantiated, the IFC [part of the World Bank -ed] decided to include the obligation to respect freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining as a loan condition. If these rights are not respected, then the company will be considered to have defaulted on the loan. The IFC has apparently also drafted a “remedial action plan” that includes several measures for monitoring observance of trade union rights at Grupo M facilities.

The new union, SOKOWA (Sendika Ouvriye Kodevi Wanament - Ouanaminthe Codevi Workers' Union), was formed on February 10. On February 26, the workers went on strike to protest the mistreatment and firing of one of their fellow union members:

On Wednesday, February 25th, a few workers were informally discussing things with members of management (Jean Renaud, Luis and Jean Philippe) when, following a complaint by one of the unionists, Ariel Jerome, the latter was informed that he was fired. Protesting, he was violently beaten up with rifle butts and forced to give up his work badge. Thursday, Feb. 26th, all of the factory workers stopped working in protest, demanding Ariel Jerome's re-hiring at work, medical treatment, as well as the firing of the two main management persons responsible: Jean Renaud and Borgella. Limbert Cruz came out to talk to them and agreed to cancel the firing and take care of the abused worker's health. Indeed, Jerome was give his badge back and sent to the health center for tests and medication. Cruz, however, added that he needed to consult about the issue of the two managers.

The strike ended, but the repurcussions didn't:

[O]n Monday morning (March 1st), Jean Renaud passed throughout the factory, line by line, informing the workers that Levi Strauss was withdrawing its orders, because, amongst other reasons, the workers' work-stoppages meant that the business was suffering and consequently they needed to get rid of workers. Rumor had it that he said before losing his job, he would make many workers lose their jobs. Monday afternoon, Renaud called all of the union members and, with much pressure, informed them they were fired. Dominican military (Ouanaminthe is on the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic) pointed their weapons at the workers and seized their badges. Several were roughed up. All in all, 34 were fired, all union members.

The workers went on strike again on March 3. This is when the rebel groups, who brought down Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide, got involved:

On Tuesday, March 3rd, all of the workers were mobilized to protest the firings. All of a sudden, members of the rebel army at Ouanaminthe arrived, with guns, to rough up the workers. Several workers were handcuffed. After much mistreatment and threats, they were forced to resume work. Later, the rebels revealed that they had been contacted the previous evening by factory management who informed them that the workers were going to make problems at work the next day. Management even gave them a list of union members that they were to get rid of.

Here is a full timeline of events. Batay Ouvriye, the Haitian trade union federation, is soliciting help from labor activists worldwide, asking people to contact Grupo M and Levi-Strauss. I found out about it from a mailing list that I belong to.

More background on the Free Trade Zones is here.


One wonders why the rebel soldiers, who depict themselves as fighting for democracy in Haiti, are engaging in union-busting. But the fact that they're doing it on behalf of a Dominican corporation that was already using members of the Dominican military in its operations supports the assertion that the rebellion is rooted in the Dominican Republic rather than being indigenous to Haiti.

Here are highlights from The Black Commentator's summary of this:

For nearly a year there had been a steady stream of U.S. press reports of frenetic activity among exiled Haitian killers in the Dominican Republic. These reports appeared in the most influential American newspapers. For example, on May 15, 2003, soon after BC began its collaboration with Haiti-based reporter Kevin Pina, an AP story served as the bases for the following item in our Issues section titled, “US Plots Regime Change in Haiti.”

A May 10 Associated Press report tends to confirm that Haiti's armed opposition operates with near-impunity in the Dominican Republic. Under pressure from the Haitian government, authorities on the Dominican side of the border arrested and then released five men in connection with the attack on the hydroelectric plant

...

The pace of the Haitian contra buildup escalated as the year progressed, as did the very public meetings between the International Republican Institute, Bush administration officials and Haitian ex-military in the Dominican Republic. “Chief” Guy Philippe and his cohorts’ invasion preparations were common knowledge, and certainly well-known to the American press on both sides of the island of Hispaniola.

...

So the origins of the “rebel” army were no secret to the corporate media. Yet on Sunday, as Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s flying prison made its way across the Atlantic Ocean, the major media all ran political obituaries, “fact” pages and timelines that made no mention whatever of the Dominican roots of the month-long fighting. It was as if the “insurgency” sprang from the soil, or was a natural expression of the fratricidal proclivities of the Haitian people.

The purpose of the sudden, universal corporate media amnesia is simple: to exclude from public debate facts that would implicate the United States and its Dominican allies in the overthrow of Aristide. Reality was “disappeared.” The Americans were once again on a reluctant “rescue mission.” There was to be no questioning of the “unselfish purposes of our own government.”