www.newsandletters.org
|
|
NEWS & LETTERS, December 2007 - January 2008Solidarity with Haitian workersSince May, there has been an ongoing crisis at CD Apparel, an assembly factory located in Building 3, in the SONAPI Industrial Park in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. This factory was producing clothing for Hanes, until suddenly Hanes withdrew all of its contracts and forced its closure. More than 500 workers were laid off. Although they have received legally mandated severance compensation from the state, this is only a pittance of about $50-$75, depending on a worker's years on the job. Hanes has not paid them a cent. They should receive decent severance pay of several hundred or a thousand dollars, the same as Hanes pays workers in other countries in similar situations. FIGHT FOR JUST COMPENSATION The laid off workers who are engaged in the struggle for severance pay have held demonstrations and other forms of mobilizations. They have maintained unity in raising their demands. They are waging a legal struggle to be justly compensated for the unprincipled closure of the factory. The workers are seeking international solidarity, and they have built a web site to promote their struggle (www.ocdap600-haiti.13.fr). Their six-month struggle shows the determination of these workers to confront the greed of transnational capitalists and their local bourgeois agents, and to demand justice. This is a struggle that must be supported with all our strength. We must force Hanes to compensate the workers justly. We must also work to link this struggle to the global struggle of the working class. It's part of our struggle against capitalist globalization and against imperialism. FACTORIES CLOSING Factories are closing down in Haiti, at the same time the government is promoting the newly enacted HOPE act (see October-November N&L--ed.) This legislation has no benefit whatsoever for workers or for the national interests of Haiti. While international corporations are clamoring to create jobs, workers are losing their jobs without any compensation and are subjected to discrimination. This should reveal to us the true nature of their policies! Batay Ouvriye (Workers Struggle), a Haitian workers' independent democratic union movement, has raised an appeal for international solidarity with the struggles of the workers of CD Apparel. We must rely on our struggles, on our determination, and on national and international solidarity. Send letters to Hanes at: rich.noll@hanesbrands.com; Gerald.evans@hanesbrands.com; ir@hanesbrands.com, and to CD Apparel rjbaker@pfbia.com --Information from Batay Ouvriye |
|
Home l News & Letters Newspaper l Back issues l News and Letters Committees l Dialogues l Raya Dunayevskaya l Contact us l Search Published by News and Letters Committees |
