Appalled about the news from Haiti? Feeling angry and don't know what to do? Well, here's an idea. Copy and paste the protest letter below, and send it to the CEO of the Grupo M company. Email or by post.

Democracy in Haiti can only grow from the grassroots. Workers' organisations are one way in which Haitian people can defend themselves, and work together for better pay and conditions. Responding to the appeal from the First of May-Batay Ouvriye union federation is a small but effective contribution you can make to the fight for justice and real democracy in Haiti.

Charles Arthur Haiti Support Group

Protest letter

To: Fernando Capellan, CEO Grupo M, Matanzas, Santiago, Dominican Republic

email: fcapellan@grupom.com.do cc: mkobori@levi.com

Estimado Senor Capellan,

I am very concerned about serious abuses and violations of workers' rights at the Grupo M factory in Ouanaminthe, Haiti. According to information I have received, on Monday 1 March, 2004, 34 (thirty-four) members of the Sendika Ouvriye Kodevi Wanament (SOKOWA, Ouanaminthe Codevi Workers’ Union) were fired by the management. (This union had filed its official registration with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour in Port-au-Prince on 10 February, 2004.)

The following day, as co-workers prepared to take action in support of the union, members of the so-called ‘rebel’ armed forces, who in recent days were involved in the overthrow of the Haitian government, arrived at the factory with guns, and proceeded to attack workers. After several workers were handcuffed and others beaten up, the workforce was compelled to resume work. Later, the ‘rebels’ revealed that they had been contacted the previous evening by the Grupo M factory management who had told them that workers were going to “make problems”.

I understand that the dismissed union members have been told to return to the factory on 8 March to collect their final wages, an act which implies acceptance of their summary dismissal.

Senor Capellan, you know very well that the right to unionise is enshrined in Haitian law (and is also an internationally-recognised labour standard), and I call on you to immediately rescind the dismissal notices, and to re-instate the union members. Furthermore, I call on you to dismiss those managers involved in the violent denial of workers' rights. Nothing less than these actions will be acceptable.

I know that the Levi Strauss Company is one of your main clients, and that it has made public commitments in favour of workers' rights at all its sub-contractors. I am not going to boycott Levi Strauss products because I know that the workers in Haiti want to work – but they want jobs where their rights are respected. Instead, I am copying this letter to Mr. Michael Kobori, the Levi Strauss & Co. director for Global Code of Conduct.

cc: Michael Kobori –
Director, Global Code of Conduct Levi Strauss & Co.
1155 Battery St.
San Francisco,
CA 94111
Tel: (415) 501-1459
Fax: (415) 501-1485
email: mkobori@levi.com

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This email is forwarded as a service of the Haiti Support Group.

See the Haiti Support Group web site: www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org

Solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for justice, participatory democracy and equitable development, since 1992.

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