BUT VIGILANCE AND MOBILISATION ARE STILL THE ORDER OF THE DAY.

The moblisation of the workers at the Codevi factory; interventions (by the workforce, those dismissed, the union and its committee, the people of Ouanaminthe, the national and international media, solidarity groups and the public at large);
the permanent engagement of Batay Ouvriye; active solidarity (in the form of letters, a presence on the ground and sometimes during negotiations, debates, financial support); solidarity provided by a local trade union (OGITH) and by foreign ones (ACILS, FEDOTRAZONA…)
as well as by support organisations (the Batay Ouvriye Solidarity Network, the Haiti Support Group, Réseau-Solidarité-Peuples Solidaires, Workers' Rights Consortium – WRC, Maquila Solidarity Network, Clean Clothes Campaign… ); all finally contributed to the management of the Codevi company at the free trade zone in Ouanaminthe, North-East Haiti, agreeing to re-instate the workers that they had tried to illegally dismiss.

After the final round of negotiations took place on Tuesday 13 April 2004, in the presence of not only the parties directly involved (Sokowa and Batay Ouvriye, on one side and the Codevi management, the World Bank's IFC, and the Levi Strauss Company on the other) and those who actively participated in the long struggle such as the WRC, but also a tripartite delegation (Ministry of Social Affairs, the mainstream trade union movement and the Haitian Industrialists' Association), the factory management finally agreed : to reinstate on 14 April all the fired workers, to provide continued medical treatment to those who were most severely beaten and are still suffering,
to pay back-salaries at the minimum wage rate for all the time of the dispute,
to recognise the right to unionise inside the factory, and finally to immediately enter into negotiations with a delegation from the union to discuss the workers' wider demands.

Immediately after the negotiations concluded, the workers entered the factory to be met by cries of joy, applause and warm embraces. In response to this outburst of emotion and fearful of the consequences, the management felt it necessary to announce their respect for union rights over the Tannoy system. This provoked still more celebration on the factory floor!

It was indeed a great victory. Not only for the workers who had been dismissed, but also for those still on the factory floor; not only for those who are there but for those who have yet to be employed; not only for these future workers, but also for all those who must defend their rights in free trade zone, in Haiti, in other dominated countries and in the rest of the world.

This first victory in the first dispute in the first new free trade zone in Haiti marks an important stage in the international working class struggle, especially taking into consideration the important contribution of international solidarity. It is a victory for all of us but most importantly the campaign was one that was based on the determination of the workers on the ground and on their own, autonomous, struggle.

Nothing though can be taken for granted, and the next day the management tried to slip out of many of the agreements reached the day before. The chicanery began immediately over the issue of the workers badges – the management issued new ones thereby robbing the workers of the seniority and restricting their status to temporary workers under the threat of dismissal. Then some of the workers were told to wait for work, while others were sent to different posts. As of now, eight workers are still in the Training Centre waiting for a work post to become available. Will they be paid for this time without work?

There's worse: open threats have been made not only against the members of the Batay Ouvriye union federation but also against representatives of support organisations present during the negotiations. Whatismore, it is important to note that during the whole episode – from the start of the dispute up until today – the presence of one of the most repressive company security guards, Alex Corona. Remember that according to the recent ICFTU report, the chief of security in the Dominican Republic personally hit union members with a Colt 45 revolver! As it said in the report, "the company pays for this sort of actions… carried out by a group of 20 people in the free trade zone."

The mobilisation is still taking place, and the struggle has only begun!

(translated from French by Charles Arthur for the Haiti Support Group)

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