Last week, SOTA-BO and Haitian garment workers has a small victory in their fight for the right to organize. Five women – known union members and leaders – were arbitrarily fired.* (Click here to read more about this.)
Workers are fed up. Every day is a fight to exist. Most work 12-16 hour days. They receive starvation wages, while factory owners, brands and stores make millions, sometimes billions of dollars in profit. They have the legal right to a union and the right to organize. But at every turn, this right is suppressed. Now, they are taking matters into their own hands. On Tuesday 1/24/17, SOTA-BO announced a strike for Thursday, 1/26/17. To avoid a work stoppage, H&H rehired three of the workers.
Port Au Prince, Haiti – Wednesday 1/25/17 – Garment workers and SOTA-BO union members at H&H Textiles factory warned the company they planned to go on strike today, Thursday 1/26. H&H Textiles is in the Palmiers Free Zone, of the Carrefour subdivision in Port-au-Prince.