It’s true, as citizens, we must pay taxes or tariffs. However, we must see where it’s going. In Haiti, DGI is collecting taxes and tariffs but as citizens we never get services. We have to do whatever we can to live without the services the state owes us. There are no roads, no electricity, no drinking water, no hospitals, no clean marketplace, public squares, no parks to play or for sports in the city. SERVICES ARE ZERO.
TODAY, THEY WANT TO INCREASE THE BUDGET, IT’S ON THE BACKS OF US, WORKERS AND OTHER TOILERS, THEY WANT TO DO IT. We say NO, THAT’S NOT HAPPENING !
– Excerpt from statement by SOKOWA textile trade union
Many of you already know of textile workers’ ongoing fight against a wage tax in Haiti.
The Haitian state is pushing the Codevi Free Trade Zone (FTZ) to take a 13 percent tax out of workers’ wages. One is IRI, which is a tax on income and the other is CFGDCT which is Contribution to the Administrative and Development Fund for the Territorial Localities. State officials claim the taxes are for social services.
While manufacturers and brands make giant profits and Haitian politicians use the state to accumulate their own wealth, neither entity invests in desperately needed social services in Haiti. There are virtually no state-provided social services throughout the country. Most services available, if any, come from Non-Governmental Agencies (NGOs). So where will this 13% tax go? The workers of SOKOWA know the answer, which is why they are leading the effort to fight back against this unjust tax.
Workers already receive starvation wages. The legal minimum wage on the books is 350 Gourdes, or $5.15 US, per day. But the reality is that they often don’t receive this full amount. They live their lives in debt, and often on the brink of hunger and homelessness.
In February, the RRN reported on the struggles of the textile trade union, SOKOWA, which continues to lead the fight against this wage tax in the Codevi Free Trade Zone, in the city of Ouanaminthe. The city is in the north of Haiti, right on the border of the Dominican Republic.
After a January 21st strike and march of nearly 10,000 people, state officials agreed to meet with the workers, but held their ground on extracting the tax. So SOKOWA, garment workers, and many others took the streets again and have continued to strike.
In the face of starvation wages and a tax on their measly salary, SOKOWA announced their demand for factories within Codevi FTZ to increase the minimum wage to 800 Gourdes/day ($11.57 US).
In the south, in Port Au Prince, textile workers are also facing the wage tax as they struggle against union-busting, arbitrary firings, and severe repression.
In the north and in the south of Haiti, workers are striking and fighting for their existence, for their rights to a living wage, to basic social services. They are fighting for the right to feed, clothe and house themselves and their families.
The act of striking is incredibly brave. It requires a serious sacrifice, and a level of cooperation and care for their collective interest. Striking means no wages. It means hungry families, no money for public transit to get to school or to the market. It means the rent will not be paid and the possibility of homelessness. And yet, the workers of SOKOWA continue on… because they recognize that the only path to justice is through their collective fight. It’s their only alternative to starvation wages and further exploitation.
For more background info on the wage tax, including a Who, What, When, Where, Why & How, you can click here for a past RRN update.
Please also read the direct statement from the workers of SOKOWA below.
At this moment, we are waiting to hear from the workers to see how we can best give our solidarity. Please stay tuned as there are several important fights going on simultaneously around the country.
We’ll be posting throughout the week to fill you in on pressing situations in Port Au Prince at two factories – H&H Textiles and Quality Sewing.
Follow the RRN for updates, as these workers may be calling on us for solidarity soon!
facebook.com/rapidresponsenetwork
https://twitter.com/rrnsolidarity
#RRNsolidarity
#SolidarityForever
#RightToOrganize
Thank you for your solidarity!
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STATEMENT FROM SOKOWA TEXTILE UNION:
Codevi Workers,
For a number of days now, words are going around at Codevi, it’s about paying taxes or tariff to DGI (General Department of Taxes, Tariffs and Duties) meaning that deductions will come out of our already measly wages reaching up to 10% of our income. We have to know there exists a law already about that. This is not new. Codevi never made the deductions on our income to send to DGI. Today, DGI is questioning that. Codevi, according to law must make automatic deductions from our income to send to DGI. They’re talking about two different things. One is IRI, which is a tax on income and the other is CFGDCT which is Contribution to the Administrative and Development Fund for the Territorial Localities. We must pay IRI if our annual income is 60,000 Gourdes (U.S. $833.00), and for CFGDCT, 1% must be taken if the monthly income is 5,000 Gourdes (U.S. $69.00).
It’s true, as citizens, we must pay taxes or tariffs. However, we must see where it’s going. In Haiti, DGI is collecting taxes and tariffs but as citizens we never get services. We have to do whatever we can to live without the services the state owes us. There are no roads, no electricity, no drinking water, no hospitals, no clean marketplace, public squares, no parks to play or for sports in the city. SERVICES ARE ZERO.
TODAY, THEY WANT TO INCREASE THE BUDGET, IT’S ON THE BACKS OF US, WORKERS AND OTHER TOILERS, THEY WANT TO DO IT. We say NO, THAT’S NOT HAPPENING ! We do not agree with any deductions for IRI nor for CFGDCT from our measly income in the factories. We do not agree that parlementarians, prime ministers and presidents and other bigwigs in the state are filling up their pockets with taxes they are forcing us to pay. As a matter of fact, with the rising cost of living, our purchasing power has plummeted. Reducing our income further through payment of taxes and other duties would make us poorer everyday. In addition, monies are collected but expenses are incurred without transparency and no one tells the citizens anything. We the workers together with other toilers in Ouanaminthe (Wanament), we say : NO, WE DON’T AGREE WITH DGI THAT IS FORCING US TO PAY IRI AND CFGDCT !
WE REFUSE TO PAY TAXES AND DUTIES WITHOUT GETTING SERVICES !
LET’S MOBILIZE TO LET DGI KNOW THAT !
CODEVI/WANAMENT WORKERS UNION (SOKOWA) – 1/30/2017
Ouvriye ak Ouvriyèz Codevi,
Depi kèk jou gen yon pawòl k ap pale nan Codevi, se koze pou nou peye taks oswa enpo DGI ki ka fè y ap gen pou retire sou ti kraze n ap touche a yon kantite kòb ki ka rive jiska 10% de revni nou. Fòk nou konnen lwa sa a te toujou la. Se pa yon bagay ki nèf. Se Codevi ki pat janm pran li sou salè nou pou voye l bay DGI. Jodya, DGI ap mande kont. Codevi selon lalwa dwe pran kòb la ala sous pou fè DGI jwenn li. Yo pale de 2 koze. Youn se IRI, kidonk, Impot sur le Revenu epi CFGDCT ki se Contribution au Fonds de Gestion et de Developpement des Collectivites territoriales. Yo dwe peye IRI a depi yo fè 60,000 goud pa an kòm salè epi CFGDCT a, se 1 pou san yo dwe pran depi yo fè 5000 goud kòm revni pa mwa pou CFGDCT a.
Se vre antanke sitwayen yon peyi, nou dwe peye taks oswa enpo. Men fòk nou wè kote yo ale. Ann Ayiti, DGI ap resevwa kòb enpo ak taks men nou menm kòm sitwayen, nou pa resevwa okenn sèvis an retour. Se nou ki pou degajen pou nou viv san sèvis leta dwe nou. Pa gen wout, pa gen kouran, pa gen dlo potab, pa gen lopital, pa gen mache pwòp, plas piblik, teren pou jwe oswa fè spo, elatriye nan komin lan. POU SEVIS SE ZEWO.
JODYA, YO BEZWEN OGMANTE RESET FISKAL LA, SE SOU DO NOU MENM OUVRIYE AK LÒT TRAVAYÈ NAN PEYI A YO VLE FÈ L. Nou di NON, SA PAP PASE ! Nou pa dakò pou yo pran ni IRI ni CFGDCT sou ti chocho n ap redi di pou fè nan izin yo. Nou pa dakò pou se palmantè, premye minis ak prezidan ak lòt gwo otorite leta k ap fè yo sou do nou ak taks y ap egzije nou peye. Dayè ak lavichè k ap ogmante se pouvwa dacha nou k ap bese. Retire sou li pou peye taks ak enpo se rann nou pi pòv chak jou. Mete sou sa, kòb ap kolekte men depans yo pa fèt ak transparans ni y opa rann sitwayen yo kont. Nou menm ouvriye ansanm ak lòt travayè nan Wanament nou di : NON, NOU PA DAKÒ AK DGI K AP EGZIJE N PEYI IRI AK CFGDCT !
NOU PA DAKÒ PEYE TAKS AK ENPÒ SAN NOU PA JWENN SÈVIS !
ANN MOBILIZE POU NOU FÈ DGI KONNEN SA !
SENDIKA OUVRIYE CODEVI WANAMENT – 30/1/2017