After more than two weeks of striking, workers and union members of SOTA at H&H Textiles factory returned to work this morning.
Tuesday 4/18/17, SOTA union members met with management to negotiate the workers’ demands.
The workers went on strike because of incessant harassment, intimidation and arbitrary firings for union members. As part of this effort, management writes up workers with “derogatory letters” to justify unjust firings. For example, if a worker took a bathroom break, a manager could say, “You took too long,” and issue them a letter. Once a worker accumulates enough bogus letters, the letters are used to warrant firings.
Production manager, Mrs. Khan, has been especially brutal in her harassment of union members, often headbutting workers. Many of the songs and chants during the strike included her, “We do not want Khan. She must go,” and “Down with Madam Khan.”
Also, the production quotas at all the factories are set incredibly high. They are often unattainable and prevent workers from receiving the minimum wage… because they are often paid by how much they produce, rather than how many hours they work.
Here is a direct message from SOTA after the negotiations: (Translated from Kreyol)
“Ok, we reached a consensus to return to work tomorrow, Wednesday, April 19th. On Thursday we will meet with management to confirm their agreement with the minister of labor regarding:
The reinstatement of the fired workers
No firing after the strike
Stop derogatory letters and dismissals
Payment of the legal strike days
Set reasonable quotas
As for Mrs. Khan, she does not have the right to dismiss or fire workers anymore.”
Initially H&H management refused to concede anything to the workers. So this is a big step for the workers!
Now, we will see if H&H management follows through on the agreement.
The reality is that words on paper often don’t come to life. For instance, unions and union rights are completely legal and recognized in state documents… but, this very strike and the reasons for it show us the reality.
Garment workers continue to fight for for their most basic, legal rights.
So, as May Day approaches, and there are ongoing struggles at several other factories in Haiti, the RRN will continue to collect funds to support future strikes and mobilizations for these workers.
See the bottom of this page for more info on garment workers’ May Day call to action & for an increased minimum wage; the ongoing wage tax fight; and a new union’s fight for existence at Quality Sewing.
Here are ways you can give to the Strike Fund:
* We’re working on a way to receive online donations, but don’t have 501(c)3 status.
1. Transfer money to the RRN through Venmo. We’ll wire those funds to Haiti.
www.venmo.com/RRNsolidarity
2. Send a wire transfer donation directly to Batay Ouvriye towards the strike fund.
Account’s name:
ENTESENDIKAL PREMYE ME BATAY OUVRIYE
Account No.:
45-1100-989-8
Bank’s name:
SOGEBANK S.A. Route de Delmas, Port-au-Prince, Haiti (509) 2815 5595
Swift Code for Sogebank:
SOGHHTPP
Corresponding banks in the US:
BANK OF AMERICA/MERRILL LYNCH, New York, N.Y. USA
Swift Code: BOFAUS3N
Or
Bank of New York Mellon, New York, USA
Swift Code: IRVTUS3N
3. Mail Checks to: Frantz Wainwright*
35 NW 195 ST
Miami, FL 33169
* Please write check out to Frantz Wainwright & note Haiti Strike Fund.
4. Email the RRN if you’re in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area, and you’d like to send cash/check to be wired to Haiti – RRNsolidarity@gmail.com.
5.Follow, Like & Subscribe to the RRN for ongoing updates and campaigns to support independent and autonomous workers’ struggles.
Workers are rightfully fed up. They struggle to exist on misery wages, and are constantly harassed, intimidated and physically attacked for asserting their right to organize.
Their demands are:
Fire the brutal production manager, Mrs. Khan
Respect the right to organize
Increase the minimum wage from 350 Gourdes/day to 800 Gourdes/day
For the past several days, the factory has been shut down due to the strike, and workers have been locked out.
We received further updates to share:
Wed 4/12/17:
Late Wednesday, Minister of Social Affairs, Roosevelt Bellevue, came to H&H Textiles factory. He spent a lot of time with management, and did not bother to hear the workers’ grievances.
Instead, he announced to them that the factory would open the following day (Thurs, 4/13/17), and that whoever wanted to enter to go to work would be free to enter. For everyone else who does not return to work, measures will be taken. He announced that the police would be present.
The workers agreed that they are determined to continue the strike.
Thurs 4/13/17:
SOTA-BO & H&H workers continue the strike and demonstration outside the factory.
Roosevelt Bellevue, Minister of Social Affairs attempted to speak to the workers and to convince them to give up, let go of their demands, and return to their miserable work conditions.
In the video below Roosevelt Bellevue says, “The bosses need you and you need the bosses.” In response, a worker shouts, “The boss only needs our labor power!” Meaning, the bosses could care less about us, they only want us to exploit us.
The below leaflet was also circulated and given to the minister of social affairs. It reads, “We do not want Khan. She must go!”
No agreement was reached and the strike continues on.
Workers will likely face sever repression from the police and/or CIMO, the Haitian equivalent to the SWAT team.
These workers are determined, fierce and brave. But, they are also hungry, and funds to continue the strike are low.
Here are ways you can help:
* We’re working on a way to receive online donations, but don’t have 501(c)3 status.
1. Send a wire transfer donation directly to Batay Ouvriye towards the strike fund.
Account’s name:
ENTESENDIKAL PREMYE ME BATAY OUVRIYE
Account No.:
45-1100-989-8
Bank’s name:
SOGEBANK S.A. Route de Delmas, Port-au-Prince, Haiti (509) 2815 5595
Swift Code for Sogebank:
SOGHHTPP
Corresponding banks in the US:
BANK OF AMERICA/MERRILL LYNCH, New York, N.Y. USA
Swift Code: BOFAUS3N
Or
Bank of New York Mellon, New York, USA
Swift Code: IRVTUS3N
2. Mail Checks to: Frantz Wainwright*
35 NW 195 ST
Miami, FL 33169
* Please write check out to Frantz Wainwright & note SOTA-BO Strike Fund.
3. Email the RRN if you’re in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area, and you’d like to send cash to be wired to Haiti – RRNsolidarity@gmail.com.
4.Follow, Like & Subscribe to the RRN for ongoing updates and campaigns to support independent and autonomous workers’ struggles.
In January, SOTA-BO textile workers union at H&H Textiles in Carrefour, Haiti were ready to strike to force management to re-hire five women workers & union members who were unjustly fired. To avoid a work stoppage, H&H rehired three of the five workers.
At the H&H factory, workers and union members constantly face arbitrary firings, intimidation, and unwarranted disciplinary measures. Workers are not allowed to bring their phones into the factory floor. And a particular production manager, Mrs. Khan, is known to be especially brutal with the workers. She will headbutt workers to assert her dominance over them.
Last week, the workers of H&H said, “Enough!” They are demanding that Mrs. Khan and her brutal ways go home! They have also joined garment workers in the Ouanaminthe who are demanding an increased minimum wage from 350 Gourdes ($5.15 US) to 800 per day ($11.57 US).
On Wed 4/5, the RRN received word of a strike underway at H&H Textiles. Since then, the struggle has intensified.
Here is a time line of events, followed by more basic info of the entities involved:
Wed 4/5 – SOTA textile union leads a strike and march demanding and chanting that “Mrs. Khan has to go!”
Thurs 4/6 – H&H management locks workers out of the factory gates. They continue to protest outside the gates.
Mon 4/10 – Workers continue the strike and mobilize again outside the factory gates. CIMO, the Haitian equivalent of a SWAT team comes to threaten the workers, but there was no clash between CIMO and the strikers.
In the video below, the workers sing a song they wrote, “We will never give up on this fight. The future belongs to us workers.”
Eventually some of the workers were able to get in through the gate.
Tues 4/11 – H&H workers confront Mrs. Khan. They block her vehicle as she attempts to leave the factory complex.
In the video below, the woman says, “We are in front of the gate… no one should try to pacify us. The time has come.”
At 1pm the same day, the Ministry of Social Affairs met with workers and SOTA members. We have not received a report as to the outcome of this meeting.
At this point, most of the striking workers have not had a decent meal.
Wed 4/12 – At some point in the morning, the gates of H&H factory were burned.
Graffiti reads, “SOTA says 800 Gourdes minimum wage,” and “Down with Mrs. Kan.”
Some will denounce this action because it is violent. This is violence to a piece of property. And yet a gate, a shop window, a piece of machinery is often given more value than the lives of textile workers who face violence and brutality every day. The misery wages they receive are a form a violence. Factory owners, corporate CEO’s and shareholders make millions of dollars, while workers – the very people who produce the goods – cannot afford the most basic essentials of life – food, clean water, housing, clothing, and education. These companies move entire operations across the globe in search of the absolute lowest wage, the most exploitative situations. Factory owners make sure that workers who try to fight for their rights to organize are repressed, harassed and often outright beaten.
So if we speak of violence, it’s important to look at the larger context. The clothing we wear is produced, every day, through violence and exploitation. Imagine yourself, for a moment, as the textile worker, rather than the consumer. If at every turn, your attempt to assert your basic rights was violently repressed, how would you respond? In this context, does a burnt piece of metal really seem out of line?
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 textile workers 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.
Which Side Are You On?
We must not passively accept the presence of products on store shelves without understanding—and actively opposing—the harsh conditions of exploitation and repression under which they are produced.
At the same time that SOTA & H&H workers are striking in Carrefour, SOKOWA and garment workers in the north of Haiti, in Ouanaminthe, are also striking against attempts to take a 10 percent tax from their misery wages. Tomorrow, we will have an update for you on another battle taking place at the Quality Sewing factory in Port Au Prince. Here, a new chapter of SOTA is facing severe repression.
We expect that Haitian textile workers will be requesting our solidarity soon. For now, they ask that we spread the word about their fights, and that we decide, which side are we on.
Below is a basic run down of the who, what, why & how of this struggle. Please read it to understand the players and for ways to keep in touch.
WHO:
H&H Textiles – the Haiti subsidiary of Seoul, Korea based Yujin Apparel. Their factory is in Carrefour, just south of Port Au Prince in Haiti. They produce mostly t-shirts, shorts, and sportswear. Some brands include Children’s Place, Avia, and Athletic Works. You’ll find these brands in stores like Target, Walmart and Marshall’s.
SOTA-BO – textile trade union in Port Au Prince, affiliated with Batay Ourviye.
Batay Ouvriye (Workers Fight) – a Haitian movement of autonomous textile unions and organizations of peasants, small vendors, and neighborhoods.
Mrs. Khan – a production manager at H&H Textiles who is especially brutal with workers. She physically attacks workers, shows them no respect, and has even head butted workers to try to assert her dominance over them. The workers are calling for her to be fired.
WHAT: (Based on a conversation with a BO representative)
Reductions: H&H consistently threatens workers with “reductions,” saying they’re going to be firing people to make the operation more profitable. The reality is that reductions are meant to intimidate people, to make them think that their job is not secure, and thereby discourage them from exercising their right to organize.
Disciplinary Measures: H&H justifies their anti-union firings by documenting every minute and arbitrary action of workers. Workers have to sign letters, admitting their guilt or error constantly. If you are late, you must sign a letter. If a boss thinks you spoke to a fellow worker too long, they write you up, and you must sign a letter. Then these letters are used to justify anti-union suspensions and firings. “Well look, you have four letters here.” Workers need these jobs. With their salaries, they live in debt, on the edge of desperation. But without the salary, starvation and homelessness are the reality.
Phone Policy: H&H has implemented a policy that bans workers from bringing their cell phones into the factory. These workers have families that depend on them. A phone call is the only method of communication if something happens with a child or family member. It’s yet another disrespectful policing of workers and stripping them of basic rights.
STRIKE! 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.
WHY:
The fight for a higher wage in Haiti is ongoing. This fight, as well as the basic right to organize, is constantly met with harassment, illegal firings, and often violent repression. Manufacturers and the brands they produce for vehemently oppose workers’ rights because they interfere with their ability to extract as much profit out of the production process as possible. This means exploitation is required, and it takes many forms. Setting impossible production quotas to prevent workers from receiving the minimum wage, wage theft, and unpaid overtime are a few of these methods.
HOW:
Here’s how you can support these workers, for now. We’ll keep you posted if they decide the situation requires more direct action.
