Rapid Response Network

Author: Editor1

  • Working Women’s Day

    Working Women’s Day

    March 8, 2018 – Port Au Prince, Haiti – Textile workers with the trade union, SOTA-BO, commemorated International Women’s Day outside the SONAPI Industrial Park, to bring attention to their continued fight for democratic rights – a wage that allows them to feed, clothe, house and educate themselves and their families, as well as the right  to healthcare, and more.

    They demonstrated, handed out leaflets and sang:

    Workers!
    Our condition can’t stay like this.
    Their dogs are better than us.
    We swear things must change.

    Haitian garment workers are paid the lowest wage in the western hemisphere – 350 Gourdes per day (US $5.47). In 2017, SOTA-BO led a three month long mobilization of strikes, work stoppages, marches, and meetings to demand an increased wage of 800 Gourdes per day (US$12.82). Factory owners and the government responded with violence and repression. One factory owner – Alain Villard – told workers at Palm Apparel factory that his dogs were worth more than them.

    During this March 8 mobilization, SOTA workers began to call out for 1,000 Gourdes. A 2014 study by The Solidarity Center titled “The High Cost of Low Wages in Haiti,” concluded that, based on a standard 48-hour work week, Haitian workers should be paid at least 1,006 gourdes per day to adequately provide for themselves and their families. That was four years ago. The cost of living has only increased since then.

    Be sure to follow the RRN to stay up with updates on this struggle and ways to lend your support.

    Twitter:  @RRNsolidarity

    Facebook: @RapidResponseNetwork

    Newsletter/updates sign up:  http://goo.gl/Me35SH

    #SolidarityForever
    #RRNsolidarity

  • $1,590 Raised for Garment Workers! Thank You!

    $1,590 Raised for Garment Workers! Thank You!

    sota-anniv-1
    Happy 2018!

    Thank you so much to all who ended the year with a contribution to support Haitian garment workers!

    We raised $1,591.96 for workers in Port Au Prince and Carrefour!

    This money was directly wired to Haiti and Batay Ouvriye to be disbursed to a group of workers from four factories. They have been unable to go to work because of union-busting.

    Their firings were all found illegal by government and regulatory agencies, but factory owners and bosses wouldn’t budge. By the end of the year, they were out of work for several months with unpaid rent and hungry families.

    Thank you so much for standing with them, so they can continue their fight.

    If this is new news to you, check out this video to learn more.

    It’s Never to Late to Give.

    Our overall goal was $2,000. So, we are $408.04 short of this goal.

    It’s not too late to give! Every dollar counts.

    Many of the donations we received were in smaller amounts, like $15 and $25.

    It all adds up to critical support.

    Click here to DONATE.

    We look forward to a new year of international solidarity and continuing the struggle.

    Happy New Year!


    Be sure to stay up with RRN updates:

    Facebook – @RapidResponseNetwork
    Twitter – @RRNsolidarity
    Email – 

    Thank you for all you do! <3

    #SolidarityForever

  • Year End Goal: $2,000 to Fight Exploitation!

    Year End Goal: $2,000 to Fight Exploitation! <3

    Just $530 Left to Raise Before Midnight!
    We can do this.

    CLICK HERE TO DONATE     <3


    Illegally Fired Workers Face Hunger & Homelessness

    From May to July, 2017, SOTA-BO textile union led garment workers across Haiti in monumental mobilizations for an increased minimum wage. In the wake of these efforts, many of these union members were arbitrarily and illegally fired for exercising their legal rights.

    • SOTA-BO members from Quality Sewing factory have been out of work since March – another clear case of union-busting! The Ministry of labor found their firings illegal, and said they should be rehired… but, the boss refuses to let them in to work.

    As the holidays approach, these workers and their families are hungry. They face losing their homes, as they cannot pay rent.

    One of the workers from Quality Sewing just had a baby. The spouse of a worker from SISA also just gave birth. They are struggling to raise infants with no wages.

    Workers with older children cannot send them to school. In Haiti, public schools are few and far between. So, private schools are the norm. Without income, these workers cannot pay school tuition. Their children are unable to take year end exams, and fall behind in school.

    This is all because factory owners refuse workers’ basic rights.

    "Workers Organize!"

     

    Support Illegally Fired Workers – Let’s Raise $2000 before 2018!

    Workers’ survival and very lives are being attacked simply, because they insist on basic rights – a decent wage that allows them to feed, house, clothe and educate themselves and their families.

    Let’s help SOTA-BO members get through the year end & continue to fight!

    It’s likely the best thing you can do with your money and your conscience this holiday season.

    If just 50 people contribute, $40 each, we can reach this goal.

    If you can’t donate $40, please give what you can.

    Every dollar adds up and carries a major impact for these workers.

    Stand with garment workers in their fight against exploitation!


    DONATE HERE.     *


    Thank you SO MUCH for your ongoing solidarity <3

    HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

    *The RRN is not a 501(c)3, so your donation is not tax deductible.