Rapid Response Network

Tag: SOTA-BO

  • $1,300 for Haitian May Day!

    $1,300 for Haitian May Day!

    May 1st is May Day – International Workers’ Day!

    This day began as a commemoration of Chicago workers’ fight for the 8 hour work day and the right to organize.

    In Haiti, workers are still battling for these essential rights.

    • Haitian garment workers receive the lowest wage in the western hemisphere – 350 Gourdes, or US $5.40.
    • Their wages are consumed just by the transportation costs of getting to and from work.
    • Most live in debt, and on the brink of hunger and homelessness.
    • Production quotas in factories are often set impossibly high. Factory owners and management do not respect the law, and often do not pay the minimum wage.
    • Union members and organizers are constantly harassed and arbitrarily fired for exercising their legal rights.

    Batay Ouvriye (Workers Fight), is an independent workers’ movement in Haiti, with affiliated textile unions throughout Haiti – SOKOWA, SOVAGH & SOTA-BO.

    For May Day, they are holding marches and activities across Haiti to bring attention to their fight.

    • They want  a decent wage that allows them to feed, clothe, house and educate themselves and their families.
    • They want safe working conditions, free of harassment.
    • They want the right to organize.

    Help the Rapid Response Network Raise $1,300 to Support Haitian May Day!

    Your contribution will be sent directly to Haiti to help pay for paper for:

    • Printing leaflets
    • Transportation costs for workers
    • Meals to feed workers at meetings
    • Costs of dealing with possible arrests.

    * * We’d like to send these funds on Monday, April 30, just in time for May Day – May 1st.

    All funds raised will be wired directly to Batay Ouvriye in Haiti.

    Every dollar counts.
    Every contribution has a direct impact in helping these workers fight for their rights.

    Thank you so much for standing with them!

    Click here to donate now through our GoFundMe page!

    #SolidarityForever <3
    #MayDayHaiti
    #RRNsolidarity

  • 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