Haitian apparel workers continue strike, defying threats and violence
By
John Marion
30 June 2017
Haitian textile workers are courageously continuing a strike in Port-au-Prince to demand an increase in the minimum wage to 800 gourdes (approximately $12.70) per day, despite violence and threats by factory owners to take jobs out of the country. The current minimum wage is only 300 gourdes.
On Monday, several thousand workers marched peacefully through the streets of Port-au-Prince, blocking traffic. Alterpresse quoted one of the strikers: “We are in the streets to demand 800 gourdes as a salary. The bosses treat us badly while their dogs are treated well.”
The strike began on May 19 at the SANOPI industrial park in Port-au-Prince. The following Tuesday, tear gas was fired at striking workers by the Haitian National Police, and union leaders offered within days of the strike’s beginning to settle for only 400 gourdes plus a promise of old age benefits. More than a month later, a placard in Monday’s demonstration defied such treachery and demanded “better conditions of work in all the factories. We are determined.”
The workers’ demand for better wages arises as they try to stem the tide of increasing inflation, which has increased from 12.4 percent last August to more than 15 percent in May.
The striking workers are employed by subcontractors for some of the world’s largest clothing manufacturers. Among the companies being struck are Willbes Haitian, MGA Haïti, Astro Carton d’Haïti, Haïti Cheung Won, Textile Youm Kwang, and Pacific Sports Haïti, according to Le Nouvelliste .
In a letter to the Haitian Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant, these six companies wrote, “we are presenting an official demand to put an end to these problems … If, in the…