This just in from Batay Ouvriye:
Anti-union dismissals at the brewery in Cap-Haïtien- 17 March 2007
After the dramatic events of 2003, when the management of the Brasserie du Nord (owned by Michael Madsen, a rich businessman of Danish descent and a leader of the Haitian Liberal Party) had several workers beaten and imprisoned for claiming their labour and union rights (see http://www.batayouvriye.org/English/Dossiers1/Brasserieupdate.html and http://www.labournet.net/world/0308/haiti1.html), the same reprehensible and antiquated anti-trade union practices are now being repeated.
On February 5, 2007, the trade union submitted to the company management the provisional registration authorising it to function that had been issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour. Then, in the following few days, first the union's treasurer was dismissed, and then 45 other workers were fired. The near total solidarity of the remainder of the workers at the establishment suggested that they would soon follow.
Then, this week, the Brasserie du Nord closed its doors altogether. Is it a lockout? No notification was given to the Ministry's Labour Office, and consequently the brewery workers consider that it is a clear incident of abuse by the employer and that they are owed all their salaries for this period. They have sent a formal letter demanding the urgent intervention of the Ministry concerned.
At Batay Ouvriye, we are continuing and will continue to stand up against such abuses of the basic rights of workers in Haiti. Remember that the Brasserie du Nord is the distributor of Pepsi-Cola, Prestige beer, and King Cola, for all this area of the country.
LET'S ACT IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE MULTINATIONALS' ABUSES IN HAITI!
DOWN WITH THE EMPLOYERS' ANTI-UNION REPRESSION!
LONG LIVE THE HAITIAN WORKERS' STRUGGLE!
Showing posts with label batay ouvriye. Show all posts
Showing posts with label batay ouvriye. Show all posts
Friday, March 23, 2007
Monday, May 15, 2006
Coca Cola's Anti-Union Abuse in Haiti: You Can Help
When Donna Shalala was in Haiti, members of the Haitian workers' organization Batay Ouvriye presented her with a petition on behalf of the UNICCO workers here at UM (some of whom are Haitian themselves). Now they are asking for some help in return. Write an e-mail (or call, or write a regular letter) to the management of La Couronne Brewery - Coca Cola Haiti and ask them to stop their anti-union activities, to reinstate a fired worker with backpay, and to negotiate with the union (exactly, in fact, what was being asked of UNICCO). Contact details for the manager of the La Couronne, and a sample letter, are given at the bottom of this post. Please copy your email to Batay Ouvriye (e-mail address below as well). Here is their appeal.
N.B. The text is a bit long, but its tone so passionate and moving that we didn't feel like editing it. The Nation magazione has just published a damning piece about the exploitative labor practices and criminal human rights violations of the Coca Cola Company. You can read it here.)
After several months of attempted negotiations, the Batay Ouvriye May First Union Federation and the La Couronne–Northern Branch Labor Union find themselves in a situation in which, over 6 months after the first note we issued in November 2005, we are forced to jump to new levels and publicly denounce the La Couronne Brewery – Coca-Cola Haiti company. We are now, consequently, raising our voices to launch an APPEAL TO SOLIDARITY to all concerned progressives in Haiti and the entire world.
The precise reason we have reached this level is that, since the beginning of this year 2006, although the owner of this company, Mr. Raymond Jaar, promised to consider the workers’ demands and answer positively to several points they had laid down last December, at present, after several anti-union acts, Jaar has categorically cut all contact with us and even refused to meet with representatives of our union organization. Although the workers of this company’s Northern branch have stood up all together several times, with work stoppages and legal strikes, not only has management ignored them, but it even undertook anti-union dismissals that have antagonized all the workers.
All should know that LA COURONNE BREWERY – COCA-COLA HAITI IS AMONGST THE MOST ILLEGAL AND REPRESSIVE MANAGEMENTS IN HAITI.
Wages, at the Brewery, are catastrophic! The bosses profit of the workers to the maximum, making them toil at minimal cost. Even the watchmen at the gate, called warehousemen by the company, make 100 gourdes a day (US $2.50) for twelve hours of work. Overtime isn’t paid, not to mention in the way it is stipulated by the law, that is 1.5 times regular wages. The bosses steal 4 hours extra from these workers daily! For those lifting the soft drink cases, it’s even worse. They earn a “base wage” of 50 gourdes per day ($1.25!!!), which is outright ILLEGAL. The days in which the workers are unable to work, such as if the trucks are out of order or if their drivers are unable to come to work due to illness or so on… this 50 gourde salary is all they receive, so: less than the 70 gourde minimum wage! The law is however quite clear: the base wage is the wage, all other forms are incentives and should be added upon it, by no means may they count as the fixed wage! Beyond the ‘base wage’, now, a supposed commission on sales is added. For the workers, the base wage is truly their wage – the commission is in the bosses’ advantage alone. Because on each case of 24 pops sold, the workers make 3 cents of a gourde ($0.00075)!!! That is, 300 gourdes ($7.50) for each thousand cases sold. When sales are good, this thousand cases can sell over three days – but in other periods, they may take a week to be sold. If we take an average of 60 gourdes added upon the daily wages, this results in a measly daily income of 110 gourdes ($2.75), especially considering the hardships the La Couronne Brewery – Coca-Cola Haiti workers undergo!!!
Broken bottles… are the responsibility of the workers! If a driver is ticketed trying to deliver the merchandise in small roads, full of holes… it’s his business! Workers work on Saturdays, without being paid the Sunday! There are no holidays at La Couronne Brewery – Coca-Cola Haiti. Even the 15 day sickness leave isn’t respected! And as we said overtime hours aren’t paid. Money is taken from the workers salaries to pay the State pension and sickness insurances, without the workers ever knowing anything of where these sums go, nor what they serve them.
Firings are legion, without explanation. The northern branch’s main demand today is the rehiring with back pay of their fellow worker, Philome Cemerant, the union secretary, a serious worker all respected and who was fired right after the union was established at the end of 2005, under a lousy pretext: “With this letter, we confirm that you are no longer a member of the La Couronne Brewery since November 5th for having refused to obey to the indications, orders and instructions of the North Distribution Center’s Director”. Even the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor answered La Couronne saying:
The Philomé Cémérant case isn’t isolated. Last year, the company fired and ordered the arbitrary arrest of Gérard Petit-Frère who spent over two months in jail and was freed without ever even being judged.
Let’s recall the Port-au-Prince La Couronne Workers’ Committee’s outcry already in 2001:
AT PRESENT, WE ARE SAYING: LA COURONNE BREWERY – COCA-COLA HAITI IS AN EXAMPLE OF BOSS IMPUNITY AND ANTIUNION ABUSE IN THIS COUNTRY! ITS HEYDAY HAS TO BE OVER!!!
We claim Philomé Cémérant’s return to work without delay, with all the backpay the company owes him. We demand too a wages adjustment for the Brewery’s workers, correct respect and proper work conditions for all the workers, especially respect of union rights.
And we’re informing that we see clearly through the complicity of Coca-Cola International in this situation. They are the ones who have persecuted union leaders in Columbia, even killings having been recorded, and they’ve financed death squads (http://www.cokewatch.org). They are the ones aware students of the United States are working to bar on university campuses, because of their workers’ abuses throughout the world. This company has appropriated and deviated the people’s water in India, so that local communities have stood up against them. Already, last February, the UITA, the International Union of Food Workers, called out upon Coca-Cola International, concerning its treatment of Coca-Cola Haiti workers.
*
Comrade Workers, Progressives – The Peoples’ Camp In General!
This call is for us to say that Raymond JAAR’s abuses, as well as those of the Coca-Cola Company in Haiti, are ENOUGH! Jaar thinks he owns the country, but change is occurring. We can’t continue tolerating these shameful despicable miseries these millionaires want to impose upon us, nor the impunity they are imposing on us. That’s why we’re asking for all of us to denounce these acts on the radio and the national and international press, and also to write Jaar to inform him of how we are against his behavior. The way to contact him is by writing or phoning him as follows:
Brasserie de La Couronne, S.A.
Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Haïti
P.O. Box 1477, Port-au-Prince, Haïti
Phones : (509) 250-4264 / 250-7215 / 250-7225
Fax : (509) 250-0212
E-mail : raymondjaar@bracour.com / cblanchett@bracour.com
Here is an example of a letter we can send to him – just copy it and paste in an email addressed to raymondjaar@bracour.com:
Mr. Raymond JAAR
CEO Brasserie de La Couronne S.A.
Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Haïti
P.O. Box 1477, Port-au-Prince, Haïti
raymondjaar@bracour.com
Mr. Jaar,
I’ve been informed of your company’s major abuses against workers’ rights, particularly the illegal 50 gourd/day salary and anti-union abuses. You should know, Mr. Jaar, that this type of illegal practices go against the essential human rights of all individuals, and that they will not be able to continue in Haiti and the world. This is why I am asking you most urgently to adopt the necessary measures to rectify the situation at the La Couronne Brewery – Coca-Cola Haiti. The workers’ base salary needs to correctly adjusted and Philomé Cémérant should be rehired without delay, with backpay and a constructive dialogue needs to be engaged with the workers' union.
With the hope you will adopt these measures in the spirit of social advancement within Haiti,
Respectfully,
___________________ (Signature)
Cc : Batay Ouvriye, BP 13326, Delmas, Haïti – batay@batayouvriye.org
N.B. The text is a bit long, but its tone so passionate and moving that we didn't feel like editing it. The Nation magazione has just published a damning piece about the exploitative labor practices and criminal human rights violations of the Coca Cola Company. You can read it here.)
After several months of attempted negotiations, the Batay Ouvriye May First Union Federation and the La Couronne–Northern Branch Labor Union find themselves in a situation in which, over 6 months after the first note we issued in November 2005, we are forced to jump to new levels and publicly denounce the La Couronne Brewery – Coca-Cola Haiti company. We are now, consequently, raising our voices to launch an APPEAL TO SOLIDARITY to all concerned progressives in Haiti and the entire world.
The precise reason we have reached this level is that, since the beginning of this year 2006, although the owner of this company, Mr. Raymond Jaar, promised to consider the workers’ demands and answer positively to several points they had laid down last December, at present, after several anti-union acts, Jaar has categorically cut all contact with us and even refused to meet with representatives of our union organization. Although the workers of this company’s Northern branch have stood up all together several times, with work stoppages and legal strikes, not only has management ignored them, but it even undertook anti-union dismissals that have antagonized all the workers.
All should know that LA COURONNE BREWERY – COCA-COLA HAITI IS AMONGST THE MOST ILLEGAL AND REPRESSIVE MANAGEMENTS IN HAITI.
Wages, at the Brewery, are catastrophic! The bosses profit of the workers to the maximum, making them toil at minimal cost. Even the watchmen at the gate, called warehousemen by the company, make 100 gourdes a day (US $2.50) for twelve hours of work. Overtime isn’t paid, not to mention in the way it is stipulated by the law, that is 1.5 times regular wages. The bosses steal 4 hours extra from these workers daily! For those lifting the soft drink cases, it’s even worse. They earn a “base wage” of 50 gourdes per day ($1.25!!!), which is outright ILLEGAL. The days in which the workers are unable to work, such as if the trucks are out of order or if their drivers are unable to come to work due to illness or so on… this 50 gourde salary is all they receive, so: less than the 70 gourde minimum wage! The law is however quite clear: the base wage is the wage, all other forms are incentives and should be added upon it, by no means may they count as the fixed wage! Beyond the ‘base wage’, now, a supposed commission on sales is added. For the workers, the base wage is truly their wage – the commission is in the bosses’ advantage alone. Because on each case of 24 pops sold, the workers make 3 cents of a gourde ($0.00075)!!! That is, 300 gourdes ($7.50) for each thousand cases sold. When sales are good, this thousand cases can sell over three days – but in other periods, they may take a week to be sold. If we take an average of 60 gourdes added upon the daily wages, this results in a measly daily income of 110 gourdes ($2.75), especially considering the hardships the La Couronne Brewery – Coca-Cola Haiti workers undergo!!!
Broken bottles… are the responsibility of the workers! If a driver is ticketed trying to deliver the merchandise in small roads, full of holes… it’s his business! Workers work on Saturdays, without being paid the Sunday! There are no holidays at La Couronne Brewery – Coca-Cola Haiti. Even the 15 day sickness leave isn’t respected! And as we said overtime hours aren’t paid. Money is taken from the workers salaries to pay the State pension and sickness insurances, without the workers ever knowing anything of where these sums go, nor what they serve them.
Firings are legion, without explanation. The northern branch’s main demand today is the rehiring with back pay of their fellow worker, Philome Cemerant, the union secretary, a serious worker all respected and who was fired right after the union was established at the end of 2005, under a lousy pretext: “With this letter, we confirm that you are no longer a member of the La Couronne Brewery since November 5th for having refused to obey to the indications, orders and instructions of the North Distribution Center’s Director”. Even the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor answered La Couronne saying:
“The Labor Administration of the Northern Regional Bureau of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor salutes you… and profits of the occasion to recommend Cemerant Philomé to your well-meaning attention… The Ministry has a role of protection and employment promotion, but especially of encouraging parties to sit around the table of negotiations in view of reconciliation. This is why we carried out an inspection visit at the La Couronne Brewery last Nov. 8th to avoid an open, serious conflict within this institution. We will agree with you that, once named, the employee may be fired. You’ll agree with us as well that erring is human since Mr. Seraphin and Mentor, representatives of the Brewery in the North, said and we’ll quote “Cemerant Philomé, who worked with the company since 4 years and 3 months, was a good employee and a sudden change took place in the past few months.’Thus the Labor Administration would like to request, if possible, that this employee be returned to his job, with excuses”.
The Philomé Cémérant case isn’t isolated. Last year, the company fired and ordered the arbitrary arrest of Gérard Petit-Frère who spent over two months in jail and was freed without ever even being judged.
Let’s recall the Port-au-Prince La Couronne Workers’ Committee’s outcry already in 2001:
“Drinking Couronne soft drinks is sweet, but they’re made through terrible exploitation, with outright illegal practices. And the bourgeois who own LA COURONNE enjoy perfect impunity. We’re asking what can workers do with 50 gourdes a day, especially when they have to work 12-hour shifts? Let’s have a look: Workers have to eat on credit. If they are to feel they’ve eaten, they should eat 3 small plates of food, so, 3 times 15 gourdes. They can’t! In the morning, they often have to take a small spaghetti plate at 15 gourdes with a 5 gourde juice. If they can’t afford it, then they have a small 5 gourde patty and a juice, sometimes they’ll have a soft drink instead in the morning. Adding upon this, they spend at least 6 gourdes of transportation. Since they’re working 12 hours, they have to support, but they just forget about it. What’s left? In the conditions in which workers spend less, they’ll be left with 14 gourdes if they have a patty in the morning; they’ll be left with 4 gourdes if they have spaghetti. This is how they reproduce themselves in order to return to being exploited tomorrow morning. But that’s not all. Considering wages, there are regular days salaries and Sunday or holidays salaries. Here again, the La Couronne Brewery is ILLEGAL. It pays no heed to the law: the workers are paid all days as if they were normal days. Workers aren’t paid according to the Labor Legislation. Often major travel is needed for the work. This is particularly true when the workers are delivering soft drinks in areas outside of the Port-au-Prince region. In these cases, wages are maintained as usual – the workers often are unable to eat. They sleep in the woods… Sometimes the drivers receive expenses fees. But this sum is 50 gourdes for two people. So the situation is very serious in these cases. Generally, the workers toil 6 days on seven. But workers are often forced to come to work on Sundays and holidays too, as necessary. And it’s the same 50 gourdes that are paid without taking into account the fact they’re working six days and the seventh should consequently be paid, and that holidays should be calculated above it all.”
AT PRESENT, WE ARE SAYING: LA COURONNE BREWERY – COCA-COLA HAITI IS AN EXAMPLE OF BOSS IMPUNITY AND ANTIUNION ABUSE IN THIS COUNTRY! ITS HEYDAY HAS TO BE OVER!!!
We claim Philomé Cémérant’s return to work without delay, with all the backpay the company owes him. We demand too a wages adjustment for the Brewery’s workers, correct respect and proper work conditions for all the workers, especially respect of union rights.
And we’re informing that we see clearly through the complicity of Coca-Cola International in this situation. They are the ones who have persecuted union leaders in Columbia, even killings having been recorded, and they’ve financed death squads (http://www.cokewatch.org). They are the ones aware students of the United States are working to bar on university campuses, because of their workers’ abuses throughout the world. This company has appropriated and deviated the people’s water in India, so that local communities have stood up against them. Already, last February, the UITA, the International Union of Food Workers, called out upon Coca-Cola International, concerning its treatment of Coca-Cola Haiti workers.
*
Comrade Workers, Progressives – The Peoples’ Camp In General!
This call is for us to say that Raymond JAAR’s abuses, as well as those of the Coca-Cola Company in Haiti, are ENOUGH! Jaar thinks he owns the country, but change is occurring. We can’t continue tolerating these shameful despicable miseries these millionaires want to impose upon us, nor the impunity they are imposing on us. That’s why we’re asking for all of us to denounce these acts on the radio and the national and international press, and also to write Jaar to inform him of how we are against his behavior. The way to contact him is by writing or phoning him as follows:
Brasserie de La Couronne, S.A.
Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Haïti
P.O. Box 1477, Port-au-Prince, Haïti
Phones : (509) 250-4264 / 250-7215 / 250-7225
Fax : (509) 250-0212
E-mail : raymondjaar@bracour.com / cblanchett@bracour.com
Here is an example of a letter we can send to him – just copy it and paste in an email addressed to raymondjaar@bracour.com:
Mr. Raymond JAAR
CEO Brasserie de La Couronne S.A.
Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Haïti
P.O. Box 1477, Port-au-Prince, Haïti
raymondjaar@bracour.com
Mr. Jaar,
I’ve been informed of your company’s major abuses against workers’ rights, particularly the illegal 50 gourd/day salary and anti-union abuses. You should know, Mr. Jaar, that this type of illegal practices go against the essential human rights of all individuals, and that they will not be able to continue in Haiti and the world. This is why I am asking you most urgently to adopt the necessary measures to rectify the situation at the La Couronne Brewery – Coca-Cola Haiti. The workers’ base salary needs to correctly adjusted and Philomé Cémérant should be rehired without delay, with backpay and a constructive dialogue needs to be engaged with the workers' union.
With the hope you will adopt these measures in the spirit of social advancement within Haiti,
Respectfully,
___________________ (Signature)
Cc : Batay Ouvriye, BP 13326, Delmas, Haïti – batay@batayouvriye.org
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
More news from Haiti
we received this this morning from the Haitian workers' movement Batay Ouvriye:
This morning, March 15th, 2006, at 7:00 a.m., a Batay Ouvriye representative met President Shalala of the University of Miami. Our Statement in Solidarity with the Univ. of Miami workers was given to her, and as we had received, in the meantime, the group in struggles' denunciation of the University's false neutrality in the issue and the workers' demands (included below), we also formally gave them to her. We're informing the public in general and the workers at the University particularly, that, to our request that the situation be positively resolved in the workers interest, President Shalala responded that "it's already done". So, while we reiterate our solidarity with the workers' demands, follow-up remains essential for their complete satisfaction.
At Batay Ouvriye, we received the Univ. of Miami Janitors demands, supported by Concerned Faculty, Students, Parents, Community Members, Leaders & S.T.A.N.D. These are the sort of demands we, at Batay Ouvriye, know very well and we also know how cruel such situations are. That’s why we reinforce our intervention more yet, to demand that this situation be resolved in the interest of the workers. Here are the workers’ demands:
1.Living Wage
2.Health insurance, far beyond the « Employee Enrichment Program »
3.Respect workers’ right to organize and legal representation.
4.Have UNICCO renounce their anti-union actions, specifically that they:
- Interrogated employees about their union sympathies
- Spied on workers engaged in union activity
- Threatened employees with reprisals, including denial of overtime and reduction of work hours because they supported the union and engaged in union activity
- Accused employees of being disloyal for supporting the union and engaging in union activity
- Prohibited workers from talking about the union when at work
- Promised better treatment to employees who do not support the union
- Required workers to sign documents disavowing their support or the union
President Shalala claims neutrality and that she is not responsible for the UNICCO’S behavior. However, concerned faculty, students, parents, community members, leaders & S.T.A.N.D. have a different opinion. Indeed:
* It is not "neutral" for President Shalala to support UNICCO's call for an NLRB election rather than to respect the desire of the UNICCO workers for card-check recognition.
* It is not "neutral" to permit UNICCO officials to use University property to lobby their workers against unionization and at the same time to prohibit SEIU organizers from reasonable access to campus to tell their side of the story.
* It is not "neutral" for the Vice President for Human Resources to call public safety in an effort to halt the distribution of food, water, baby formula, and other supplies to UNICCO workers impacted by Hurricane Wilma.
* It is not "neutral" to attempt to limit the UNICCO workers' picketing to a reserve gate.
* And it is decidedly not "neutral" to demand that the SEIU follow the rules regarding "reserve gate" picketing when University and UNICCO officials reportedly haven't followed those rules themselves.
We urge President Shalala, once again, to immediately attend to the University of Miami janitors’ just demands, satisfying them in the respect of human social and economic rights.
This morning, March 15th, 2006, at 7:00 a.m., a Batay Ouvriye representative met President Shalala of the University of Miami. Our Statement in Solidarity with the Univ. of Miami workers was given to her, and as we had received, in the meantime, the group in struggles' denunciation of the University's false neutrality in the issue and the workers' demands (included below), we also formally gave them to her. We're informing the public in general and the workers at the University particularly, that, to our request that the situation be positively resolved in the workers interest, President Shalala responded that "it's already done". So, while we reiterate our solidarity with the workers' demands, follow-up remains essential for their complete satisfaction.
At Batay Ouvriye, we received the Univ. of Miami Janitors demands, supported by Concerned Faculty, Students, Parents, Community Members, Leaders & S.T.A.N.D. These are the sort of demands we, at Batay Ouvriye, know very well and we also know how cruel such situations are. That’s why we reinforce our intervention more yet, to demand that this situation be resolved in the interest of the workers. Here are the workers’ demands:
1.Living Wage
2.Health insurance, far beyond the « Employee Enrichment Program »
3.Respect workers’ right to organize and legal representation.
4.Have UNICCO renounce their anti-union actions, specifically that they:
- Interrogated employees about their union sympathies
- Spied on workers engaged in union activity
- Threatened employees with reprisals, including denial of overtime and reduction of work hours because they supported the union and engaged in union activity
- Accused employees of being disloyal for supporting the union and engaging in union activity
- Prohibited workers from talking about the union when at work
- Promised better treatment to employees who do not support the union
- Required workers to sign documents disavowing their support or the union
President Shalala claims neutrality and that she is not responsible for the UNICCO’S behavior. However, concerned faculty, students, parents, community members, leaders & S.T.A.N.D. have a different opinion. Indeed:
* It is not "neutral" for President Shalala to support UNICCO's call for an NLRB election rather than to respect the desire of the UNICCO workers for card-check recognition.
* It is not "neutral" to permit UNICCO officials to use University property to lobby their workers against unionization and at the same time to prohibit SEIU organizers from reasonable access to campus to tell their side of the story.
* It is not "neutral" for the Vice President for Human Resources to call public safety in an effort to halt the distribution of food, water, baby formula, and other supplies to UNICCO workers impacted by Hurricane Wilma.
* It is not "neutral" to attempt to limit the UNICCO workers' picketing to a reserve gate.
* And it is decidedly not "neutral" to demand that the SEIU follow the rules regarding "reserve gate" picketing when University and UNICCO officials reportedly haven't followed those rules themselves.
We urge President Shalala, once again, to immediately attend to the University of Miami janitors’ just demands, satisfying them in the respect of human social and economic rights.
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