DISNEY/HAITI WORKERS THREATENED
****************** ACTION REQUEST
******************
URGENT! URGENT! URGENT!
Please copy, sign and send this latest letter to Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney, and
send a cc to Megatex owner Michel Liautaud. Please email or fax the SIGNATURE PORTION of
your letter to Campaign for Labor Rights so that we can forward your name and address to
Batay Ouvriye, whose members want to know the response to this alert.
To send an email to Michael Eisner via the Disney web site, go to www.disney.com/Mail/index.html
and then click the arrow at the right end of the box labeled "Choose an area"
and use the scroll bar to reach the end of the choices. Click the final item
"Other" and then click "Go" to the right of the box. This will bring
you to the page for sending your message. In the "From" box, enter your own
email address and then copy and paste the letter into the "Message" box,
including your name and address. Below the box into which you pasted the letter, is the
"Send" button, which you should then click.
Michael Eisner, CEO
Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
USA
Dear Mr. Eisner:
I wish to bring an URGENT matter to your attention. It concerns the Megatex factory in
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which produces clothing for the Disney company. Please intervene in
this situation immediately. LIVES ARE AT STAKE, AS IS THE REPUTATION OF YOUR COMPANY.
The worker organization Batay Ouvriye reported on October 21 that in recent days a
factory SUPERVISOR THREATENED TWO UNION MEMBERS AT MEGATEX WITH FIRING AND VIOLENCE. One
of the workers is the general coordinator of the union. The workers interpreted the
supervisor's statement as a death threat, which in Haiti is not taken lightly.
The owner of Megatex, Mr. Michel Liautaud, has written a letter notifying the union
representing Megatex workers that he is BREAKING OFF NEGOTIATIONS due to recent leafleting
by another organization not associated with the union or with Batay Ouvriye and not
involved in the negotiations. Mr. Liautaud objects to the content of that leaflet. The
union has made perfectly clear to Mr. Liautaud that the Megatex workers have no connection
with the organization which produced the leaflet and had no part in writing it. For him to
use the leaflet as a pretext for canceling negotiations, then, is evidence of bad faith on
his part.
Mr. Liautaud, who owns two clothing production factories, also announced that he
intends to CLOSE ONE OF THE FACTORIES and consolidate operations in the remaining factory
due to a downturn in orders. This is in spite of evidence that the factory recently had
been straining to keep up with orders, even having workers put in overtime hours. Workers
suspect that the layoffs which will result from consolidating operations are part of a
union busting scheme.
The Walt Disney Company Code of Conduct for Manufacturers states: "Manufacturers
will respect the rights of employees to associate, organize and bargain collectively in a
lawful and peaceful manner, without penalty or interference." The Disney company is
to be commended for including this provision in its code. Please contact Mr. Liautaud and
communicate to him that Disney takes its code and its reputation seriously.
Freedom of association will mean little if Disney withdraws its work from a factory
where workers have exercised that right. The Disney company has an opportunity to
demonstrate leadership in the apparel industry. On behalf of the Megatex workers, I urge
you to CONTINUE PLACING DISNEY PRODUCTION AT MEGATEX at a level that can provide for full
employment levels.
I will continue to follow developments at Megatex through reports posted by reliable
human rights organizations. I would seriously consider participating in a SUSTAINED
INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE CAMPAIGN if either Mr. Liautaud, the owner of Megatex, or the
Disney company failed to live up to its moral obligations to these workers. I very much
hope that, instead, your intervention will give me cause to point to Disney as a company
which cares about the well-being of the workers who produce for it.
Sincerely,
NAME:
ADDRESS:
cc: Michel Liautaud, Megatex S.A., c/o Association des Industriels d'Haiti, B.P. 2568,
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (W.I.); and Campaign for Labor Rights <CLR@igc.org fax: 001 541 431-0523>
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