Dear friends,
Please find below news from Batay Ouvriye regarding positive developments at the Codevi Free Trade Zone in Haiti, where a collective bargaining agreement was signed earlier this week. Additional information is included at the end to bring you up to date on this case. At this time the Clean Clothes Campaign would like to thank everyone who took action in relation to this case. Your support of the Codevi workers helped achieve what the union refers to as an historic agreement in the struggle for labor rights in Haiti.

Collective Bargaining Contract Signed at the Ouanaminthe CODEVI Free Trade Zone
source: Batay Ouvriye, Dec. 15, 2005

Batay Ouvriye is pleased to inform the public in general, all those concerned who have been following the situation at the Ouanaminthe Free Trade Zone, and particularly those involved with the respect of the workers’ struggle there, that, after several months of negotiations, a final agreement was signed during the afternoon of Tuesday, December 13th, between management at the Codevi Free Trade Zone (Grupo M) and the SOCOWA workers’union, affiliated with the May First Batay Ouvriye Union Federation.

The base salary of 432 gourdes weekly ($10.16 or $1.45 daily) is to be adjusted to 900 gourdes ($21.17 or $3.03 daily) with, additionally, an agreement to raise salaries 45% over a period of three years (20% first, then 15% and 10%), all this taking into account rates of inflation and currency devaluation as specifically stipulated in the national labor legislation’s Article 137.

Although the question of wages was the crux of the negotiations, many other stipulations were also settled touching upon union recognition; labor rights; work conditions; health, hygiene and security; pregnancy and sexual harassment.

Batay Ouvriye will be releasing more information on this important success shortly. In the meantime, we salute once again, the Codevi workers’ struggles, as well as that of all those in solidarity who contributed to this workplace conflict’s resolution.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND
(compiled by CCC from various sources)

The union at the factory located in the Codevi free trade zone had been involved in a labor conflict that began in March 2004, which escalated in June 2004. In addition to dismissing 254 workers, including six of the seven union committee members, management waged a campaign of violence against workers that included the deployment of armed foreign soldiers on factory premises to suppress union activities. An agreement regarding this dispute was reached in February 2005 (for more on the February agreement and additional background information on this case, please visit the CCC website at http://www.cleanclothes.org/urgent/05-04-05.htm).

Besides official recognition of the SOKOWA union, a joint commission with representatives from the union and from management was formed, as was agreed in February. The joint commission meets monthly providing both parties with a forum to voice their demands or concerns.

The union began negotiations for the new collective bargaining agreement in August 2005.

The demands regarding the reinstatement of the dismissed workers were met and almost all the workers have now been reinstated at the factory. The union leadership was reinstated immediately following the February agreement, with full back-pay and progressive reinstatment of the remaining workers followed. According to recent reports from the union, most of the laid off workers have now been reinstated. A couple of workers should be going back to work in the new year; at the moment there is no space for them for the operations they previously carried out. The union says they are closely monitoring the situation and is constantly asking management for their reinstatement.