| Union's struggle pays dividends eventually
In June 2004, over 350 workers - including all known leaders of the newly formed workers' union, Sokowa - were fired from the FTZ's two factories where around 1,000 workers were employed to assemble Levis jeans and t-shirts for export. Now, after seven months of endurance and determination on the part of the union, supported by a vigorous international campaign to put pressure on Grupo M and Levis, an agreement has finally been reached. The workers' organisation, Batay Ouvriye, whose representative sat in on last week's mediated negotiations, is decribing the agreement as "progress, a step forward", but warns that the workers must remain vigilant so that the "sentences written on paper are fully applied". Batay Ouvriye believes that "the struggle will be hardest after the agreement is signed." According to the document, signed after two days of talks, the CODEVI/Group M bosses have accepted the immediate re-instatement of five union leaders, and the progressive re-hiring of the 150 or so other people who still want to return to work in the factory. Equally important is that Grupo M acknowledges the legitimacy of the Sokowa union, assures it of its full rights under Haitian law, and guarantees never again to use armed security guards or other armed groups to intervene in labour disputes.
The Haiti Support Group's Charles Arthur reports that Sokowa is waiting to see the agreement implemented in practice before celebrating, but added, Referring to one aspect of the international solidarity campaign in support of Sokowa, Arthur said, "Considering the large numbers of workers fired back in June, and the length of time it took before the management agreed to negotiate, we're pretty sure the union would have 'gone under' if it were not for the support it has had from people in Britain - especially from No Sweat, the Labour Start campaign, and the Battersea and Wandsworth trade union council."
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