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Grupo M has shipped in armed guards and soldiers from the neighbouring Dominican Republic to prevent union activism at its factory in Haiti's Codevi free trade zone. The Dominican company that produces jeans for Levi Strauss & Co has also been accused by workers of injecting them with contraceptive drugs, which has led to several miscarriages and severe menstruation problems. Levi Strauss & Co, which prides itself on a code of conduct that enshrines the right of workers to collective organisation, has intervened to end a violent labour dispute in which local management sacked union activists and several hundred workers. Its intervention followed meetings with US union rights campaigners and the AFL-CIO union federation. Grupo M has now pledged to reinstate the sacked workers as production orders increase. Shortly after a strike in April, clothes brand Sara Lee - which had a contract for producing T-shirts with Grupo M - cancelled its deal saying that it wanted labour-management issues resolved. More than 30 union activists were sacked initially. Later, the company sacked more than 300 workers for going on strike to protest against management intimidation. Anti-sweatshop campaign No Sweat and The Workers Beer Company, the non-profit group which runs bars at Glastonbury and other music festivals, have been giving support to the Haitian union Sokowa. Grupo M was awarded a loan of $23m from the World Bank's international finance corporation for its factory in the Codevi free trade area in February with the proviso that it respected workers' rights. Jeff Beckman, a director at Levi Strauss & Co US, said that "positive progress" was being made, with Grupo M now agreeing to initiate negotiations with the Sokowa union and reinstate workers on a non-discriminatory basis. The company had "taken a number of steps since we became aware of (the situation) in March to ensure that our terms of engagement - including freedom of association - are upheld at the factory," which produces Levi's brand jeans for sale in the US. "When we became aware of factory management allegedly discharging a group of workers on the basis of their involvement in attempting to form a union, we immediately investigated and worked with factory management and NGOs, such as the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), to reinstate the workers with back pay, benefits and full status." "We also worked with Grupo M management to establish strict policies against any violence or military presence at the factory and, with Grupo M management and the WRC, began observation of the factory situation by independent parties." In spring, factory workers were given two tetanus jabs as part of an immunisation programme. However, several workers then miscarried and now believe that the shots contained a contraceptive drug. Levi's did not respond to allegations over the vaccination shots. The Haiti Support Group is demanding an independent investigation into the allegations to find out what workers were injected with and into other alleged violations of workers' rights at the factory. Protests were held in July and August outside Levi's stores in London and at the company offices in San Francisco. Haiti Support Group co-ordinator Charles Arthur said: "Levi's contacted us and said they were very distressed to hear about the allegations. They said they didn't know anything about this." "They asked us for the report compiled by an independent group of observers who spoke to the people who made the allegations. Pending a proper investigation, which we do not believe is going to happen, and given the very poor record of management in terms of the way they treat workers, it's not surprising that workers should draw this conclusion." Workers were given injections and then experienced serious gynaecological complications. Grupo M is lying about the date that the injections were administered, which campaigners have highlighted as suspicious. One woman alleges that, when she visited a local doctor she was told: "Don't you know, they are doing family planning." According to Arthur, "The significance of this situation is that the Codevi free trade zone is a pilot for economic development in Haiti and so it is absolutely crucial that workers win their basic rights here for the sake of all the workers who will work in these trade zones." Grupo M is a Dominican company that has taken over the lease of the area in Haiti, granted by the Haitian government. "The World Bank lent them $23m at low interest. They agreed to the loan in October, but, after an international campaign, the International Financial Corporation, the lending arm of the World Bank, delayed it until January. "They agreed to release the loan provided that Grupo M must respect ILO conventions on the right to free assembly and collective bargaining. Twelve million dollars of the loan has so far been disbursed." Arthur added: "Levi's has quite deliberately muddled the sequence of events. Thirty-four unionists were sacked in March. In April, they were reinstated after an international campaign. But in June, according to the union, 371 workers were sacked after a strike, out of 800 workers. Grupo M said the sackings were nothing to do with union activism but because productivity had fallen. It has now announced that it will re-employ all those who were sacked as and when demand increases." This is pending the appointment of mediators to resolve the dispute. However, the International Finance Corporation has already vetoed two mediators proposed by the union. - Joe Gill is a journalist specialising in the non-profit sector and international development. |