HAITI: CATH Letter to CODEVI Management

Mr. Manager,

The General Secretariat of the CATH notes with indignation the inhumane way in which CODEVI has treated its workers. The treatment inflicted on workers is even worse in the production chain of all CODEVI companies. The management vilified their rights. They believe that Haitian workers have no rights.

The General Secretariat of the CATH reminds you that Haitian workers are resilient and, as a result, they can react at any time to enforce their rights. CODEVI’s leaders had treated them like slaves. Where the rights of CODEVI’s leaders end, their own rights begin.

The CATH says no to these actions and protests against this disloyal behavior towards workers. The attitude of CODEVI’s directors is that of aphids that suck the blood of workers in order to consolidate their opulence on the pretext that these workers are fools and/or idiots. These leaders join forces with certain corrupt Haitian leaders to exploit these poor workers.

The CATH reminds you that these workers are human beings and, as such, they must provide their labor force with dignity and respect for standards.

At the end of 2024, AM1 dismissed 115 workers in violation of their rights and of the collective bargaining and freedom of association ratified by Haiti. This dismissal is considered a disgrace and an act of barbarism comparable to the Trujillo era, which massacred tens of thousands of Haitians.

CODEVI usually dons the Trujillo costume to repeat history by murdering workers throughout its existence. What horror on the part of these leaders!

The unions have signed a collective agreement with CODEVI, which is transforming into CADAVI. CODEVI’s management systematically violates this agreement. CATH reminds CODEVI that Haiti is the land of JEAN JACQUES DESSALINES and JACOBINS NOIRS. No institution or individual may violate our fundamental rights and individual freedom in general.

In the face of all this, the CATH General Secretariat demands that:

• CODEVI pay the 115 workers illegally dismissed by AM1;
• CODEVI to begin immediate negotiations on the issue of adjustment of wages to around 4,500 Gourdes within CODEVI.
• CODEVI applies the collective agreement in its entirety,
• CODEVI respects workers’ rights in all companies;
• CODEVI to re-evaluating prices at the supermarket, because the products in supermarkets are much more expensive than those on the parallel market;
• CODEVI takes swift and severe action against sexual harassment, which is a widespread practice, especially for women, particularly those who have been dismissed;
• CODEVI will immediately open face-to-face and virtual negotiations under the auspices of the BMST Mediation Bureau and the CATH. The highlighted points identified, without which CODEVI will see a non-stop strike;
• CODEVI to stop deducting from the income of industrial park workers industrial park workers’ income to ONA and OFATMA, to prevent the money from going up in smoke; etc.

It should be noted that during the negotiations, CATH chose four (4) representatives including two representatives of the revoked workers and two active comrades within CODEVI.