U.S.A.
Everyone Else
Health
Science
Business
Technology
Sports
Video Games
Entertainment
Future
Humour
NEWS > BUSINESS > U.S. COMPANIES FIGHTING HAITIAN UNIONS AFTER MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE
U.S. COMPANIES FIGHTING HAITIAN UNIONS AFTER MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE
June 6 2011
Port-au-Prince, Haiti – When Haiti was struck by the massive earthquake early in 2010 very few people in the United States had any kind of understanding how dire the situation was in that country, how impoverished and delicate the nation really was. 
People certainly knew that the country was poor, and understood that many people wanted to come over to the United States on boats, but few really got that they had a Third World country living right off their coast. When that quake hit, that fact became apparent quite quickly.
The sheer inability for the Haitian people to deal with the destruction of the quake, and the degree of destruction itself, showed people in the U.S. and around the world just how delicate that country was, and that brought a great deal of sympathy. Money and aid flooded in from around the world and though much of it did not ultimately reach the people, the effort showed that the awareness of the situation had changed. Ultimately, that awareness started to fade, as it often does, and people went on about their normal lives. New global crises appeared and Haiti was left to its own devices once again, left to deal with cleaning up, dealing with government corruption, and facing labour woes. Haitians though haven’t been left totally alone with many U.S. companies stepping in to help solve some problems, namely the labour issues which have now resulted in breaking the powerful unions across the country.
“We are very proud of our efforts in Haiti. The Haitian portion of our company is one of the most productive and profitable of all our facilities around the world. We are now, as we have always been, very happy to be doing business in Haiti,” said a spokesperson for Levi Strauss which manufactures a number of goods in the country. “By keeping the unions out of the equation we have been able to stay in the country and continue to employ the people of Haiti, which was our ultimate goal. By keeping these costs low, we are able to keep these essential members of our family in our family. This is a great day for all of us.”
Levi Strauss and Hanes both have major operations in the country. The minimum wage in the country rose to 31 cents an hour, far from the 61 cents the unions had been demanding.
“By keeping these costs at a reasonable level we are able to benefit our families in Haiti and around the world. This was a win-win for everyone involved, us, the employees, and the consumers,” continued the spokesperson. “We feel that the minimum wage in Haiti is more than sufficient for the average person. At three dollars a day, for full-time employees, people in the country are able to maintain their standard of living and live well. We will analyze future increases as it is affected by the cost of living in all our territories.”
Hanes had reportedly been seeking a lower minimum, which rose by 7 cents an hour, but buckled under pressure from the Haitian government.
“Realistically $3 a day is not enough to live on, even in Haiti, but that goes across the board throughout the world. Even in the United States minimum wage is hardly enough to live off but people do it, people manage, and that will be the case in Haiti,” said Scrape TV Business analyst Ken Green. “True they won’t be able to afford a new small screen TV or new blankets for their donkeys but people have had to tighten their belts all over the world. Haitians aren’t unique in their suffering and at least they are working.”
Haitian labour officials reportedly receive salaries in excess of 80 cents and hour.
William Ashford, Business Correspondent
NEWS > BUSINESS > U.S. COMPANIES FIGHTING HAITIAN UNIONS AFTER MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE
LINK IT! http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Business/pages-6/US-companies-fighting-Haitian-unions-after-minumum-wage-increase-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html |
TWEET IT! http://tinyurl.com/5tx5kb8 |
BOOKMARK IT!  
|
|---|
Scrape Store
