Haiti

By: Jeb Sprague and Wadner Pierre PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jun 19 (IPS) - A two-day transport strike last week gripped Haiti's major cities and underscored a mounting crisis over fuel prices, which rose nearly 20 percent in just two weeks. On Jun. 12 and 13, transport workers shut off their engines, leaving residents of Port-au-Prince and other urban centres largely without the services of taxis or the colourful buses and pick-up trucks known as tap-taps. A spokesperson for the Initiative de Secteur de Transport, an ad hoc strike committee representing 18 transport unions, Benissoit Duclos, said the...

Port-au-Prince, le 12 juin 2007 &endash; (AHP)- La grève de 48 heures lancée par des syndicats de chauffeurs a paralysé ce mardi le transport en commun à Port-au-Prince et dans la plupart des villes de province. Cette grève visant à protester entre autres contre les nouvelles hausses des prix du carburant et contre l'obligation faite aux propriétaires de véhicules de payer 4 années d'arriérés de vignettes, coïncide avec la tenue des examens pour les candidats de la 6ème annnée fondamentale. C'est d'allleurs la princpale réserve exprimée sur l'organisation de ce mouvement. Les tap-tap et les...

By Ben Terrall - HaitiAnalysis.com New legislation in Washington D.C., under the acronym H.O.P.E. – short for “ the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act,” has the goal of promoting the garment industry in Haiti. But the legislation falls noticeably short in protecting labor rights or promoting long-term sustainable economic development that will benefit the poor as well as the rich. The Washington Post editorialized about the bill: “After 15 years of political turmoil, violent unrest and economic mismanagement, this looks like a rare opportunity to consolidate...

By Colin Waugh The Haitian revolution of 1791-1804 is arguably comparable in importance to the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789.

By Joe Emersberger and Jeb Sprague for Z Net. The most prominent and well funded international labor organizations active in Haiti, the ICFTU, AFL-CIO, ILO, and ORIT, worked to support and strengthen labor organizations that agitated for the ousting of Haiti’s democratically elected Aristide government (2001-2004). Simultaneously they refused to condemn the massive layoffs and persecution of public sector workers and trade unionists committed by its illegally-imposed successor (the interim government of Gerald Latortue). The labor institutions chose to work soley with Haitian labor groups that...

By: Wadner Pierre - HaitiAnalysis.com Port-au-Prince- On November 18, 2006 Haitian grassroots human rights organizations came together to found a coalition. CONODDH (National Coordination of Organizations Defending Human Rights) explains that it is a grouping of organizations all with deep experience working in the field of human rights. CONODDH has declared its independence of any religious or political affiliation. The registered office of CONODDH is temporarily installed in Port-Au-Prince, but its seat can be transferred at any moment to any place in Haiti. At the November press conference...

Demonstrators demand return of Aristide, the exit of MINUSTAH, rehabilitation of all civil employees illegally dismissed, and freedom for all political prisoners. Article and Photos by Wadner Pierre for Freehaiti.net A huge protest took place on Friday November 17, 2006, one day before the celebration of the 203rd anniversary of the Battle of “Vertieres,” the battle which freed Haiti from slavery on November 18, 1803. The inhabitants of the largest popular district of the capital (Cité Soleil) organized and demonstrated to show their dissatisfaction with regard to the foreign soldiers on their...

Port-au-Prince, October 23, 2006 (AHP); Several thousand people, largely supporters of Fanmi Lavalas, demonstrated Monday in the streets of Port-au-Prince to ask the government authorities to work to re-hire the workers who were dismissed from the civil service by the interim government of Gérard Latortue They said they voted for René Préval with the expectation that their living conditions would improve. "As Aristide isn't here, it was normal that we would vote for somebody we know well, but our hopes thus far have been disappointed", said the demonstrators. Other demonstrators said they...

Cap-Haïtien, August 2, 2006 (AHP); The government workers in Cap-Haitian who were terminated declared Wednesday that they are setting a deadline of August 14 for the Haitian authorities to return them to their previous positions and pay them all back wages due since the day they were dismissed. During a news conference, the workers said they were at the end of their rope and don't know where to turn to provide for the needs of their family members. "After the deadline, we will move to another stage in our struggle to obtain satisfaction for our demands," they threatened. Several hundred people...