25931: Batay Ouvriye Newsletter No. 1 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Batay Ouvriye <batay@batayouvriye.org>

BATAY OUVRIYE NEWSLETTER
No. 1 - July 2005





Today, Batay Ouvriye is placing a NEWSLETTER at everybody's disposal. We do
this in the objective of diffusing news of our own struggles, of our practices
in general. But it is especially geared towards informing the peoples' camp,
nationally and internationally, of news that indeed are its own, but
furthermore are the fundamental news happening today, at the very basis of
Haiti's problems: the new fundamental evolution of the Haitian social
formation.

This newsletter is a first one. Others will follow. To always inform all of us
and have us experience our concrete reality. In order for us to continue
building OUR OWN CAMP, in the objective of organizing OUR OWN FORCES, throwing
OUR OWN WEIGHT into the battle.



*



Despite a very difficult conjuncture, Batay Ouvriye's practices have developed
in various departments of the country. This development is unequal. We have
advanced in certain regions and regressed in others. In some, the
confrontations were extremely tense. We can say we underwent the effects of
the situation in various forms.

The deterioration of the general situation politically and economically caused
certain members to weaken, which had an effect on our practices. According to
the members' responsibility, these effects had variable impacts. This happened
especially on the island of La Gonave, in the Department of the West. In this
area which is comprised of two communes, two persons in charge emigrated,
leaving the country. This had effects on the continuance of our practices. It
is an area in which we had a rather large development. The workers have to
take the practices back in hand and allow for the continuation of the
practices based on what was already established. Amongst these, several were
amongst those concerning the fight against exploitation directly, particularly
in the application of the "3-share" sharecropping system. This system implies
one share for the workers, one for the land owner and a last for the land
itself, namely: seeds, irrigation, insecticides and so on. and even funds to
repair tools, as may be necessary. This system is the one which is supposedly
legal. In contrary cases, all the expenses for soil amelioration, production
optimizing, fall on the sole backs of the workers. This is an extremely harsh
exploitation for us, poor peasants working on large landowners' lands in these
conditions. Indeed, in most areas, the big landholders refuse to apply the 3
share system, even if the law dictates it. They say: one share for the land
owner, one for the worker, that's it! This is what they call "demwatye" ("two
halves"), which we all know to be applied throughout the country, but that
isn't legal, actually. The Rural Code is quite clear, as is the Constitution,
concerning the 3-share system. The latifundists refusal to apply it makes them
simply, openly illegal. Since forever, up through today! And as we know they
are still heading the power and that this power, in itself, is always against
us, for us to make the law be respected, to succeed in having the 3-shares
applied, we need to fight very hard. In La Gonave, the poor peasants organized
and mobilized and succeeded in making the landowners apply the 3-share system.
At the same time, the wage laborers who were making less than 15 gourdes a day
(US $0.38!) managed to obtain 50 gourdes and even more in certain areas, but,
once again, through tremendous fights. This is because the State and,
generally, the government's direct representatives - especially the present
administration - are rotten reactionaries, always against the workers. And
whenever they need to act illegally, they do it outright. So, on the island of
La Gonave, the struggle continues. La Gonave is a region where workers aren't
considered to be human beings. But progressively the workers have begun to
show what they're worth and what they know. The sudden absence of the persons
in charge there caused a long stop and even a certain regression in the level
of organization and mobilization there; although other consistent workers are
gradually taking things back in hand and wish to begin to be responsible for
their lives, thus: their battles.

Another region in which Batay Ouvriye had developed and the fights had reached
a confrontational level but that was adversely affected by the general
situation combined with our own material difficulties is the North-West.
Mobilization had been attained there during the year 2003-2004 on various
issues such as land, exploitation, justice and the government's promise for
free birth certificates for all. All of these slowed down. Despite this, in
this area too, there are definite gains: there are lands we have occupied and
are working. This has been maintained. On the question of exploitation, the 3-
share system is applied and the agricultural wages have been raised. Various
demonstrations-mobilizations were held on the question of the birth
certificates; and in this way a registrar was forced to meet with us and
consider how the problem could be solved. In some places, the landlords who
had accepted to meet with us with respect to what should be done after their
accepting the 3-share system continue to sit down with us to monitor and be
able to follow the agreements we had reached. But at the same time, in other
places, some still haven't accepted and, there, we faced direct attacks. The
most striking case is in Mare Rouge, near Môle St. Nicolas. There, the
landowners mobilized former military agents to attack us. We were able to
repel them twice. They put out a threatening leaflet attacking the workers and
their organization. With the negative evolution of the former military as a
force in the field, they stepped up to a new form of attack. This is how the
managed to pay poor peasants of the village and thus mobilized fifty of them
to attack a Batay Ouvriye coordination meeting that was being held on December
28th in a place called Baguette. This led to a full out confrontation in
which: one of our comrades died on the spot; a second was seriously wounded
and despite the medical assistance we provided him (in very difficult
conditions, since they were pursuing him), he passed away. After the
confrontation, on the landlords demand, the police showed up. As we were
evacuating, they attacked two comrades. To avoid ending up in jail which would
be very difficult for us since the judicial system is leagued against us, and
given the relation of forces, we were obliged to accept to pay what the police
demanded us for them to release our comrades. This situation demanded great
expenses. We were upheld in this by international solidarity. This assistance
was important and we thank once again all those who helped us. Despite all of
these difficulties, the coordination has been able to restructure itself and
our practices in this area have resumed progressively.

In these different regions, notwithstanding the difficulty of this period, we
have managed to make certain steps forward. In our practices amongst the
workers, the distinction between agricultural wage laborers and sharecropping
farmers was established to a certain extent, that is: each entity functions,
reflects, organizes, mobilizes: fights - within itself. While, at the same
time, this allows the different elements of the dominated classes to better
structure their coordination to fight together for their common demands,
against the State, for example, that isn't doing anything in the region other
than stealing taxes and supporting the landlords in their abuses. This form of
organization gives better bases to avoid populism and begin a real mass
coordination. In this, we were able to construct various platforms of struggle
and initiate mobilization on the priority axes. On the basis of the extension
of the extension we achieved, the major task before us is the construction of
a general instance to allow us to better advance in our far-reaching struggles
and to have a national impact corresponding to what the moment demands.

In the department of the Center, we have also advanced. Starting from the
various struggles, in the framework of these struggles, we attained a very
large extension and we have the same sort of gains we mentioned above.
Practices are progressing in the communes of Savanettes, Lascahobas,
Belladère, Mirebalais. Further, in the LOWER ARTIBONITE, implantation in
struggles occurred too in Lachapelles, Verrette, Petite Rivière. However, our
practices in St Marc were reduced and need to be launched anew. This is
equally valid for Gonaïves where the confusion of the anti-Aristide struggle
was negative for the advancement of workers' and popular masses' demands in
general. This is also the case for Saint Michel de l'Attalaye. In the West,
our practices, on the contrary, consolidated  and, in this, continued to
develop in a solid, combative and consequential orientation. Thus, in
Arcahaie, in Cabaret, in Cazale. In the SOUTH and NIPPES, the workers
progressed and encountered in their struggles for their demands, although
internal migration is very strong in these areas. The locality which has
advanced most in these practices is Aquin because many workers have migrated
there.

In the NORTH-WEST, the free trade zone struggles continue. Today, negotiations
for a collective work convention have begun, a bipartite committee is
functioning while the democratic relation and the assembly remain fundamental
to heighten the consciousness of all discussions occurring in the offices and,
especially, to confirm them or reject them. For us, the workers' assembly in a
union is the supreme decisional organ and this principle, included in all of
the statutes of Batay Ouvriye worker unions, is in all of our struggles, all
mobilizations, all our practices in general, where we try to make it real. On
the other hand, as these negotiations occurred, the Tribunal of Fort-Liberté
rendered a very important sentence in the conflict opposing two SOCOWA (the
free trade zone union) members and management who called the Dominican army to
beat them up. The clearness of the case (physical abuse in broad daylight,
before witnesses, the workers with legal and medical certificates to support
their depositions), the total clarity of the denunciation explains the judge
gave the workers reason and condemned the company's head security agent who
commanded the beatings ordered by the CODEVI company. That is when the
company's director called the government for it to intervene directly in the
conflict in its' favor. And indeed, as we speak, various ministers of this
government are seeking to hijack justice in favor of the Dominican
capitalists, always against the Haitian workers. We firmly protest against
this and are mobilizing our forces to counter this new abuse of the Dominican
capitalists with the Haitian government against the workers once again. (For
more on this, see our website: http://www.batayouvriye.org ). Linked with the
free trade zone practices are various levels of organization established by us
in the town of Ouanaminthe itself, especially in the neighborhoods, with
recently immigrated poor peasants, and workers in general, on one hand,
confronted with landlords seeking to kick them out of their homes throughout
Ouanaminthe's popular neighborhoods (!) but also, on the other, in front of
the absence of the State in the area, which allows any hoodlum or "feeling
authorized" to carry out any abuse against the population in general and,
presently, in particular against the traveling poor merchants and deported
Haitians from the Dominican Republic.

In the North, particularly Cap-Haitian, the unions' mobilizations against the
bosses has resumed in earnest given the high cost of living the workers are
confronting. Salaries have already become much too low, even their struggles
in many factories and workshops have made them rise beyond preceding rates. In
some places, like the Marnier-Lapostolle orange fields, where the workers had
already managed to obtain a daily salary of 250 gourdes a day (US $6.41)
during their last mobilization, it attained 275 gourdes. At Hotel Beck,
however, management has refused to discuss a collective work convention with
the workers, despite the fact they had gathered the signatures of over two-
thirds of the work force, in conformity with legal stipulations. According to
the Labor Code, upon the demand of two-thirds of the work force, management is
obliged to negotiate a collective convention. But, once again as a bourgeois
in full power, Beck simply declared he refuses to negotiate! Presently, the
workers, who can't endure anymore with the situation of domination they are
undergoing and the pitiful salaries they perceive, are preparing to mobilize.
In the neighborhoods, certain localities have established Workers' Committees'
in Neighborhoods, this helping them to defend their rights especially against
the numerous abuses the former Lavalas gangs used to carry out against the
population (forcing them to pay State-distributed water, stealing taxes from
low income street vendors, etc.). Presently, they are confronting the former
military (often combined with former lavalas gang members) who have set out to
seize various land plots and even houses in certain areas. And, together with
the rest of the population, they are mobilizing to this end.

Alongside all of this, our practices continue in the capital too. This we will
return to in our next bulletin. In this number, we wished to address the
practices occurring amongst the workers, the popular masses in general, in
various areas within the country, especially in the rural zones. These
generally aren't relayed by the press. However, in the majority of the cases,
it is fundamental conflicts that are being dealt with; it is the country's
turning point that is in question: questions of property, of social relations
within production itself! In this period in which we are assailed by the high
mystification of "bourgeois democracy for all", it is important for us to
realize that the social conflicts in production, at various levels, in
different places, these are what really describe the concrete situation the
Haitian social formation is going through. In this period of generalized
crisis in which the dominant classes don't have a solution, in this period in
which the State is either absent, either more directly attending to preparing
the big landowners' and bourgeois' exploitation, the workers' struggles are
crucial for the future of the Haitian people. Our limited capacities put us in
a major contradiction with our general responsibility. Material difficulties
render the problem even more acute and, although we have always and will
always rely on our own forces, solidarity remains important.

While the dominant classes are seeking to resolve their problems through
mystification, in the elections, we are advancing, ourselves, in our
independent line proceeding from the interests of the exploited workers. This
demands mobilization, organization. After the failure of the dominant classes,
whether they be the archaic landowners, the useless import-export bourgeoisie,
the corrupt bureaucratic bourgeoisie or, presently, the rapacious industrial
bourgeoisie; in light of the State's absence and the absence of an alternative
political party non-dependent or not completely subservient to imperialism,
the workers must come forward with their own alternative, starting from their
own interests, their struggles, in their struggles, and not simply submit to
the dominant classes' efforts to rebuild the rotten State through elections
and their deceitful democracy. In this, it is really and concretely the
problem of the development of the productive forces that is in question, that
of an alternative State, even if the difficulties, confusion and hesitations
of the general situation render the practice highly complex.



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