Haiti - 2012

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Population: 10,000,000
Capital: Port-au-Prince
Given the lack of jobs in the formal economy, trade union rights only apply to a minute proportion of the active population. In the few workplaces where rights do apply, they are violated, as seen in the Ouanaminthe and Port-au-Prince export processing zones, where eight trade unionists were dismissed in September and October.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)

reported violations - 2012

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Background

Over 520,000 people have been infected and 7,000 lives have been claimed by the cholera epidemic, thought to have been caused by Nepalese UN peacekeepers stationed in the country at the end of 2010. At the end of 2011, 200 new cases were being registered every day. It is one of the worst cholera epidemics in modern history. In March, Michel Martelly, a pop singer with no political experience, won the second round of the presidential election. He appointed Garry Conille, a UNDP officer and medical doctor, to the post of prime minister. He was the third prime minister nominated by the president; the first two were rejected by the opposition-controlled parliament.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 10,000,000
Capital: Port-au-Prince

reported violations- 2012

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Trade union rights in law

Despite promises of reform, trade union rights are not adequately secured in law. While the Constitution provides for freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework , the Labour Code excludes many categories of workers from its scope. Any association comprising more than 20 people must also receive prior authorisation from the government in order to be recognised. Civil servants and agricultural workers are not covered by the Labour Code, and foreign workers are not allowed to hold union leadership posts. While the law bans anti-union dismissals, it does not provide for reinstatement.

Furthermore, the right to collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
is not guaranteed as employers are not obliged to meet or negotiate with trade unions. The authorities also have the power to intervene in the drafting of collective agreements. In addition, the parties to a collective dispute collective dispute See industrial dispute must try to resolve their differences by using mediation mediation A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.

See arbitration, conciliation , conciliation conciliation An attempt by a neutral third party, a conciliator, to aid the settling of an industrial dispute by improving communications, offering advice and interpreting issues to bring the disputing parties to a point where they can reconcile their differences. The conciliator does not take as active a role as a mediator or an arbitrator.

See arbitration, mediation and arbitration arbitration A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.

See conciliation, mediation , and it is a tripartite consultation committee that gives the final ruling on a dispute.

Although the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is provided for in the Constitution, no strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike may exceed one day. The Law also defines three types of strikes and any action that does not fit one if those definitions is considered illegal. Finally, strikes are illegal in public sector enterprises.

Additional information regarding the legislation
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 10,000,000
Capital: Port-au-Prince

reported violations - 2012

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

In practice

Serious obstacles to organising: The formal economy only employs 2% of the active population. Attempts to organise in the export processing zones meet with serious obstacles and only one collective agreement has been concluded. Labourers work without protective equipment on construction sites. The vast majority of workers rely on precarious work in the informal economy and many continue to live in makeshift shelters. Under such circumstances, decent work and international conventions are often abstract concepts. Organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. workers in unions, defending their rights and strengthening trade union organisations thus remain a major challenge.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 10,000,000
Capital: Port-au-Prince

reported violations - 2012

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher

Violations

Newly formed union decapitated in Port-au-Prince export processing zone:

On 23 September, just one week following the authorisation of the textile and clothing union Syndicat des Ouvriers du Textile et de l’Habillement (SOTA), the management at Genesis fired the union spokesperson, Johny Deshommes, for refusing to work overtime because he was suffering from a fever. Three other members of SOTA’s executive, Brevil Claude, Wilner Eliacint and Sénatus Vilaire were also dismissed two days later as they were preparing to seek justice for their colleague. The factory managers called in two police officers, one of whom was not in uniform, to intimidate the workers, who had already been subjected to a complete search. A fifth member of SOTA, Mitial Rubin, was sacked from One World Apparel after trying to raise awareness and inform workers about the union’s formation. Jean Jacques Hilaire, a sixth member of SOTA, was dismissed by Multiwear on 30 September.

A report by Better Work Haiti has underlined the link between the workers’ dismissals and their trade union activities. It points out that the employers dismissed the workers in a bid to weaken the union and to stop its development, less than two weeks after it was formed. Better Work, launched in Haiti in February 2007, is a partnership programme between the International Labour Organisation (ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights ) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Its role is to improve labour standards but also competitiveness in global supply chains. At the end of 2011, talks were being held between the union and the companies regarding the trade unionists’ reinstatement.

Two trade unionists dismissed at Ouanaminthe EPZ: In October, Arnold Bien-Aimé and Dieubénite Dorsainville were fired from the Codevi export processing zone export processing zone A special industrial area in a country where imported materials are processed before being re-exported. Designed to attract mostly foreign investors by offering incentives such as exemptions from certain trade barriers, taxes, business regulations, and/or labour laws. in Ouanaminthe, as soon as their union membership was announced.
ILO Core Conventions Ratified:
29 Forced Labour (1930) 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) 98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) 100 Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951) 105 Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) 111 Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958) 138 Minimum Age for Employment (1973) 182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999)
Population: 10,000,000
Capital: Port-au-Prince

reported violations - 2012

Documented violations - actual number of cases may be higher
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