Over 30 Disney workers fired in L.V. Myles plant!

The Disney/Haiti Justice Campaign, 7 November 1997

On October 24, a number of L.V. Myles workers in Haiti who sew garments which carry the Disney label were interviewed by a team of investigators from the US. After the workers rightfully complained of low wages, high work quotas and harsh working conditions, 15 workers were fired the following day. More than 30 workers have been fired since the end of October as L.V. Myles is attempting to stamp out worker protest to force workers into submission. L.V. Myles has also introduced new lines of garment production with quotas that are similar in scale to the very same quotas that were previously denounced as inhuman and that management had cut back (i.e. 1800 operations a day).

Background

L.V. Myles is the largest Disney subcontractor in Haiti. The company operates an apparel assembly plant in the Industrial Park in Port- au-Prince, a de-facto free trade zone. Recently, in replies to protests over worker abuse in Haiti, Disney has singled out L.V. Myles as a model for its supposed fair treatment of its workers. According to the workers organization Batay Ouvriye, this is completely untrue.

This factory employs over one thousand workers. Along with 13 other factories in Haiti producing garments bearing various Disney labels, L.V. Myles pays its workers about half the minimum living wage in Haiti. With salaries ranging from 28c to 39c an hour (from $11.20 to $15.60 per week!) workers are forced to produce at an inhuman rate, under constant verbal abuse and threats of being laid-off or fired. The majority of workers are women and they are also victims of constant sexual harassment and abuse from their supervisors.

According to Batay Ouvriye, workers at the L.V. Myles plant are continuing to organize and continuing to protest their abusive treatment. Despite the firings, flyers are still being distributed inside the plant and the workers have shown their resolve not to bow to management's threats. The workers are calling on international solidarity to help them in their struggle.

Action Needed

Batay Ouvriye urges individuals and organizations to show their solidarity with the workers at L.V. Myles by sending letters, faxes or phone calls to demand the following from the L.V. Myles management.

1. The immediate suspension of all acts of intimidation, lay-offs, firings and reprisals against workers trying to organize;

2. The payment of a living wage to all workers, which in Haiti should be at least US $5, and the lowering of quotas;

3. The termination of all acts of sexual harassment, and the improvement of working conditions;

4. The rehiring of all the fired workers.

Pressure also needs to be brought against the Disney Company, since the practices of L.V. Myles violate Disney's professed corporate code of conduct and its policy agreement with its subcontractors as well as internationally recognized labor conventions concerning workers' rights.

Send your letters or faxes to the following persons:

Mr. Paul Miller
L.V. Miles
135 Madison Ave, 10th floor
NY, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 735-0900
Fax: (212) 735-0977

Mr. Michael Eisner, C.E.O.
The Walt Disney Company
South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
Tel: (818) 560-1000
Fax: (818) 846-7319

This is an urgent call. Please act now in support of these workers.

For more information, contact THE DISNEY / HAITI JUSTICE CAMPAIGN, VILLAGE STATION, P.0. BOX 748, NY, NY 10014 - (212) 592-3612; or BATAY OUVRIYE, P.O. Box 13326, Delmas, Port-au-Prince, Haiti (W.I.) Tel. 011-509-22-67-19