The struggle at the Megatex maquiladora

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Firings and suspensions at Disney/Haiti contractor
Labor Alert, 30 July 1998. After consulting with Batay Ouvriye, Campaign for Labor Rights recently initiated discussions with several U.S.-based organizations about the possibility of working in alliance to re-energize the Disney/Haiti campaign. According to a spokeswoman for Batay Ouvriye, management at Megatex S.A. (a Disney clothing contractor in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) has begun a campaign of suspending and firing workers suspected of trying to organize a union.
Disney/Haiti workers file union papers: International pressure urgently needed to prevent firings
From Batay Ouvriye, 13 August 1998. Workers at the Megatex plant, which produces clothing for Disney and other companies, have filed papers seeking recognition of their union. The management of this factory in Port-au-Prince on 30 July suspended and fired workers suspected of engaging in organizing activities and suspended workers who spoke with a monitoring team visiting the factory.
Maquila Workers Unionize in Haiti
Weekly News Update on the Americas, 23 August 1998. On Aug. 10, workers at the Megatex maquiladora in Haiti initiated the official process to have their union certified. Megatex owner responded with an offer to meet after work. The workers' organization Batay Ouvriye (Workers' Struggle) considers the offer to talk an important step.
Megatex to negotiate; Disney/Haiti contractor to talk with union Thursday, August 27
Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor Rights, 26 August 1998. The Haitian worker organization Batay Ouvriye reports that Megatex has agreed to engage in negotiations with the union this August 27. Management had held informal talks with union representatives on August 20. If the company does in fact negotiate in good faith, this will constitute an historic first in Haiti's export sector. Batay Ouvriye credits international pressure with this new level of cooperation on the part of management.
Negotiations underway at Megatex
Labor Alert, 15 September 1998. Formal discussions between the union and the owner of the Megatex factory, began on September 3. Initial results of negotiations of non-economic issues. Because the financial pressure in the sweatshop system comes from major companies, which set the price per item which they are willing to pay to their contractors, it is unclear how far the economic issues can be resolved without cooperation from the Walt Disney company.
No Work at Megatex; No answer from Disney
Labor Alerts, 24 May 1999. There has been little or no work at Megatex, a factory in Port-au-Prince, Haiti which manufacturers clothing for Disney and other brands. Although the situation at Megatex is more dire than at most factories, the entire export production sector is spiraling down. Foreign capital is deserting the country as Haiti slips further and further into political and economic chaos.