In 2012, One Struggle visited Haiti and met with SOTA-BO union textile workers. SOTA is affiliated with Batay Ouvriye (BO).  BO is an intermediate level organization born out of a mass movement in Haiti.

Since the 1980’s they have hustled with fierce commitment to organize and grow, constructing textile unions, neighborhood groups and peasant associations throughout the country as part of an independent and autonomous movement.

Garment workers in Haiti produce much of the t-shirts, socks, jeans and activewear consumed in the US and Canada. The minimum wage there is 350 Gourdes/day ($5.40 US). Their wages are mostly consumed by transportation costs to and from work. They live in debt and on the brink of hunger and homelessness.

In our 2012 meetings, these workers shared with us their struggles and how they were addressing them – by organizing and growing their power. We asked how we could support this work. They answered with a call for international solidarity.

Once we returned to Miami we re-initiated the Rapid Response Network  (RRN) to build international solidarity, and to expose imperialism, which works to make labor invisible – covering exploitation with glossy marketing.

Since then, we continue to support and learn from the efforts there. 

In Haiti, May 1st is a national holiday. The government focuses people’s attention on agriculture and national production, rather than the true roots of May Day – workers’ fight for the right to organize and the eight-hour work day.

On May Day, textile workers, neighborhood groups and peasants organized with Batay Ouvriye took the streets to march, to hand out leaflets and to demand 1,000 Gourdes/day ($15.58 US) and other basic rights.

 

Click here to read the RRN’s report back about May Day in Haiti.

 

Getting Organized at Home

Imperialism is the natural expansion of capitalism. The constant need for growth and increased profits sends capitalists beyond national boundaries in search of new markets and lower production costs.

 

 

In the US, we consume cheap goods and enjoy a degree of relative wealth because of imperialism. But we are not given a choice in the matter. Don’t get lost in guilt. Don’t scour the Internet or thrift stores for guilt-free products.

We cannot affect this arrangement with our consumption choices.  There are no products made outside of this global arrangement. Instead, those of us living inside the U.S.—the most violent and destructive imperialist power in the world—must take a stand against imperialist domination and build organizations that work in solidarity with people and workers’ struggles internationally.

We need to build an anti-imperialist/anti-capitalist movement here in the US not only for international solidarity, but to confront capitalism here at home.

 

May 1st is commemorated internationally to mark Chicago workers’ struggles.

This part of US history is mostly erased from our collective memory. It’s honored in small pockets here and there by progressive and radical organizations… but what are we doing to continue the struggle?

• How many of us work only eight hours a day?
• How many of us are drowning in student debt?
• How many of us work more than one job, and still cannot afford rent and other basic costs of living?

Every day, we sit by disorganized watching as our rights are erased and fascism consolidates.

Are these problems not global? Capitalism and imperialism – this is our common problem, internationally. It is the economic, political and ideological arrangement that moves the entire world around us. We must understand it to analyze and radically alter our reality.

 

Any of the concessions we’ve gained under capitalism/imperialism have come through organization and struggle. We need to recognize this and get back to organizing… not just to reform capitalism/imperialism. We must weaken it.

Back in 2012, while talking with Haitian workers and organizers, they said, “You must organize a movement in the US. That is one of the best forms of solidarity you can offer.”

Let’s build organizations in our schools, neighborhoods and workplaces, independent of political parties and NGOS… because we know they are beholden to capitalists’ interests, not the people’s.

We must be the political alternative to capitalism’s crisis.

If you’re interested in joining us or discussing more, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

onestruggle.southflorida@gmail.com

onestruggle.fiu@gmail.com

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