Benedict Arnold Clothing Companies Kick Haiti When She's Down

[Joanne98]

They're transferring the work to the other slaves colonies!

BEFORE THEY GO THEY SHOULD PAY UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS!

Apparel Makers Assess Damages in Haiti and Organize Donations
January 15, 2010

A 7.0 earthquake that rocked Haiti on Jan. 12 killed tens of thousands, brought business to a standstill and shut down the principal seaport near the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

In addition, the capital’s Toussaint L’Overture airport temporarily suspended commercial flight activity because the tarmac was clogged with civilian and military planes hauling in relief supplies. Authorities said extensive damage was seen at the country’s main port outside of Port-au-Prince, where some terminals were destroyed and freight cranes tumbled into the water.

Clothing makers, who in recent years have shifted production to Haiti to take advantage of a U.S. free-trade program, were using other factories outside of Haiti to make up for production that could be sidelined for weeks.


Hanesbrands Inc., based in Winston-Salem, N.C., said three of the four Haitian factories it uses to sew men’s casualwear and T-shirts were expected to be affected by the earthquake. The company said it is using its factories in the Dominican Republic, Central America and Asia to fill in orders.

One of Hanesbrands’ factories in northern Haiti was not affected by the earthquake and will be shipping its production out of the neighboring Dominican Republic.

“Of the company’s three contract operations near Port-au-Prince, two have reported little to no damage, and one has reported some structural damage,” the company said in a press release. “These three operations are also expected to be affected by infrastructure issues, at least temporarily, involving the ports, roads, bridges and power systems.”


Gildan Activewear in Montreal, Canada, said it uses third-party factories in Haiti to sew most of the fabric produced at its textile factory in the Dominican Republic. Initially, reports showed that two out of the three factories it uses were intact while the third factory had suffered substantial damage.

Haiti supplies a portion of Gildan’s basic T-shirt requirements for the U.S. screen-print market. Company officials indicated that Gildan’s inventory was strong enough to resolve any supply problems, but it was also increasing production at its factories in the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Apparel has become an important business in Haiti. In 2008, apparel made up two-thirds of Haiti’s $350 million in exports to the United States. That production has been helped by the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act, which provided tariff-free access to the United States.

http://www.apparelnews.net/news/international/011510-Apparel-Makers-Assess-Damages-in-Haiti-and-Organize-Donations


THE TAKE

In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed auto-parts workers walk into their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave.

All they want is to re-start the silent machines. But this simple act - The Take - has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head.

In the wake of Argentina's dramatic economic collapse in 2001, Latin America's most prosperous middle class finds itself in a ghost town of abandoned factories and mass unemployment. The Forja auto plant lies dormant until its former employees take action. They're part of a daring new movement of workers who are occupying bankrupt businesses and creating jobs in the ruins of the failed system.

But Freddy, the president of the new worker's co-operative, and Lalo, the political powerhouse from the Movement of Recovered Companies, know that their success is far from secure. Like every workplace occupation, they have to run the gauntlet of courts, cops and politicians who can either give their project legal protection or violently evict them from the factory.

The story of the workers' struggle is set against the dramatic backdrop of a crucial presidential election in Argentina, in which the architect of the economic collapse, Carlos Menem, is the front-runner. His cronies, the former owners, are circling: if he wins, they'll take back the companies that the movement has worked so hard to revive.

Armed only with slingshots and an abiding faith in shop-floor democracy, the workers face off against the bosses, bankers and a whole system that sees their beloved factories as nothing more than scrap metal for sale.

With The Take, director Avi Lewis, one of Canada's most outspoken journalists, and writer Naomi Klein, author of the international bestseller No Logo, champion a radical economic manifesto for the 21st century. But what shines through in the film is the simple drama of workers' lives and their struggle: the demand for dignity and the searing injustice of dignity denied.

Watch the movie

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=569FF750F7971766&search_query=THE+TAKE%2BNAOMI+KLEIN

http://thetake.org/index.cfm?page_name=synopsis

[madrchsod]

1. my wife`s union bought their t-shirts from haiti....

since her slate took over there will be only us made t-shirts. she told the last president that those shirts were sown by child or slave wage workers...the former pres said the t`s were the cheapest they could buy.

[hughee99]

2. Are they moving the jobs?

I couldn't quite tell from the article, but it didn't sound like the jobs were leaving Haiti, just that while the factories are down, the factories in other countries will have to pick up the slack temporarily.

[sandnsea]

3. They donated $25,000, not near enough

http://www.uschamber.com/BCLC/Haiti_CorporateDonations

Here's a bunch of phone numbers, I suggest we call them all.

http://www.hanesprintables.com/Globals/SalesOffices.aspx