Mr. Raymond JAAR
CEO Brasserie de La Couronne S.A.
Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Haïti
P.O. Box 1477,
Port-au-Prince, Haïti
Dear Mr. Jaar,
We have been informed of your company’s serious abuses of workers’ rights at the brewery in Cap-Haitien, and are particularly concerned to hear that you are paying some workers an illegal 50 gourdes per day salary. In addition, we understand that – contrary to Haitian law – there are no holidays at La Couronne Brewery-Coca-Cola Haiti, that the
provision for 15 days sickness leave is not respected, that overtime hours are not paid, and that workers are fired without valid reason.
We are asking you to urgently adopt the necessary measures to rectify the situation at the La Couronne Brewery-Coca-Cola Haiti. The workers’ base salary needs to be correctly adjusted. Mr Philomé Cémérant, a union leader sacked at the end of 2005 for no good reason, should be
rehired without delay and with back-pay. A constructive dialogue betwen the company’s management and the workers’ union must be started immediately.
In the hope that you will adopt these measures in the spirit of social advancement in Haiti,
Yours sincerely,
Charles Arthur
Director
Haiti Support Group
10 Swingfield House
Templecombe Road
London E9 7LX
United Kingdom
Cc :
René Préval, Président de la Republique,
Joseph Lambert, Président de l’Assemblée Nationale,
Rénan Hédouville, Comité des Avocats pour le Respect des Libertés Individuelles,
Eliphète St-Pierre, Plate-Forme des Organisations Haïtiennes des Droits Humains,
Ricot Jean Pierre, Plateforme Haïtienne de Plaidoyer pour un Développement Alternatif,
Intersyndicale Premier Mai – Batay Ouvriye,
Commission Episcopale Nationale Justice et Paix,
Kolektif Mobilizasyon Kont Lavichè,
Ron Oswald, general secretary of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF-UITA),
Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec,
Lorraine Clewer, Worker Rights Consortium,
Robert Senser, Human Rights for Workers,
Ther Aung, International Labor Rights Fund,
International Centre for Trade Union Rights,
Campaign for Labor Rights,
Grassroots Haiti,
David Joyce, Irish TUC,
Aileen McErlean, Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions,
Christopher Avery, Business & Human Rights,
Amnesty International Business & Human Rights Programme.