History and Evolution of the CTH's perspective.

 In 1959 the CTH was founded by Christian workers who were working in
sweatshops during the dictatorship of Duvalier.Many of these members
were tortured, killed and forced into exile for their union activity.But a small cadre remaining in Haiti went underground.They focused on two objectives: organizing a country wide union and two resisting the dictatorship of Duvalier. However with the first democratic elections in 1990 the CTH emerged as a union active in advancing the interests of
workers: good jobs, improvement of living conditions, quality of life, and grassroots changes of the country. The situation of the CTH after
the overthrow of Aristide in 1991 it has had its ups and downs, from
strong influence with workers to a crisis that has challenged its very
existence.  Since the coup d'etat of 2004 it has been struggling to rebuild.  Paradoxically it has been reinvigorated over the past two weeks
during the food crisis that has caused average Hatians to take to the
streets and protest militantly against the the privatization policies which
led to the tripling or quadrupling of the cost of living. In this context the CTH is demanding a constitutional role for unions and union members.   The current president Rene Preval seems receptive to this idea.

 Haiti has officially 8.5 million inhabitants, but in reality closer to 10 million (with another 4 million living abroad mainly in the US and
Canada). While it has an active workforce of 7 million there are
200,000 formal jobs of which 50,000 are in the public sector and
150,000 in the private sector.  However the government is in the process of cutting public sector jobs with great strides as is the private sector. 

 April 24, 2008  (Our First Day)

We were hosted by Paul "Loulou" Chery the general secretary of the CTH.We visited the main building of the CTH, INAFOS (the national
institute for social training) where they used to train members in foreign
languages (Spanish, English and French) as well as cadres that would go to the countryside to help organize for the union. The union has been
suffering from a low period over the last 5-6 years and the builiding has
fallen into disrepair due to a lack of resources. They are in need of
$25-30,000 for renovations and also need a steady income of $4-5,000 a
month for operational costs.  For the moment some of the space is being rented to other organizaions who need limited space. 

April 25, 2008 (Second Day)

We left to visit the countryside, more precisely the Plateau-Central
(The poorest region of Haiti). The road that led us there was indicative
of the state of the country as it resembled a mountain riverbed as opposed to a smooth paved highway, much like the life of your average
Hatian. En route we passed Peligre Dam designed and built in 1950 to
provide electricity to factories in Port-au-Prince, but not for the people
of the region and it currently it only provides on average 3 hours of electricity, but only to those who can afford it.

As we progressed along the so called road, we witnessed acute poverty
in the form of shanty homes built of scrap wood/metal, roaming goats and chickens, sparse vehicles loaded with mangoes, bananas and people in the room that was left, many of whom were scantily dressed.  Most of the people we witnessed along the road were simply waiting in front of their homes. Others were involved in the mango harvest using boney horses and donkeys to transport the produce. 

We arrived in Hinche, the capital of the Plateau-Central, where we met
with regional coordinators of the CTH, none of home are paid for their
union work. They explained the conditions within each sector they represented: Commerce, cooperatives, journalism, construction, youth work,transportation, womans issues, agricultural workers, professional
 artisans etc.. And then each sector went into great detail as to what
their problems were, however the overwhleming obstacle was a complete and utter lack of infrastructure such as, no means of transportation for
their products, no financial assistance to propel growth, no irrigation,
no modern tools, no locals where they can meet, no schools, no drinkable water, no electricity, no hospitals, no social security or services, no job training, no child care etc..  And of the 55,000 people on the plateau one of the only recourses is to work in the sugar can fields of
the Dominican Republic for starvation wages and where they experience
extreme discrimination.The only other recourse is to go to Port-au-Prince and attempt to join the informal economy and for many women this
means prostitution and for many men this means unemployment, begging or petty crime.   

April 26, 2008 (Day Three)

We started the morning by being interviewed by at least 10 members of
the local press who questioned us on our objectives. We explained that
as citizens of Canada and the US (the two main countries behind the
coup and the neoliberal/privatization policies) we felt a moral and
democratic obligation to document the living and working conditions created by our governments foreign policy and to bring that information back to our fellow citizens with the hope that this will compel them to
mobilize for social justice. 

Our final stop was in the countryside where we met with peasant groups
affiliated with the CTH.  Interestingly enough the meeting was held in a building used to raise pigs.  At the time it was empty, but again due
to a lack of resources it was the only structure available for the
meeting. One telling part of the meeting was when the delegation asked them whether they have received any of the international aid our governments proclaim to be giving to Haiti, the question was met with aresounding and unified NO!  They explained that the peasants are the motor of the economy because without food there is no work.  They actually sang a song which dramatized this point.  Subsequently the attendees elaborated six main points to improve agriculture, which would improve the quality of life for children, women, and men throughout Haiti: 

1.Food 2. Health Care 3. Education and job training 4. Decent housing 5.Dignified work 6. Leisure time.  One key word summed up how many of these points could be accomplished: IRRIGATE!

In short the peasants and peasant organizers displayed a profound political consciousness when they explained that the US and Canada did not want Haiti to be politically or economically independent because the people would use their independence to develop and redistribute the
resources of the country for its people.