Haiti: US opposed minimum wage rise, cables show | Green Left Weekly. the real reason our government hates wikileaks, assange, and manning, is because they know they’re going to continue to get busted for shit like this:
The moves to block a wage rise for the lowest paid in the western hemisphere were revealed by secret US State Department cables obtained byHaiti LiberteandThe Nationmagazine.
The factory owners refused to pay $0.62 an hour, or $5 per eight-hour day, as mandated by a measure unanimously passed by Haiti’s parliament in June 2009.
The cables, provided by WikiLeaks, show that behind the scenes, factory owners were vigorously backed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US embassy.
…Haiti is the poorest country in the hemisphere. The World Food Program estimates that about 3.3 million people in Haiti, a third of the population, are food insecure.
…US opposition to the minimum wage rise was revealed in 1918 cables provided by WikiLeaks….
…For a 20-month period between early February 2008 and October 2009, US embassy officials closely monitored and reported on the minimum wage issue. The cables show that the embassy fully understood how popular the measure was in Haiti.
The cables said that the new minimum wage even had support from most of the Haitian business community “based on reports that wages in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua (competitors in the garment industry) will increase also”.
the stories will keep coming out. And governments around the world will continue creating scenarios for stories like this to come out. And so the vicious cycle will continue until something drastic happens, like people actually stand up for what they say they believe in. Until we start paying attention.
Also, companies I will no longer be buying from include: Levi’s, Fruit of the Loom, Hanes, Dockers, Nautica. My list keeps growing. Fucking capitalism.
hahayourefunny 
June 21st, 2011 → 6:24 pm
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