This was last updated on Nov. 18, 2013. For the latest version, visit onestruggle.net. To add your name, please email your signature, profession, location and affiliation to:[email protected] This statement will be sent to workers’ organizations in Haiti by Nov. 25, 2013. *** Artists & Writers in Solidarity with Garment Workers in Haiti: Raise the Minimum Wage! The garment industry is a global web of nightmares, where work- Struggles of workers for decent wages and working conditions, ers don’t make enough to survive. Retailers and brands like Gil- plus the right to organize, are constantly met with severe punish- dan, Walmart, The Gap, Levis, Cherokee, Sara Lee, Hanes and ment. We must not passively accept the presence of products on J.C. Penney claim that low wages for factory workers and service store shelves without understanding—and actively opposing—the employees are necessary because consumers demand low prices, harsh conditions of exploitation and repression under which they when really it is for their own high profits. For example, Walmart were produced. made $15.4 billion in 2011. As artists and writers, we raise awareness and help shape pub- The conditions for Haitian sweatshop workers are among the lic opinion about social and political issues. We declare solidarity harshest and most abusive in the world. Haitian garment work- with garment workers in Haiti who are demanding a wage that ers receive the industry’s lowest wages in the hemisphere: 200 meets their needs, that allows them to feed, house, clothe, and edu- gourdes, or less than $5 per day. Factories have been refusing to cate themselves and their families. comply with even the totally inadequate minimum wage adjust- ment to 300 gourdes, which was made into law in 2009. We are not calling for boycotts, and companies should not pull out of Haiti or anywhere else—workers depend on their jobs for sur- The State Salary Council of Haiti is set to recommend a new vival. Wherever these companies do business, we demand that they minimum wage at the end of November. The autonomous work- face their responsibilities to the workers, who make the goods that ers organization Batay Ouvriye (Workers Fight) is mobilizing to provide these companies with enormous profits. They should meet demand 500 gourdes ($11.50) per day—the minimum required for with autonomous unions and workers’ organizations, and ensure a family to survive. that their subcontractors respect workers’ rights, provide safe con- ditions, pay a living wage, and pay reparations for stolen wages.

Initial signatories (alphabetical),

Lalo Alcaraz, (CA, USA), La Cucaracha Anthony Arnove, writer/editor (NY, USA), Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal Inez Barlatier, musician (FL, USA), Kazoots Tarek Benbaba, cartoonist/illustrator (Morocco) Clay Bennett, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist (TN, USA), Chatanooga Times Free Press* Keith Brown, cartoonist (MO, USA) Malia Bruker, filmmaker (PA, USA), Chase, Heirloom Daniel Clós Cesar, cartoonist (Brazil) Sunnerberg Constantin, cartoonist (Belgium) Chad Crowe, cartoonist (OR, USA) Julian Del Rio, musican (FL, USA), Terrorist (the band) Barry Deutsch, cartoonist (OR, USA), Hereville Tim Eagan, cartoonist (CA, USA), Deep Cover Simone Frosini, cartoonist (Italy) Garrincha, cartoonist (FL, USA) Jean Gouders, cartoonist (Netherlands) Steve Greenberg, cartoonist (CA, USA), Ventura County Reporter* Lisa Hartman, idependent filmmaker (CO, USA) Derrick Jensen, writer (CA, USA), Endgame Lierre Keith, writer (CA, USA), The Vegetarian Myth Keith Knight, cartoonist (CA, USA), The Knight Life (CONTINUED...) John Kovalic, cartoonist (WI, USA), Dork Tower , cartoonist/illustrator (NY, USA), Spy vs. Spy Ivan L., rapper (FL, USA) Erica Landau, journalist/editor (FL, USA) Angelo Lopez, cartoonist (CA, USA), Philippines Today* Franklin Lopez, filmmaker (QC, Canada), submedia.tv Djamel Lounis, cartoonist (Algeria) Sophia Mamalinga, cartoonist (Greece) Popa Matumula, cartoonist (Tanzania), Mzalendo Weekly* Stephanie McMillan, cartoonist/writer (FL, USA), Capitalism Must Die! Kat Merkin, singer/musician (FL, USA) Kevin Moore, cartoonist/librarian (OR, USA), Wanderlost Victor Ndula, cartoonist (Kenya), The Star* Scott Neigh, writer (ON, Canada), Resisting the State: Canadian History Through the Stories of Activists John Newlands, musician/songwriter (ON, Canada) Kaan Ocbe & Tyler Lewis, musicians (FL, USA), Unity Rise Eray Özbek, cartoonist/architecht (Turkey) Kate Salley Palmer, cartoonist/illustrator (SC, USA), Warbranch Press Denver Pereira, cartoonist (Goa, India) Carmen Pérez and Julian Loayza, (Spain), McArroni Edie Pistolesi, Professor of Art, California State University Northridge* Joel Pett, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist (KY, USA), Lexington Herald-Leader* Cindy Procious, fine artist (TN, USA) Ted Rall, cartoonist/writer (NY, USA, The Anti-American Manifesto Tjeerd Royaards, cartoonist/Editor-in-Chief, Cartoon Movement Trish Sheldon, singer/songwriter (FL, USA) , Blue Sky Drive Richard Shipps, multi-discipline artist (IL, USA) Estelle Carol & Bob Simpson, cartoonists (IL, USA) Andy Singer, cartoonist (MN, USA), No Exit , cartoonist (TX, USA), Slowpoke Ed Stein, cartoonist (CO, USA), Freshly Squeezed Seth Tobocman, cartoonist/illustrator (NY, USA), World War 3 Illustrated Jeff Treves, animator/illustrator/Creative Director (Turkey) Gianfranco Uber, cartoonist (Italy) Kiki Wainwright, singer/writer (FL, USA), Nan Tan Malouk...istwakont Ak Pwezi , cartoonist (OR, USA), David L. Wilson, writer (NY, USA), co-author The Politics of Immigration: Questions & Answers Yankee Roses, folk band (FL, USA) Zunar, cartoonist (Malaysia), recipient of Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award (CRNI)*

* Affiliations listed for identification purposes only

To add your name, please email your signature, profession, location and affiliation to: [email protected] This statement will be sent to workers’ organizations in Haiti by Nov. 25, 2013. *** An Indiegogo fundraising campaign for the autonomous workers organization Batay Ouvriye in Haiti is at: http://tinyurl.com/m4out5z through Dec. 12, 2013.