Corruption and leadership crisis plague Haiti's trade unions

“Within the union sector, there are things that we do not want to make public, because it can cause problems”, relates the deputy coordinator of a union on questions of corruption in the sector

In theory, the union known as «Centrale nationale des ouvriers haïtiens» (CNOAH) is supposed to defend its members in dealings with the Haitian authorities and employers, particularly during the heated debates on the state-set minimum wage.

In 2023, the structure submitted a funding request for 14 million gourdes from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.

After learning of this request, «Antèn Ouvriye», worried about the possibility of undue influence and corruption, suspended all collaboration with the CNOAH, a source directly involved reported to AyiboPost.

The decision was taken because “the leaders refused to clarify this funding request,” explains Lominy Edmond, secretary general of Antèn Ouvriye, a union support structure.

«Antèn Ouvriye», worried about the possibility of undue influence and corruption, suspended all collaboration with the CNOAH.

Contacted by AyiboPost, Dominique St-Éloi, general coordinator of the CNOAH confirms the request for financial support. According to St-Éloi, said request was made at the behest of the minister for support from the unions within the framework of a previously signed memorandum of understanding.

The officer did not share the agreement in question with AyiboPost. However, the request for financial support highlights the many difficulties encountered by trade union organizations in Haiti.

Most of these organizations are faced with the problem of alternating leadership: without elections in sight, leaders are sometimes in office for several decades.

If in certain countries unions are financed mainly by their members, in Haiti, these structures often rely on the generosity of employers and sometimes the State – outside of any formal mechanism. This poses the risk of harmful influence and corruption, according to half a dozen trade unionists interviewed by AyiboPost.

Temptations occasionally land on the negotiation table. “During protest movements, state authorities sometimes offer us houses, cars or a visa,” Joseph Lesbien, former president of the Health Workers Union (STS), told AyiboPost. He did not want to give concrete examples for security reasons.

During protest movements, state authorities sometimes offer us houses, cars or a visa.

— Joseph Lesbian

Sometimes the stick comes after the carrot.

Abelson Gros Nègre is a former police officer and one of the instigators of the movement that contributed to the creation of SPNH-17, a union within the Haitian National Police (PNH), in November 2019.

During the police protests, “Normil Rameau and Léon Charles, two former general directors of the PNH, offered me meetings in order to negotiate the discontinuation of the struggle,” reveals the former spokesperson for SPNH-17. The two officials did not respond to AyiboPost’s requests for comment.

Dismissed along with five other police officers in February 2020, for indiscipline and vandalism, among others, former police officer Gros Nègre states: “Before my arrest in March 2021, President Jovenel Moïse sent someone to ask me: what I wanted for me and my family.”

A week after refusing these offers, Gros says he was arrested and then incarcerated in the National Penitentiary for eight months.

Before my arrest in March 2021, President Jovenel Moïse sent a person to ask me: what do I wanted for me and my family.

— Abelson Big Negro

“Within the union sector, there are things that we do not want to make public, because it can cause problems. So, we manage them internally,” relates Henry Délice, deputy coordinator of “Sendika Ouvriye Tekstil ak Abiman-Batay Ouvriye” (SOTA-BO).

There is no tangible proof, but suspicions that members of the structure were bribed during negotiations with the State and employers remain, according to Délice.

In rare cases, allegations are investigated.

This was the case in 2022, when clerk Viliane Florice, spokesperson for the National Association of Haitian Clerks (ANAGH) at the level of the jurisdiction of Aquin and advisor at the national level, was accused of receiving an amount of 150,000 gourdes to help – without success – in the release of a prisoner.

The detainee was sentenced to 10 years in prison for criminal conspiracy.

Following an ANAGH investigation, “we found that a lawyer actually bribed the clerk and that part of the money was paid to them,” according to Martin Ainé, president of the union.

There is no tangible evidence, but suspicions that members of the structure were bribed during negotiations with the State and employers remain.

— Henry Delice

Practices of good governance and alternating leadership are rare within unions.

At the National Union of Normalians of Haiti (UNNOH), for example, the by-laws provide for the renewal of officers at a congress held every two years. But this formality has not been respected for some fifteen years in this institution, one of the most powerful in the education sector.

“For some time, the congress has not been held due to the situation in the country,” explains Péguy Noël, head of UNNOH Port-au-Prince coordination since 2021.

A similar situation is taking place at the Association of Owners and Drivers of Haiti (APCH) which has never held elections for fourteen years.

However, the exercise must take place every three years for the institution which has around 8,000 members.

“The union does not have a culture of elections,” says Petrus Eustache Lerice, administrator and spokesperson for the APCH for fourteen years.

Practices of good governance and alternating leadership are rare within unions.

When there is a vacant position, the union designates a member of the committee to fill the void and sometimes grants secondary responsibility to a member already in position, continues Petrus Eustache Lerice.

These dysfunctions undermine member confidence and contribute to making unions less effective in their struggle to improve their members’ professional condition.

Within the textile union, the number of membership applications has fallen, according to observations from several officials to AyiboPost. The frequent dismissal of workers in many factories, as a sign of retaliation, contributes to exacerbating this problem, according to testimonies.

By Jérôme Wendy Norestyl & Rolph Louis-Jeune

English translation by Sarah Jean.

Cover image edited by AyiboPost, showing a hand giving money to outstretched hands.

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