As unions begin to organize part-time workers in Central Florida, Disney is dealing with a labor revolt of a different sort in Haiti. Three weeks ago workers at the Megatex plant in Port-au-Prince signed a petition to organize a union. It was a risky move; labor activists say most who have organized in Haiti have been fired. So the "Disney/Haiti Justice Campaign" started a letter-writing campaign in the U.S., to try to protect the Haitian workers' rights.
Haitian contract workers earn about 30 cents an hour making clothes and plush toys for Disney and other U.S. companies. A few months ago management suspended and fired workers suspected of organizing activities and suspended workers who spoke with a monitoring team visiting the factory. Those workers have since been reinstated, activists say, in part because of pressure placed on Disney in the U.S.
