I spent all of last week in Haiti. To be more accurate, A, it was only the work week, and B, when you cross into the Free Zone you are in Haiti. All the other time was spent in Dajabon, the Dominican border town. Well, it wasn't really American Idol, but it was an audition. Grupo M is the largest manufacturer of clothing in the DR. They have moved a lot of their operation to Haiti and they are in the process of moving everything there for many reasons. The labor is cheaper, the labor laws are much more favorable and I would be pretty sure that they are getting huge concessions from the Haitian government. I would guess that they are giving employment to close to 5,000 people that never had jobs before. These workers are only interested in doing their jobs well. They are very cooperative and that number should grow steadily in the coming years. The factories that I visited are huge. And hot? It was usually over 100 degrees on the floor after 1 P.M. I was there to observe and I did get a little involved with a number of things in a number of factories. If there were a job title that I could invent to describe what I could best bring to the company it would be "Director of Enlightened Thinking and Common Sense". They don't have any of either. The majority of the management is only interested in doing what it takes to get by. They certainly, from what I could tell from my short time there, don't have any interest in improving what they do.
(Photo explanation-In the DR the people who can afford one, and that is not everyone, drive a motor bike or scooter to work. They are considered the "wealthier" workers. In Haiti, the rich ones have bicycles, which they store on hooks, as seen in the photo.)
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