Haiti – A Country of Many Disasters

CUPW is donating to earthquake relief in Haiti.  We are joining the Canadian Labour Congress in their campaign to provide assistance to the people of Haiti.

The earthquake in Haiti is a disaster.  The toll of dead and injured people is unimaginably high.  The lack of access to housing, food and water is creating secondary disasters.

CUPW members are encouraged to donate to Haiti relief efforts.  There are many organizations that are working to provide humanitarian assistance.  The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is partnering with the Red Cross for on line donations.  Click here for the online link.

In Quebec, donations can be sent to the Quebec Federation of Labour.  The address is:

Denise Gagnon, Directrice

Service de la solidarité internationale de la FTQ

565, boul. Crémazie Est, bureau 12100

Montréal (Québec) H2M 2W3

Oxfam Quebec is also accepting donations.  They will provide income tax receipts.  Their email address is www.oxfam.qc.ca

Funds received through the CLC will be distributed to Haitian unions through the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas; disaster relief through the Red Cross; and relief and reconstruction initiatives through OXFAM and the Humanitarian Coalition. Each donation will be matched by the federal government.

On behalf of CUPW, I wish to express my condolences to people who have lost friends or family in this tragedy.

CUPW would also like to express our solidarity with the people of Haiti who are facing massive devastation following the earthquake.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and this poverty has been worsened by the policies of Canada and the U.S.

Since the late 1970s, international pressure on Haiti's agriculture based economy has forced tens of thousands of small farmers into overcrowded urban slums.  The Canadian Government participated in these pressure tactics.  Hundreds of thousands of Port-au-Prince residents now live in desperately substandard informal housing, often perched precariously on the side of deforested ravines.  These are some of the areas that have suffered the most.

We need to make sure that disaster relief gets into Haiti.  Currently, there are some disturbing reports from Doctors Without Borders that a significant amount of aid is being held up at the main airport in Haiti by the American military.

Please take a small step to alleviate some of the suffering in Haiti and support reconstruction efforts that benefit all of the people.