J
jbuttrey
Guest
In many cases, modern slavery is the hidden underside of today’s
global economy as some of the world’s most economically and socially
vulnerable people produce the everyday products that consumers
purchase. A commodity as common as sugar can be a product of modern
day slave labor, as Joe Johns found out in the Dominican Republic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It’s very early in the
Dominican Republic. There in the predawn shadows, you see men with
machetes and water jugs. They’re going to work at one of the hardest
jobs in the world.
They cut sugar cane, the same way it’s cut in other parts of the
Caribbean. It looks like a scene from slavery in the United States
more than 140 years ago, the overseers on horseback. Some are armed.
The cane piled high. Oxen will pull it to be weighed at a local
processing plant. Much of the sugar, ultimately shipped to the United
States.
What we found here was not slavery. Instead, we found people who are
enslaved by their circumstances. Most are Haitians who crossed the
border into the Dominican Republic to work. They have no rights. They
live in squalor. Many earn just enough to eat, if they’re lucky. The
oxen look like they’re in better condition.
Look at this. It’s called a batay, a shanty settlement. Hard to
believe, but this man is only in his 50s. He worked in the cane fields
for nearly 40 years. His shack is filthy. He hasn’t eaten in four
days.
With no work in Haiti he came here as a teenager, and now he’s sick
and alone, on crutches and living on hand-outs from people who can’t
afford to give them.
We also met this man. He says he was badly cut in a fight with
machetes. In fact, with hard long days swinging razor sharp tools,
these wounds are common. For him, there’s nothing here now and even
less, he says, back home in Haiti.
We found this man cutting cane on a Sunday. With five children back in
Haiti to feed, he works seven days a week.
We also met children. They tell us they started in the cane fields at
age seven. For less than a penny an hour, they plant rows of cane
shoots 100 yards long. They were happy to have the work.
(on camera): How much do you get paid?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three pesos.
JOHNS: How long does it take to do that work?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three hours.
JOHNS (voice-over): Many of the vast cane fields here are owned by the
wealthy Vicini (ph) family. They say they do not use children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not tolerate child labor.
JOHNS: Zero tolerance, but with so many workers and so many acres the
Vicinis (ph) can’t necessarily control who gets hired to work in their
fields. Some kids tell us they know who pays them.
(on camera): They’ve been doing it the same way for 100 years here in
the Dominican Republic. It’s backbreaking work. And they don’t get
paid by the hour. Their work is measured by each ton of sugar cane
they harvest.
(voice-over): In a day, a fast cane cutter like this man can cut up to
two tons, earning up to 250 pesos. That’s about $8. But because
they’re paid by the ton, the old or slow can starve.
So why do they come here? Simple. For all the hardship, it’s still
better than Haiti, where the minimum daily wage for agriculture
workers is about $3 and unemployment is well above 50 percent.
On our visit, a U.S. congressional delegation worried about human
rights also arrived, so the Vicinis (ph) opened up. For us, it was an
opportunity for keeping them honest.
global economy as some of the world’s most economically and socially
vulnerable people produce the everyday products that consumers
purchase. A commodity as common as sugar can be a product of modern
day slave labor, as Joe Johns found out in the Dominican Republic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It’s very early in the
Dominican Republic. There in the predawn shadows, you see men with
machetes and water jugs. They’re going to work at one of the hardest
jobs in the world.
They cut sugar cane, the same way it’s cut in other parts of the
Caribbean. It looks like a scene from slavery in the United States
more than 140 years ago, the overseers on horseback. Some are armed.
The cane piled high. Oxen will pull it to be weighed at a local
processing plant. Much of the sugar, ultimately shipped to the United
States.
What we found here was not slavery. Instead, we found people who are
enslaved by their circumstances. Most are Haitians who crossed the
border into the Dominican Republic to work. They have no rights. They
live in squalor. Many earn just enough to eat, if they’re lucky. The
oxen look like they’re in better condition.
Look at this. It’s called a batay, a shanty settlement. Hard to
believe, but this man is only in his 50s. He worked in the cane fields
for nearly 40 years. His shack is filthy. He hasn’t eaten in four
days.
With no work in Haiti he came here as a teenager, and now he’s sick
and alone, on crutches and living on hand-outs from people who can’t
afford to give them.
We also met this man. He says he was badly cut in a fight with
machetes. In fact, with hard long days swinging razor sharp tools,
these wounds are common. For him, there’s nothing here now and even
less, he says, back home in Haiti.
We found this man cutting cane on a Sunday. With five children back in
Haiti to feed, he works seven days a week.
We also met children. They tell us they started in the cane fields at
age seven. For less than a penny an hour, they plant rows of cane
shoots 100 yards long. They were happy to have the work.
(on camera): How much do you get paid?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three pesos.
JOHNS: How long does it take to do that work?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three hours.
JOHNS (voice-over): Many of the vast cane fields here are owned by the
wealthy Vicini (ph) family. They say they do not use children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not tolerate child labor.
JOHNS: Zero tolerance, but with so many workers and so many acres the
Vicinis (ph) can’t necessarily control who gets hired to work in their
fields. Some kids tell us they know who pays them.
(on camera): They’ve been doing it the same way for 100 years here in
the Dominican Republic. It’s backbreaking work. And they don’t get
paid by the hour. Their work is measured by each ton of sugar cane
they harvest.
(voice-over): In a day, a fast cane cutter like this man can cut up to
two tons, earning up to 250 pesos. That’s about $8. But because
they’re paid by the ton, the old or slow can starve.
So why do they come here? Simple. For all the hardship, it’s still
better than Haiti, where the minimum daily wage for agriculture
workers is about $3 and unemployment is well above 50 percent.
On our visit, a U.S. congressional delegation worried about human
rights also arrived, so the Vicinis (ph) opened up. For us, it was an
opportunity for keeping them honest.
