The president of the Federation of Independent Taxis on the island died Monday morning. He had been hospitalized at the Martinique University Hospital for more than two weeks.
This is very sad news that could probably have been avoided. At dawn on Monday, the Federation of Independent Taxis (FTI) of Martinique lost its president, Alain Decaille, who died of Covid-19 at the Martinique University Hospital after more than two weeks of hospitalization. The man, aged about fifty, was a well-known figure on the island, used to fighting to defend his profession. Many Martinicans also used to meet him near the Aimé-Césaire airport where, as recalled France Antilles, he had been posted every day for twenty years waiting for clients while chatting with his colleagues.
On November 22, Alain Decaille called, along with about fifteen other organizations, for a general strike. At the top of the protesters’ demands, the fight against the vaccine obligation against Covid-19 for certain professions – while only 38% of eligible Martinicans now have a complete vaccination schedule. They also demanded an increase in wages, social minima, as well as a fall in the price of gas and fuels. Martinican taxi drivers were heavily involved in the protest. Some had participated in snail operations, while others had acquired their habits on the various dams erected across the roads of Martinique.
Alain Decaille and his partners in the fight had partly won the case: the Minister of Overseas Territories, Sébastien Lecornu, had announced after his trip to the West Indies the postponement of the vaccination obligation for Martinican caregivers to December 31. And negotiations were opened in parallel between the unions and representatives of the State. Several meetings have, however, had to be postponed because of the Covid, which continues to circulate strongly in Martinique, even if the incidence rate is far from the peaks of the terrible wave that had hit the island during the summer.
In early December, the prefect, who was participating in the negotiations, had notably tested positive. Before a cluster was suspected a few days later among the members of the intersyndicale. According to RCI, it was also during a work meeting that Alain Decaille contracted the virus.
Cascading tributes
After the announcement of the disappearance of Alain Decaille by his relatives and the local media, tributes have multiplied. In a statement, the Chamber of Trades and Crafts of Martinique (CMA), of which he was one of the vice-presidents, said “Bereaved” by the loss of a man “Who devoted himself fully to his profession” and to “The future of craftsmanship”. Its president, Henri Salomon, wanted to pay tribute to a “Friend, a man of great value and exemplary righteousness”, who leaves behind his wife and their two children.
Serge Letchimy, political figure of Martinique and currently president of the island’s executive council, also said he was touched by the news on social networks: “This ruthless pandemic deprives us of a man of great loyalty, great sincerity and who agreed to fight battles with respect for others and for his country.”