WOMEN ON THE LINE: STRATEGIES OF RESISTANCE IN THE WAKE OF
NAFTA, GLOBAL ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING, AND TRANSNATIONAL
ASSEMBLY LINE DISPLACEMENT IN MEXICO
by
NATALIE ANNE DUKE
A THESIS
Presented to the Department of International Studies
and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Master of Arts
June 2009
"Women on the Line: Strategies of Resistance in the Wake ofNAFTA, Global
Economic Restructuring, and Transnational Assembly Line Displacement in Mexico," a
thesis prepared by Natalie Anne Duke in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Master of Arts degree in the Department ofIntemational Studies. This thesis has been
approved and accepted by:
Dr. Anita M. Weiss, Chair of the Examining Committee
11
Date
Committee in Charge:
Accepted by:
Dr. Anita M. Weiss, Chair
Professor Ibrahim Gassama
Professor Marcela Mendoza
Dean of the Graduate School
© 2009 Natalie Anne Duke
1ll
IV
An Abstract of the Thesis of
Natalie Anne Duke for the degree of Master of Arts
in the Department of International Studies to be taken June 2009
Title: WOMEN ON THE LINE: STRATEGIES OF RESISTANCE IN THE WAKE OF
NAFTA, GLOBAL ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING, AND TRANSNATIONAL
ASSEMBLY LINE DISPLACEMENT IN MEXICO
Approved:
Dr. Anita M. Weiss
NAFTA has had a significant impact on production, exchange, and labor
throughout North America. An area significantly transformed by NAFTA is the
maquiladora production region in northern Mexico. While once predominantly a female
space of labor, we now see more male workers employed by industrial units there than in
the past.
This thesis interrogates what has happened to the women workers of the
maquiladoras. In what ways have NAFTA, global economic restructuring, and the
resultant legal atmosphere affected women's daily lives and employment opportunities?
What strategies of resistance have these women developed to contend with the new
economic landscape? I argue that women are adapting by moving away from the U.S.-
Mexico border to work in garment industries and resisting the economic and social
pressures resulting from globalization by engaging in subtle protests within in the
maquiladoras, opting to participate in the informal economy, and utilizing community
groups to facilitate social change.
v
VI
CURRICULUM VITAE
NAME OF AUTHOR: Natalie Anne Duke
PLACE OF BIRTH: Eugene, Oregon
DATE OF BIRTH: October 30, 1979
GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED:
University of Oregon, Eugene.
DEGREES AWARDED:
Master of Arts, International Studies, 2009, University of Oregon.
Juris Doctorate, Law, 2009, University of Oregon.
Bachelor of Arts, Spanish Literature, English Literature, 200 I, University
of Oregon.
AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST:
Law and Immigrant Rights.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Harry A. Blackmun Memorial Public Interest Fellow, California Women's Law
Center, May-August 2008.
Peer Reference Assistant, Jaqua Law Library, August 2007-May 2009.
Intern, Lane County Legal Aid and Advocacy Center, March-June 2007.
Law Clerk, Jaqua & Wheatley, LLC, May-September 2006.
Health Education Coordinator, Medical Educator, Interpreter, Six Rivers Planned
Parenthood, July 2002-June 2005.
BEST Grant Cite Coordinator, River RoadlEI Camino del Rio Elementary
School, August 2001-June 2002.
Vll
V111
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to express my deep appreciation to Professors Weiss, Mendoza, and
Gassama for their assistance and support as I wrote this thesis. They have supported me
with continuous encouragement and advice throughout the research and writing process. I
would also like to acknowledge and thank my wonderful family who never ceases to
express the utmost faith in me, whatever I do. And, to the irreplaceable Timothy Lane
Bailey, thank you for your continued support, encouragement, and love (at times tough)
over the past four years.
To the workers of the maquiladoras, and to Jordan Michael Duke, 1983-2006.
IX
Chapter
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
x
I. INTRODUCTION 1
II. HISTORY OF THE ASSEMBLY PLANT INDUSTRY IN MEXICO 5
Mexico's Border Industrialization Program 5
The Maquiladoras.................................................................................................. 9
Gender and Employment 15
III. GLOBALIZATION, NAFTA, AND THE ASSEMBLY INDUSTRy................. 20
Background and Context....................................................................... 20
Globalization......................................................................... 21
NAFTA 24
NAFTA and the Maquiladora Industry.................................................................. 27
NAFTA from Below 29
NAFTA's Disproportionate Impact on Women 35
IV. IN THE WAKE OF NAFTA: MEXICO'S LABOR LAW AND THE
POLITICS OF GLOBALIZATION 38
V. STRATEGIES OF RESISTANCE 47
Introduction............................................................................................................ 47
The Labor of Change: Modes of Resistance in the Assembly Industry 48
Case Studies: Cynthia and Gloria 54
-----------_ .._--- - -------------
Xl
Chapter Page
Dollars and Sense: Women's Participation in the Informal Economy................. 65
Women, Grassroots Efforts, and NGO Formation................................................. 80
Case Study: Ciudad Juarez.............................................................................. 86
For the Future................................................................................................... 93
VI. CONCLUSION..................................................................................................... 96
BIBLIOGRAPHY 99
XlI
LIST OF MAPS
Map Page
1. Map of Mexico.............................................. 11
X111
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1. Maquiladora Distribution by Region: 1990-2000................................................. 11
2. Maquiladora Locations by City: 1990-2000,25 Plants or More 12
3. Total Number of Maquiladoras by Product Group, 1990-2000............................. 13
1CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This thesis is concerned with women and employment in the Northern Mexico
borderlands, particularly the connection between women and the assembly plants, or
maquiladoras. My interest in writing this thesis stemmed from a realization that while
women once constituted the majority ofworkers in the assembly plants along the U.S.­
Mexico border, the gender dynamic has shifted a great deal in the past ten years. As a
result, I sought to understand the reasons for this changing dynamic and discovered that
more men have been seeking jobs in the assembly plants due to a lack of other available
employment and, as a result, women have been exploring alternatives to the work in
assembly plants. This thesis interrogates what has happened to the women workers of the
maquiladoras. In what ways have NAFTA, global economic restructuring, and the
resultant legal atmosphere affected women's daily lives and employment opportunities?
What strategies of resistance have these women developed to contend with the new
economic landscape?
In narrowing the scope of this thesis, I focus on two main elements: i) the
economic and systemic elements of the maquiladoras, including: the history of the
maquiladora industry, gender dynamics within the industry, Mexico's labor laws, and the
changes perpetuated by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and
globalization; and ii) modes of resistance that women employ to survive in the difficult
2economic conditions created by the presence of the maquiladoras, including: workplace
resistance, participation in the informal economy, and the formation of community-based
organizations and NGOs (non-governmental organizations). I argue that women are
adapting by moving away from the U.S.-Mexico border to work in garment industries
and resisting the economic and social pressures resulting from globalization by engaging
in subtle protests within the maquiladoras, opting to participate in the informal economy,
and utilizing community groups to facilitate social change.
In Chapter II, I provide a historical analysis of the assembly plant industry in the
U.S.-Mexico borderlands. This analysis extends back to the end of the U.S. bracero
program, examines industrialization patterns, and turns to look specifically at the
assembly plant industry in Mexico. Towards the end of the chapter, I shift to examine the
data surrounding gender dynamics in particular maquiladora industries. In Chapter III, I
turn to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the impact of the
agreement in the assembly plants. I examine NAFTA and, more generally, globalization
from the perspective of policy-makers and economists, and from the perspective of
workers, who experience the effects ofNAFTA on a much more personal level than do
policy-makers. Chapter IV is concerned with the labor laws that govern workplace labor
relations in Mexico, and the systematic challenges that largely prevent the formation of
legitimate unions. It continues to examine border politics and the effects of globalization
post-NAFTA.
Chapter V shifts direction from the challenges present in the maquiladora industry
and offers an analysis of the ways in which women are responding to the difficulties they
3have encountered post-NAFTA. I focus on women who work in the maquiladoras, or
who would likely work in the maquiladoras, but no longer find employment there due to
displacement. I have divided this chapter into t'lree sections. The first section looks at
the ways in which women have resisted the dominant forces in the employment
environment through subtle, and at times not so subtle, strategies of resistance. This
section provides examples of women working on the assembly line, and two cases studies
of women who confronted the status-quo as related to cultural expectations and
management structure.
The second section focuses on women who are likely candidates to work in the
maquiladoras, but participate in the informal economy instead. These women express
various reasons for their participation in the informal economy, but most experience a
sense of empowerment stemming from control over household resources. Additionally,
women utilize creative strategies to engage in employment that fits their home-life,
family needs, and personal aspirations.
Lastly, in the third section, I examine the history of women's grassroots
organizing efforts and NGO formation in Northern Mexico. I look at the ways in which
women have been able to find solidarity through organizing and to implement strategies
born out of women's groups, both in the maquiladora environments and more broadly.
A final note before the analysis begins: this thesis is inspired by the women who
perform the difficult work required ofthem to survive. Since I live in the United States,
and have worked with women who have migrated from Mexico in a variety of settings, I
have both personal experiences that tie me to this topic, and also the stories of women
4who I have met over the years. The women who have shared their stories are the
motivating force behind this thesis. Here, I want to point out two details. First, these
maquiladora workers are making things that we, in the United States, consume on a
regular basis, often without thinking about their location of origin. Check the label on
your jeans, see if you can even find a label on the parts in your car, chances are they may
have been made in Mexico (or Asia). The leather on your steering wheel? Workers have
been fighting labor conditions in a plant that manufactures that piece for quite some time.
I say this to draw a connection-even though we may not know these workers on a
personalleve1, we interact with them constantly. Only, that interaction is taking place on
an economic level where goods are free to travel across borders, but workers are not.
The second detail I want to emphasize is that I have chosen to structure my thesis
in the way I have because I want to make sure that readers understand one thing: these
women are survivors. Although many of the people in this thesis have difficult lives,
they have chosen to employ greatly creative and adaptive strategies of self­
empowerment. Sometimes they had no other choice. I want to focus on these examples
of self-empowerment, and, as a result, they make up the bulk of this thesis. Choosing to
resist is powerful, and sometimes, revolutionary.
5CHAPTER II
HISTORY OF THE ASSEMBLY PLANT INDUSTRY IN MEXICO
Mexico's Border Industrialization Program
During the first part ofthe twentieth century, many third world countries shaped
their economic policies around import-substituting industrialization (lSI). The theory
behind lSI is that countries could reduce their foreign dependency through local
production of goods in order to increase exports. l However, "[a]s a development strategy
lSI tended to be self-limiting ... Not only was much of the technology purchased abroad,
but much of the capital to finance the industrial projects was borrowed from foreign
lenders.,,2 The heavy loans that resulted from this practice led to debt crises for many
Latin American countries. In addition, lSI facilitated increased rates of unemployment
"by displacing traditional producers, whose handmade goods could not compete with
cheaper, mass-produced items.,,3
In the face of rapidly expanding global markets, leaders of developing countries
throughout the world began to explore new strategies. One of the resulting strategies was
1 SUSAN TIANO, PATRIARCHY ON THE LINE: LABOR, GENDER, AND IDEOLOGY IN THE
MEXICAN MAQUILA INDUSTRY 13 (1994).
2 Id
6the development of export processing zones (EPZs). EPZs were designed to attract
foreign corporations by providing them with tariff-free zones in which to locate assembly
factories, along with a cheap source of manual labor. Firms also receive such incentives
as tax breaks, cheap electricity, and physical infrastructure.4 "By the late 1980s, EPZs
existed in over fifty Third World nations."s
With the growth ofEPZs throughout the world also came a corresponding trend
of restructuring the labor environment itse1fwith the goal of increasing productivity. The
prevailing theory restructured the production process into "discrete tasks assigned to
different segments of the work force,,,6 or the production line, which was designed to
increase efficiency and diminish the skill required for each position, thus making workers
interchangeable. This economic shift resulted in the automated assembly line,
standardization of production, and an unprecedented scale of manufacturing throughout
the world.7
During the 1950s and 1960s, foreign investors implemented the modem
production line throughout Asia as many developed countries looked to maximize on the
economic profit that resulted from the low cost oflabor. Several years later, in 1965,
"Mexico entered the export-processing arena ... when its Border Industrialization
Program (BIP) created an EPZ within the 12.5 mile strip along the U.S.-Mexico border in
4 ld. at 13-14.
S ld. at 14.
6 ld.
7 ld.
order to offer U.S.-based TNCs a cost-effective alternative to Asian investment sites."s
The Mexican government saw the Brp as a solution to the various economic and social
problems plaguing the border region at the time. The Mexican government wanted to
bring the border economy up to speed because it had traditionally lagged behind other
industrial centers throughout Mexico. The border region was geographically situated in
the perfect location to lure U.S. companies, thus, policy-makers viewed the Brp as the
method by which to foster economic growth. Additionally, the Mexican government
intended to alleviate the high level of unemployment along the border zone through the
development of the Brp.
Mexican border regions experienced particularly acute unemployment in 1964
when the Bracero program terminated abruptly. Previously, this program allowed
Mexicans to enter the United States legally to work as guest workers, predominantly in
the agricultural industries. When the program ended, approximately two hundred
thousand Mexican workers were immediately and abruptly displaced. Many of the
workers relocated in the border cities.9 The Mexican government viewed the
establishment of an EPZ as a way to provide the displaced workers with much needed
jobs.
The Brp proved attractive to U.S. companies. However, before U.S. companies
began moving abroad, they first experimented with geographic relocation within the
United States. Companies created factories in the South and Southwest, where the work
S Id at 18.
9 Id at 19.
7
8force was generally not organized in unions and wages were lower as a result. The
resulting savings prompted companies to expand overseas in search of even larger
savings. 10 "By the 1970s, international assembly had become a favored strategy of U.S.
corporations seeking to stem the tide of growing international competition for domestic
and international markets.,,11 The development of the Mexican EPZ coincided with a
willingness on the part of U.S. companies to relocate production overseas.
The Mexican EPZ provided many advantages for American companies, but the
most important was the proximity between Mexico and the United States. The distance
between the United States and Asia made logistical issues such as transporting materials,
components, and technology to Asia, and the finished product back to the United States, a
logistical nightmare. As a result, Asian countries were encouraging U.S. companies to
use Asian materials in production and the U.S. companies were looking for an alternative.
The Mexican BIP attracted U.S. companies with incentives such as: allowing for a
simplified process of shipping U.S. equipment, materials and components between the
U.S. and Mexico, reduction of costs, and close proximity to the Mexican workforce. As
in Asia, the Mexican system was designed to allow companies to build factories without
having to pay import tariffs; the materials, technology, and equipment would be supplied
by the United States, Mexican workers would assemble the parts into a product, and then
the fmished product would return to the United States and be sold to U.S. consumers. 12
10 I d.
11 dJ, . at 15.
12 I d. at 14.
9The Maquiladoras
The Mexican factories have come to be known as "Maquiladoras," or "Maquilas,"
reflecting the exchange of labor on the part of the Mexican people for a finished product.
In colonial times, the Maquila was represented the flour that the miller kept after grinding
corn. In this scenario, Mexico plays the miller, keeping wages and production costs,
while the finished products are returned to the U.S.; "[t]he maquila program was
specifically deigned to make foreign investment easy and painless, particularly for U.S.
companies."13
The maquila industry experienced a great deal of growth and expanded from the
border region throughout Mexico. 14 Over the years, Mexico "has been one of the most
important locations for facilities that manufacture for export (maquiladoras).,,15
Generally, the BIP "experienced sustained growth as measured by the number of plants
and employees," however, in recent years there has been a decline, especially along the
border. 16 South attributes the current industry decline to NAFTA, implemented in
1994. 17 However, a recent report by the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, Geografia e
13 LESLIE SKLAIR, ASSEMBLING FOR DEVELOPMENT: THE MAQUILA INDUSTRY IN MEXICO
AND THE UNITED STATES 10 (1989).
14 TIANO, supra note 1, at 19.
15 Robert B. South, Spatial Variations in Mexican Maquiladora Closure, 27 URB.
GEOGRAPHY 734, 734 (2006).
16 See id. at 735; Susan Fleck, A Gender Perspective on Maquila Employment and Wages
in Mexico, in THE ECONOMICS OF GENDER IN MEXICO: WORK, FAMILY, STATE, AND
MARKET (Elizabeth G. Katz & Maria C. Correia eds., 2001).
17 South, supra note 15, at 736.
10
Infonmitica (INBGI), Mexico's national statistical agency, does not demonstrate drastic
levels of decline in the maquila industry. Notably, the agency did change their methods
of collecting and displaying research since the maquiladora industry officially ended in
2001 "as tariffs on manufactured goods between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada were
eliminated under NAFTA.,,18 After the implementation ofNAFTA, Mexico applies
"maquila-type tax incentives to all U.S. and Canadian imports and exports, and
maquildora plants [are] more like other Mexican manufacturing industries.,,19 As a
result, the scheme of data analyzed by South in his article ends in 2000, and I have not
found a comparable set of data for the post-2000 years. Accordingly, I utilize the INEGI
data presented in South's article to contextualize the maquila industry by region and
industry type. In this way, I hope to paint a picture of the environment where the
individuals who are the true focus of this paper work and reside.
Close to two thirds of Mexico's maquiladoras are located along the U.S.-Mexico
border. This is attributable to the early development of the BIP discussed above. Table 1
below details the percentage of plants along the border versus those located in the interior
of Mexico between 1990 and 2000. Table 2 details the locations of the maqiladoras by
state and city. Map 1 shows the Mexican states with symbols noting areas with high
numbers of maquiladoras.
18Id.
19 Fleck, supra note 16, at 136.
11
1990 2000b R'1 dT b1 1 Ma e aqUl a ora lstn utlOn )y eglOn: -
Number ofMaqui1as Percent of Total
Total Maquiladoras 5,540 100.0
Border 3,212 57.9
Interior 2,328 42.0 ,
U.S. 2,577 46.5
Mexican 2,391 43.1
"Other foreign" and 376 6.8
joint venture
Adapted from South 2006, supra note 15, Table 1.
Map 1: Map of Mexico
CUBA
.Cancun
.", ~ '.'
.,1 "
UNITED STATES
Nuevo ../
larodo
Torre6n •
• Monterrey ;,Matamoros
."'.,Salina
Cruz
.~zatll'in San luis
• Potosi .AllamiraAgu~hentes. • . .'Tampico
Puerto leon,
VaJlarta. • • Queretaro
Guadalajara MEXICO .
Morelia· • * Pue~a .Veracruz
ManzaniJlo· Toluca ~,n p~"';
de Ot'JT~,ba
.Oaxaca
.jopolObampo
, '\ .Culiacan
'.La PaZ""
4la'
C"~1vpe
Morro
Redondo
o 200 400 11m
I
o 200 400".
Source: CIA Worldbook, Map of Mexico, 3 November, 2008, available at
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/At1as_oCMexico.
12
M1990 2000 25 PIb C'T b1 2 M 'I d La e aqm a ora ocatlons ,y Ity: - , ants or ore
State City Number of Plants
Pueb1a Tehuacan j 57
Nuevo Leon Apodaca 59
Pueb1a Pueb1a : 28
Sonora Agua Prieta 42
Jalisco Zapopan ... . 28
Aguascalientes Aguasca1ientes 88
Sonora Nogales 157
Yucatan Merida 103
Sonora Hermosillo 79
Baja Calif. Norte Ensenada 126
Durango Lerdo 20 j
Coahuila Torreon 107
Baja Calif, Norte Tecate· 196
Baja Calif. Norte Tijuana 1,174
Tamaulipas Reynosa 185
Coahuila Acuna 91
Sonora San Luis Rio Colorado 61
Baja Calif. Norte Mexicali 317
Guanajuato Irapuato 32
Tamaulipas Matamoros 203
Chihuahua Juarez, El 517
Coahuila Saltillo 40
Guanajuato Uon j 42
Tamaulipas Nuevo Laredo 99
Nuevo Leon Guadalupe 41
Durango Gomez Plalacio 138
Chihuahua Chihuahua 154
Coahuila Piedras Negras 81
Tamaulipas Rio Bravo 26
Tamaulipas Valle Hermoso 30
Jalisco Guadalajara 73
Nuevo Leon Monterrey 47
Queretaro San Juan del RIO
Adapted from South 2006, supra note 15, Table 2. (Locations in bold are situated along
the U.S.-Mexico border.)
13
Machinery, electrical,
and electronic
Electrical and
electronic accessories
Chemical Products
Services
Transportation
~~9}lipIllell!""~~" ...
~ppa!elltextiles
Other
Tools and equip
non~electrical
Toys and sportin""
e ui ment
Food
Wood and metal
roducts
Leather
roducts/shoes
The two largest industries reflected in the chart above are the electronics industry
and the apparel industry. Although these industries both comprise a similar percentage of
the maquilas and corresponding workforce, they have developed in very different ways
over time. The highly technical nature of the electronics industry limits the participation
to multi-national corporations while the "low levels of capital investment and
technological sophistication needed for apparel assembly enable small, domestically
14
owned shops to operate under subcontract with one or more firms.,,20 The difference
extends to the physical space of the maquilas. The electronics firms located in Mexico
tend to be "large, modem enterprises located in industrial parks. They are often housed
in spacious, recently constructed buildings with adequate lighting, up-to-date heating and
air-conditioning systems, comfortable cafeterias, and modem audio systems for piping in
background music.,,21 The working space is segmented by task, the work is repetitive,
and the pace is controlled by the pace of the machinery. The skills in one particular firm
may be different from the skills required at another firm, and are thus not necessarily
transferable.
In contrast to the electronics industry, apparel firms span the wide spectrum of
formal to informal. Many of these firms are domestically owned operating under
subcontracting agreements, either with a specific manufacturer, or changing over time.
As a result, the industry experiences a degree of instability: "Although ... minimal start­
up costs facilitate the ease of entry into the industry for companies that may otherwise not
possess the financial backing, they also offer these firms little financial cushion when
contracts are unavailable or business is slow.,,22 Additionally, working conditions also
vary from state of the art facilities to sweatshop like conditions with out-dated
technology.23
20 TIANO, supra note 1, at 26.
21 Id.
22 Id. at 27.
23Id.
15
Gender and Employment
The gendered dynamics of the maquila workforce are intricately related to type of
industry, and have shifted over time. For many years, the maquila workforce was
predominantly female, although this trend has shifted in recent years.24 Globally,
women have been a characteristic part of the labor force in areas with export-led growth
strategies:
On the one hand, economic need and family responsibility push women
into the labor force. On the other hand, possibilities of increased
autonomy and bargaining position in the household, greater employment
opportunities, and access to wage and non-wage benefits attract women to
the labor force, outweighing costs of transportation, childcare, and other
opportunity costS.25
Many women choose to enter the workforce, weighing an exchange between working for
money at a maquila and working as a mother, daughter, sister, or primary caregiver. "In
the early decades of the maquiladora program women comprised up to ninety percent of
the total labor force and were concentrated in electronics, clothing, shrimp and other food
processing, toy making, and coupon-sorting.,,26 Historically, men were preferred in
"making transportation equipment, leather and synthetic goods; wood and metal
furniture; photographic, sporting, and paper goods.,,27 However, in areas where "labor
was the major manufacturing cost, women workers predominated. Clothing and
24 Fleck, supra note 16, at 133.
25 I d.
26 NAFTA FROM BELOW 5 (Martha A. Ojeda & Rosemary Hennesy eds., 2006).
27 I d.
16
electronics, still the largest industries, are the sectors where women's employment
remains concentrated.,,28
While a large number of women are still employed in the maquilas, firms are
increasingly hiring men. In fact, "[i]n some border areas today, married men now
represent a majority of maquila workers.,,29 In fact, "women's share of production-
worker employment in all maquiladora plants has fallen steadily from 77 percent in 1980
to 57 percent in 1998, even as overall employment opportunities in maquiladora plants
mushroomed.,,30 Fleck suggests that the shift in gendered employment is a result of the
changing firm characteristics; larger, multinational firms now dominate the maquila
market. These employers are largely responsible for the shift towards a more male-
dominated workforce:
First, employers perceive a reduced militancy of male workers. Second,
there has been a growth in the presence of multinational firms and a shift
in the perception of employers of the ideal worker from young single
women to responsible family men and women. Third, industries that
traditionally had a greater share of men have been expanding. Fourth, the
skewed female-male employment ration has decreased over time in all
industries.31
Interestingly, the predominant factors that the author identifies are determined by
the transnational management of the corporations. The perceptions of gender that the
28 I d.
29 Fleck, supra note 16, at 133.
30 I d. at 145.
31 I d. at 144-45.
17
business owners and managers hold have a direct impact on the Mexican workforce, and
particularly, on women.
Ojeda also contributes the shift in labor demographics to the increased demand for
cheap labor in the 1980s; women could not meet the demand, as a result, men were hired
to fill the gap.32 However, while there is evidence that women were becoming less docile
workers during the 1980s, the "profile of 'feminine' expectations still defined the
preferred worker.,,33 The female profile was adapted so that it could be applied to both
men and women. The chief characteristics of the female subject include: dexterity,
docility, tolerance, and willing to accept low pay.34 Additionally, plants will go to great
lengths to avoid hiring female employees (even providing birth control on-the-job)
because ofMexico's mandatory ninety-day pregnancy leave.35
The trends of female participation in the maquila industry also correlate with the
type of industry, wages paid, and the location of the maquila. Fleck explains:
Hourly earnings are lowest in food and apparel, both majority female
industries. The best-paid workers are in the majority male industries of
machines and tool assembly, and in the transportation equipment industry,
which-while it has a smaller-than-average share of female
employment-has both the largest plant size of all industries and the
majority of its production along the border.36
32 NAFTA FROM BELOW, supra note 26, at 5.
33 I d.
34 Id.
35 I d. at 5-6.
36 Fleck, supra note 16, at 135.
18
According to Fleck's data, women are predominantly engaged in the industries that pay
the least, while men obtain the jobs that are higher paying. The predominantly male
industries of tool assembly and transportation equipment tend to be located along the
U.S.-Mexico border. As a result, "[t]he history of migration to the border has shaped the
population of maquiladora workers.,,37 In the past, many workers seeking employment in
the border zone migrated from nearby states, however that pattern is shifting.38 "Now,
there is increasing migration north from rural areas farther south as indigenous farmers
and campesinos displaced from their lands head to northern cities for work.,,39
Additionally, because the female-dominated industry of textiles has in large part moved
towards the interior of Mexico, women are more likely to seek work in central Mexico,
rather than along the border with the ultimate goal of immigrating to the United States.40
The displacement of female maquiladora workers by male workers is a central
theme in this thesis. As these women are being displaces, how are they adapting? How
are they surviving and providing for their families? How does the gender demographic in
the maquiladoras correspond to patterns of migration associated with globalization,
especially with respect to indigenous people? In order to respond to these central
questions, I first tum to examine the role ofNAFTA, globalization, labor law, and border
politics in changing the patterns of employment within the maquiladoras. I then look at
37 NAFTA FROM BELOW, supra note 26, at 6.
38 I d.
39 I d.
40 The diverging patterns of immigration between men and women are intriguing
especially in light of the recent violence along northern Mexico's border region.
------------------~~~----~-----~~-
the adaptive strategies which women have employed in the face of changing economic
dynamics in northem Mexico.
19
20
CHAPTER III
GLOBALIZATION, NAFTA, AND THE ASSEMBLY INDUSTRY
Background and Context
In order to investigate the changes in the maquiladora industry in recent years,
and the corresponding effect in the lives of women, I begin with a discussion of
NAFTA,41 The discussion ofNAFTA is essential to this paper because of its effects on
trade, industry, foreign investment in Mexico, and labor throughout Mexico. Although
the agreement includes the United States, Canada, and Mexico as parties, the most
profound impact of the agreement is felt in Mexico. As I discuss, NAFTA's impact
varies a great deal depending on whether one examines the agreement from the
perspective of policy-makers, economists, and government officials, or through the
perspective of a laborer. In this section, I situate NAFTA within the phenomenon of
globalization, explain the purpose of NAFTA as intended by policy makers, examine
NAFTA's impact on the maquiladora industry, discuss NAFTA's relationship to the
shifting gender demographics within the maquiladora industry, and introduce the ways in
which NAFTA has impacted the labor movement within Mexico.
41 North American Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA], U.S.-Can.-Mex., Dec, 17, 1992,32
I.L.M. 289 (1993) (codified at 19 U.S.C. §3301 (2009)).
21
Globalization
The implementation ofNAFTA in 1994 corresponds with a larger trend of reducing
"trade barriers through multilateral negotiations.,,42 The General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade (GATT), originally established in 1947, was renamed, and, arguably,
restructured, into the present-day entity, the World Trade Organization.43 Unlike GATT,
the WTO requires that members "accept all of its rules unconditionally" and "does not
offer its members the option to chose which of its rules to enforce.,,44
Additionally, "the rules extend far beyond tariffs and nontariffbarriers to include
intellectual property rights, investment, and other trade-related matters. WTO has a
dispute settlement system and operates on a global scale.,,45 Critics have pointed out that
the WTO, as an institutionalization of the principles of globalization, does not "address
problems of workers' rights" and does not provide equal representation: "poor counties
may suffer severe underrepresentation with no more than one delegate, whereas rich
countries not only have delegates, but also have busloads of lawyers, advisors, and other
professional staff.,,46
42 BARBARA P. THOMAS-SLAYTER, SOUTHERN EXPOSURE: INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT AND THE GLOBAL SOUTH IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY 155 (2003).
43 I d.
44 I d.
45 I d.
46 d], . at 156.
22
The problem is compounded as the WTO does not allow southern countries the
leeway needed to diversify economically. As a result, participation in the WTO may
negatively impact domestic industries.47 For example, membership in the WTO has
negatively impacted subsistence farmers in many southern countries:
WTO trade liberalization rules have been applied in a manner that,
amongst other things, has required developing countries to eliminate
subsidies that support local producers of food crops, while northern
countries continue to subsidize their producers. This has led women's
organizations and others to criticize the WTO for enforcing a "one-sided
and unequal globalization.,,48
Instead of allowing community members such as farmers a voice in the globalized
economy, the WTO tenets of globalization focus the locus ofpower on the multinational
corporation. In today's technological and economic climate, multinational corporations
control production across country lines, largely ignoring the realities faced by people on
the ground in those countries. The end result:
Most trade ... is controlled by a few hundred giant corporations that are
larger economically than most nations. The growth of transnational
corporate investments and the steady dispersal of the elements of production
across many nations has transformed the system of trade so that much of it
is generated within the multinational companies themselves, exporting and
importing among their own foreign-based subsidiaries. 49
The system of globalization perpetuated by the WTO and, as described below, NAFTA,
further disadvantages marginalized communities and concentrates wealth in the hands of
47 I d.
48 AMNESTY INT'L, BUSINESS AS USUAL: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN THE GLOBALIZED
ECONOMY OF THE AMERICAS 5 (May 2006), available at
http://www.amnesty.ca/archives/resources/business_as_usual/business_as_usual
Jeport.pdf.
49 THOMAS-SLAYTER, supra note 42, at 158.
23
the already rich. In a system where the market is supposed to regulate problems, costs
that are not readily measured in financial terms are largely ignored.
An Amnesty International Report entitled Violence Against Women in the
Globalized Economy ofthe Americas summarizes the effects of globalization as follows:
[Globalization] has ... come to be closely associated with a variety of
specific trends and policies, including an increasing reliance upon the free
market, a significant growth in the influence of international financial
markets and institutions in determining the viability of national policy
priorities, a diminution in the role of the State and the size of its budget,
the privatization of various functions previously considered to be the
exclusive domain of the State, the deregulation of a range of activities
with a view to facilitating investment and rewarding individual initiative,
and a corresponding increase in the role and even responsibilities
attributed to private actors, both in the corporate sector, in particular to the
transnational corporations, and in civil society.50
In the context of globalization, economic power rests largely in the multinational
corporation at the expense of the state, local communities, and especially vulnerable
populations such as the poor and women.51
50 AMNESTY INT'L, supra note 48, at 5.
51 Joseph Stiglitz, former economist of the World Bank, addresses these and other failures
of globalization and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in his book Globalization
and Its Discontents:
I believe that globalization-the removal of barriers to free trade and the
closer integration of national economies-can be a force for good and that
it has the potential to emich everyone in the world, particularly the poor.
But I also believe that if this is to be the case, the way globalization has
been managed, including the international trade agreements that have
played such a large role in removing those barriers and the policies that
have been imposed on developing countries in the process of
globalization, need to be radically rethought.
JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ, GLOBALIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS x (2003).
"Stiglitz condemned NAFTA as a failure. He pointed to the empty promise to narrow the
wage disparity. Instead, real wages have declined in Mexico at the rate of.2 percent per
year." NAFTA FROM BELOW, supra note 26, at 9.
24
NAFTA
NAFTA is an agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico that was
enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1993. NAFTA "allows for the freer movement of goods,
services, and investment-but not people" among the three countries.52 More
specifically:
NAFTA covers goods and services produced in the United States, Canada,
and Mexico that must be assembled partly or entirely from North
American components in order to qualify for tariff-free treatment. The
nationality of a factory's owner is not at issue. . .. NAFTA phases out
tariffs over a five- to fifteen-year period. It dismantles Mexico's virtual
ban on American banks and allows American securities firms into the
Mexican market. (Mexican banks were already allowed to buy American
banks.) Mexico is able to retain its ban on foreign ownership of oil and
natural gas reserves, but American drilling companies would be allowed to
share in some of the profits from striking oil in Mexico.53
NAFTA essentially expanded the tariff-free zone that formerly existed only in Northern
Mexico to include the entire country. Policy makers conceptualized the agreement as a
way to incentivize foreign investment in Mexico and as a way for American and
Canadian companies to spend less money in the production process by taking advantage
of the relatively cheap labor in Mexico.
Authors Raqual R. Marquez and Harriett D. Romo explore the corresponding
economic and social impacts ofNAFTA in their book, Transformations ofLa Familia on
52 STIGLITZ, supra note 51, at 4.
53 THOMAS-SLAYTER, supra note 42, at 170
25
the US.-Mexico Border. Marquez and Romo first explore NAFTA from an economic
perspective54 before engaging in a critique of the agreement:
The North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, signed by
Mexico, the United States, and Canada and approved by the U.S. Congress
in 1993, represented a dramatic change in U.S.-Mexico relations.
Incorporating Mexico into an international "bloc" with its dominant
northern neighbor and once hostile enemy, the agreement stimulated
employment growth and increased foreign exports, especially along the
northern frontier of Mexico that borders the United States. Thus, NAFTA
created an economic community, in terms of geography and
demographics, that is much larger than the European Union or the Pacific
Rim.... Guillermo Gomez-Pena notes that this agreement is "based on
the arrogant fallacy that 'the market' will solve any and all problems, and
it avoids the most basic social, labor, environmental, and cultural
responsibilities that are actually [at] the core of any relationship between
the three countries.,,55
While NAFTA did not significantly impact problems associated with poverty, especially
in Mexico's southern states, the agreement did bring about dramatic economic changes
and internal modernization. Data show that the results ofNAFTA include the
liberalization and growth of the Mexican economy, more foreign investments in Mexico,
and employment growth especially within the northern Mexican border states.
NAFTA did allow for growth of the Mexican economy by formalizing the tariff
relief that foreign plant owners have enjoyed since the commencement of the BIP.
54 Here, the term economic perspective refers specifically to a formal vision of
economics, as one educated in western economic theory may hold. Here, I am not
referring to the economic perspectives of the laborers who experience the effects of
NAFTA in a way that contrasts sharply with the experience of business owners, formally
trained economists, government officials, and policy-makers. I will take up this issue at
the end of the chapter.
55 TRANSFORMATIONS OF LA FAMILIA ON THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER 7 (Raquel R.
Marquez & Harriett D. Romo eds., 2008).
,
I
26
Additionally, NAFTA erased the regional limitations associated with the Border
Industrialization Zone; companies are now free to set up shop throughout Mexico
(however, the northern region still proves to be attractive to many U.S. corporations due
to its proximity to the United States). The raw goods or components are still brought in
from the United States and assembled in Mexico.
As expressed in the quote above, from a purely statistical standpoint, NAFTA has
fostered growth in the Mexican economy and increased foreign investments in the
Mexican economy.56 The authors also refer to the notion that the market would take care
of any problems resulting from the agreement. This notion is at the very base ofwestern
economic systems. As we shall see later in this section, the market has failed to resolve
issues surrounding labor policy, migration and immigration, and economic stability, all of
which are felt most acutely by the people who find (or found) employment in the very
assembly plants which NAFTA has encouraged to settle in Mexico.
56 A report from the World Bank evaluating NAFTA explains:
The research suggests ... that Mexico's global exports would have been
about 50 percent lower and foreign direct investment (FDI) would have
been about 40 percent less without NAFTA. Also, the amount of time
required for Mexican manufacturers to adopt U.S. technological
innovations was cut in half. Trade can probably take some credit for
moderate declines in poverty, and has likely had positive impacts on the
number and quality ofjobs. During 1994-2002 our estimates suggest that
NAFTA made Mexico richer than it would have been without the
agreement by about 4 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) per
capita.
DANIEL LEDERMAN ET AL., LESSONS FROM NAFTA FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN 2 (2005).
However, the report continues to conclude that the increase in technological progress in
Mexico spurred by NAFTA is not enough to allow Mexico to match the technological
achievements of the United States. Id. at 247.
27
NAFTA and the Maquliadora Industry
When NAFTA passed in 1994, it allowed "for multinational and transnational
corporations to extend their factories from the maquiladoras on Mexico's northern border
to the entire country where they continue to thrive on tax breaks and an abundance of
cheap labor.,,57 Most of the maquiladoras in Mexico are "subsidiaries of US companies"
who have located assembly factories in Mexico.58 Currently,
[t]here are almost 3,000 maquiladoras in Mexico and over one million
men and women work there. Most live in the colonias or shanty towns
that surround the factories where they earn poverty wages working on the
assembly lines of profitable multinational corporations. Most workers are
between the ages of 16 and 25, and the majority of unskilled workers are
women.
59
Of note in this passage is the number of workers who labor in the maquiladoras. Over
one million men and women are employed. In general, employees of the maquiladoras
do not enjoy a high standard of living, and this has not changed since the enactment of
NAFTA. Additionally, women employed in the maquiladoras tend to hold the jobs
requiring the least "skill," yet these same jobs are also extremely physically demanding.
Ever since the Border Industrial Zone was created, the maquiladora sector has
been impacted by the rise and fall of the u.s. economy. Since the enactment ofNAFTA
in 1994, the relationship between the two economies has grown even stronger. As a
result, during the U.S. recession in 2000, "many maquiladoras in some northern cities
57 NAFTA FROM BELOW, supra note 26, at x.
58 Id.
59 Td .
11 • at X-Xl.
28
(Cd. Juarez, Piedras Negras, Torreon) closed, moving south or to China in search of
cheaper sources oflabor. In other northem cities (Reynosa, Laredo, Tijuana), however,
new maquilas began arriving to take advantage of Mexico's location and skilled labor
force.,,60 There is a push and pull between the U.S. economy and the maquiladoras.
Some multinational companies are not able to produce goods cheaply enough for their
plants in Mexico to survive a U.S. recession while other companies find more incentive
to take advantage of Mexico's labor pool during recession times.61
With respect to the overall status of the economy post-NAFTA, one author writes:
The integration of Mexico with its North American neighbors ... under
NAFTA resulted in a sharp increase in trade among the three member
countries. Mexico increased its manufacturing exports significantly, but
to a large extent these exports entailed a relatively low value added based
on assembly activity or maquilas. Accordingly the high percentage of
manufacturing exports needs to be viewed with caution.62
These words of caution wam analysts not to jump to the conclusion that NAFTA is
responsible for a net economic gain. The lack of specificity in the data from INEGI (see
6° Id at xi.
61 I should mention the extreme contention that accompanies U.S. debate on outsourcing
labor. In the current economic climate, unemployment in the U.S. is approaching rates
unparalleled since the 1930s. In tum, this situation fuels the argument that U.S. jobs
should not be "shipped overseas," but instead kept in the U.S. to provide more
employment opportunities for American workers.
62 Claudio M. Loser Loser, The Macroeconomic Environment ojCompetetiveness, in
CAN LATIN AMERICA COMPETE? CONFRONTING THE CHALLENGES OF GLOBALIZATION 27,
40 (Jerry Haar & John Price eds., 2008).
29
Chapter I) suggests that the Mexican government is not to eager to make particular
conclusions with regard to production throughout the country.63
NAFTAfrom Below
The title NAFTA from below comes from a book produced by the Coalition for
Justice in the Maquiladoras located in San Antonio, Texas.64 This title points succinctly
to the idea that the workers are the ones who bear the brunt of the trade agreement that
may be characterized as economically beneficial. In this section, I seek to examine the
ways in which NAFTA has changed the lives of workers, particularly female workers, by
looking at the specifics of the work environment and labor issues on a personal level. By
including this section, I want to alert the reader to a) the effects that large scale policy
decisions in general may have on individuals; b) to the daily lives of the workers who
assemble goods so that we, in the United States, may take advantage of cheaper prices as
we consume those goods; and c) the relationship between NAFTA and labor law and
policy in Mexico.
63 A recent New York Times article looks at the impact ofNAFTA, fifteen years after its
implementation. See Elisabeth Malkin, Nafta's Promise, Unfulfilled, NY TIMES, Mar. 23,
2009, available at
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/business/worIdbusiness/24peso.html?pagewanted=1
&J=l&emc=etal ("In some cases, Nafta produced results that were exactly the opposite
of what was promised. For instance, domestic industries were dismantled as
multinationals imported parts from their own suppliers. Local farmers were priced out of
the market by food imported tariff-free. Many Mexican farmers simply abandoned their
land and headed north. Although one-quarter of Mexicans live in the countryside, they
account for 44 percent ofthe migrants to the United States.").
64 NAFTA FROM BELOW, supra note 26.
30
While NAFTA does address trade between the three countries, we must also
acknowledge what it does not address: immigration reform, macroeconomic stability,
labor issues, or security issues on the U.S.-Mexico border, among other things. Although
immigration reform and border security are beyond the scope of this thesis, I return to a
brief discussion of migration patterns in the conclusion.
In spite of the World Bank's assertion that Mexico experienced economic
productivity and growth as a result ofNAFTA, the Coalition contends that NAFTA has
"worsened the distribution of wealth and income" in all three member countries.65 The
Coalition continues to explain: "While Mexican exports have increased over 300 percent
since NAFTA, surpassing over a trillion dollars, these exports were mainly manufactured
goods to the US. But foreign sales did not translate into growth in the Mexican
economy.,,66 In fact, "former deputy director of Mexico's Ministry of Finance, Carlos
Heredia, said when research groups refer to the benefits ofNAFTA they allude to the
gains made by US multinationals.,,67
65Id. at 8. In this section, I focus my discussion on NAFTA's effects on the Mexican
economy. However, "[cJonservative estimates are that about 500,000 US workers lost
their jobs due to NAFTA, many in the apparel industry." Id. at 9. While the loss of U.S.
jobs seems significant, the corollary losses-ofjobs, wages, and farmland-in Mexico
are disproportionately higher.
66 I d. at 8.
67 I d.
31
While a superficial glance may indicate an increase in Mexico's export economy
as a result ofNAFTA, the reality is that "nearly all components of those exported goods
are imported," generally from the United States.68 Further:
A large portion of the trade surplus with the US is due to assembly of
imported components and intra-firm trade among US companies. Foreign
investment that has flowed into Mexico as a result ofNAFTA also doesn't
translate into productive projects. During these 12 years of NAFA,
exports from the maquiladoras increased, but the maquilas spawned few
local suppliers or markets. Total productive investment has dropped 30
percent since the 1970s. This de-nationalizing of the country's productive
structure is one of the most profound negative effects ofNAFTA.69
The authors indicate that the statistics collected since the implementation ofNAFTA
project a false sense of increased productivity. In reality, as noted above, the total
productive investment has been decreasing since the maquila industry became
widespread in the 1970s.
In addition to the decrease in production of Mexican goods, the agricultural
subsidies brought about by NAFTA resulted in depressed agricultural prices in Mexico.
As a result, many farmers operating small and medium sized farms have been forced to
give up farming and seek employment.7o These farmers are migrating throughout
Mexico and to the United States. Additionally, World Bank figures indicate a rise in
rural poverty as a result of this displacement.7 ! The additional jobs in the manufacturing
68 I d. at 9.
69 I d.
70 I d.
71 I d.
32
sector could not keep pace with the incredible loss ofjobs in the agricultural sectors.72
The jobs that were created did "not provide any of the benefits required by law-social
security, Christmas bonus and vacation.,,73 In comparison to U.S. workers,
Mexican workers earn 75 percent less than their US counterparts....
Between 1994 and 2003, wages in Mexico dropped nine percent and
minimum wages in Mexico lost 20 percent of their purchasing power. It
has been the Mexican government's policy to hold down wages in order to
meet structural adjustment goals and maintain global competiveness.74
This disparity in wages has also widened the gap of income distribution in Mexico. Not
only has the number of households living in poverty been steadily increasing since the
1980s, the number of Mexicans living in dire poverty increased from one in seven before
1994 to one in five in 1996; arguably, this increase corresponds with the implementation
ofNAFTA in 1994.75
72 Although NAFTA made it easier for foreign companies to assemble goods in Mexico,
the reliance on "foreign investment didn't produce a stable economy." DAVID BACON,
THE CHILDREN OF NAFTA: LABOR WARS ON THE U.S.lMEXICO BORDER 45 (2004).
Bacon explains that the loss ofjobs during the first year after the enactment ofNAFTA
was related to the devaluation of the peso prompted by the sale of Mexican government
bonds in late 1994. The value of the peso fell, interest rates climbed, and newly
inaugurated President Zedillo "agreed to a package of reforms mandated by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the price for a $20 billion bailout, organized by
U.S. president Bill Clinton. In stead of producing growth and prosperity, Mexico lost a
million jobs, by the government's count, in 1995, the year afterNAFTA went into
effect." ld. While the IMF bailout provided protections for foreign investors, it failed to
create similar protections for Mexican workers. Id. at 46.
73 NAFTA FROM BELOW, supra note 26, at 9.
74 1d. at 10.
75 Ojeda and Bacon explain:
Income inequality in the US also increased during the decade before NAFTA
and has continued to rise due in part to the growing wage gap between skilled
and unskilled labor. In 1999 the ... Center on Budge and Policy Priorities
33
In light of these negative statistics, one might wonder who has benefitted from
NAFTA. Unsurprisingly, the richest of the rich in Mexico, Canada, and the United States
are the ones who have befitted. "In the US after NAFTA the richest 20 percent of
households increased their share of national income from 40 percent to over 50 percent,
and in Canada since NAFTA the top two percent of households saw their incomes
increase. The incomes of all other sectors in all three countries declined.,,76 "Through
bailout and loan conditions, the U.S. government enforces a low-wage policy on the
Mexican economy, with the Mexican government's active cooperation ....,,77
Additionally, worker's rights have suffered greatly; over twelve years of hearings under
announced that the gap between the rich and poor in the US was the widest
since 1977. NAFTA has contributed to "structural adjustment" in the US in
that the movement of manufacturing jobs to Mexico has widened the income
gap between skilled and unskilled workers. Although incomes are relatively
more equal in Canada than in Mexico or the US, income inequality has
increased since 1989 and trade has had an impact on declining social services.
NAFTA FROM BELOW, supra note 26, at 10.
Over the past two decades, the income of Mexican workers has lost 76 percent
of its purchasing power. Under pressure from foreign lenders, the Mexican
government has ended subsidies for basic necessities, including gasoline,
electricity, bus fares, tortilla, and milk; and prices have risen dramatically.
The government estimates that 40 million people live in poverty, with 25
million in extreme poverty.... The National Union of Workers ... puts
[unemployment] at more than 9 million people, or a quarter of the workforce."
BACON, supra note 72, at 54. Bacon attributes these conditions to IMF structural
readjustment policies. Id at 54.
76 NAFTA FROM BELOW, supra note 26, at 10.
77 BACON, supra note 72, at 50.
34
NAFTA labor provisions, "not one fired worker has been returned to his or her job and
not one independent union has won a contract as a result of the process.,,78
Several recent developments continue to impact the way that NAFTA filters
through Mexican society. First, the U.S. recession in 2000 caused plants to close and led
to increased unemployment along the U.S.-Mexico border.79 Additionally, many plants
have decided to relocate overseas (predominantly to Asian countries) due to the
termination of the Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA) in 2005.s0 The agreement had
previously "protected garment manufacturers from cheap labor competition in Asia"
through import quotas and "preferential pacts.,,81 Now, many garment producers can
compete more readily in the world economy by relocating to Asia where labor is cheaper
and labor laws are less stringent, although one could hardly call the current lack of
enforcement oflabor laws in Mexico "stringent."s2 Nevertheless, "[e]mployers in
Mexico have been citing the MFA as a reason they can't afford unions and have to
move."S3
78 NAFTA FROM BELOW, supra note 26, at 10. Not to mention the vast environmental
degradation that has resulted.
79 I d. at 11.
80 I d.
SlId.
82 I d.
83Id.
35
However, in spite of the 2000 U.S. recession and the changes in the garment
industry brought on by the termination of the MFA, some areas of industry still thrive
along the U.S.-Mexico border. While various electronics and automotive plants move to
Asia, other companies moved from the United States to Mexico (Ford), while still others
returned to Mexico, bolstered by Asian or European capita1.84 Additionally, Asian
companies such as Mazda, Honda, and Toyota, have established plants in Mexico. In
light of the current economic crisis that is plaguing the United States and countries
worldwide, one can expect another wave of change in the maquiladora industry in the
near future.
NAFTA's Disproportionate Impact on Women
A recent Amnesty International Report explains that NAFTA has had a
disproportionate effect on women, particularly indigenous women. In summarizing the
effects ofNAFTA, the report states:
In Mexico, exemptions from taxes and duties attracted maquiladoras­
factories for the assembly of imported component parts into clothing,
electronics and other consumer goods for export-creating thousands of
new jobs for poor, often young women. While these jobs provide
increased autonomy, most women workers continue to live in poverty due
to low pay, few benefits and no job security. Violations oflabour rights
are common, and have included forced overtime, exposure to dangerous
chemicals without proper protective equipment, poor ventilation and other
unsafe working conditions, forced pregnancy tests and sexual harassment.
The right to organize is routinely violated, and women who have
attempted to do so have been fired. Labour rights are not included in the
84 Id. See Chapter IV infra.
36
core text ofNAFTA but dealt with in a side agreement whose provisions
have proved difficult to enforce. 85
In preparing for the implementation ofNAFTA, Mexico removed a "constitutional
guarantee of communal lands for Indigenous peoples.,,86 This change allowed investors
to buy the ejidos which were formally owned and farmed by indigenous populations. In
addition, "production subsidies and loans for small farmers were cut, while tariffs on the
import of agricultural products were removed.,,87
On the same day that NAFTA was enacted, the largely Mayan Emiliano Zapata
Army of National Liberation took brief control of several municipalities in Chiapas.88
The leader of this movement, Subconmandate Marcos, "called NAFTA 'a death
certificate for the Indian peoples of Mexico. ",89 Soldiers from the Mexican army were
sent out to control the uprising and set up many checkpoints in the process. In the wake
of this conflict, many women, both indigenous and non-indigenous "report being the
victims of sexual abuse by unidentified, armed and masked men who attacked them by
85 AMNESTY INT'L, supra note 48, at 7.
86 I d. at 27.
87 I d.
88 I d.
89 I d.
37
the roadside and raped them ....,,90 Women continue to bear the brunt of this conflict,
especially women in Chiapas who suffer disproportionately in the wake ofNAFTA,91
In response to NAFTA, farmers and landowners who are not longer able to make
a living through subsistence farming are migrating within Mexico to find paying jobs. In
large part, the men who were farming land prior to NAFTA now require other sources of
income. As a result, some of these men have found employment in the maquiladora
industry, displacing women who would have otherwise worked there. Still others have
migrated to the United States, leaving women and families behind to adapt. In the
following section, I continue to examine the changes that have taken place since
NAFTA's implementation, and the resulting impact on women and the maquiladora
industry.
90 Id
91 Id at 28.
,---------------_ ..._-----
38
CHAPTER IV
IN THE WAKE OF NAFTA: MEXICO'S LABOR LAW AND THE POLITICS OF
GLOBALIZATION
I begin this section with a discussion of labor laws and worker protections in
Mexico. I continue to examine the connections between Mexico's lack oflabor
protections, NAFTA, and globalization.
Mexico's constitution guarantees relatively progressive labor protections;
however, as actually implemented, the laws lack enforcement and frequently fail to serve
the workers they are supposed to protect. When these labor laws are combined with the
protections guaranteed to employers under NAFTA, workers face a great disadvantage.92
Workers are at the Mexican government's mercy when seeking to form unions, enforce
labor provisions, protest or strike, or engage in virtually any method of grassroots
activism. This holds especially true for female workers who often hold the most
physically demanding jobs on the maquiladora floor, in spite of the perception that the
jobs on the line are not physically demanding because the workers are sitting while
92 It is important to note that Mexico is not alone in this respect-most of the locations
that are attractive to multi-national corporations are attractive precisely because they
allow the corporations to access a cheap workforce, which in tum cuts production costs.
Labor protections increase costs, and are ultimately not attractive to corporations. What
is said in the section below can be applied to many of the countries where multi-national
corporations choose to locate production factories.
39
performing these jobs.93 I first present a history of Mexico's labor laws, then continue to
explain the state oflabor law today and the resulting impact on workers. Subsequently, I
discuss ways in which female workers have resisted these constraints and continued the
struggle for workers' rights and protections.
When written in 1917, Mexico's Constitution was the "most progressive labor law
in the world.,,94 Article 123 of the Constitution "gave workers the right to organize labor
unions and to strike. It also provided protection for women and children, the eight hour
day, and a living wage.,,95 In short, Mexico's constitution provided for all of the modern-
day protections that unionized U.S. workers may enjoy. Article 123 was converted into
legislation via the Ley Federal de Trabajo or Federal Labor Law (LFT) in 1931.96 This
legislation provided for the establishment of "the Juntas de Conciliaci6n y Arbitraje (the
Boards of Conciliation and Arbitration), made up of representatives of the government,
employers and labor unions. The state thus became the ultimate arbiter of labor relations,
a role strengthened over time.,,97
93 See generally NORMA IGLESIAS PRIETO, BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS OF THE MAQUILADORA
(Michael Stone trans., University of Texas Press 1999) (1985).
94 Dan La Botz & Robin Alexander, Mexico's labor Law Reform: Employers' Rights vs.
Associational Rights, 60 GUILD PRAC. 149, 150 (2003) (the Mexican Constitution
resulted from the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920)).
95 Id.
96 Id.
97 I d.
40
Through this system, the Secretary of Labor and the above mentioned labor
boards "maintain a strict system of legal control over labor unions. Unions must have a
legal registration (registro), must have an officially recognized right to negotiate
collective bargaining agreements (titularidad), and must periodically re-register their
officers and be accepted by the state (toma de nota).,,98 La Botz and Alexander described
the effects of this system as follows:
Although this system oflabor relations initially conferred real benefits
on workers and peasants whose organizations supported the government, it
now chiefly serves to maintain a status quo that benefits only employers,
corrupt union leaders and the political parties that rely on their support.
This tri-partite structure is especially effective in keeping independent
unions out, since (1) the seat of the representatives oflabor is almost
always filled by the largest of the official union federations, the CTM; (2)
the business representative will always oppose an independent union; and
(3) the presidency of the labor boards is held by the government­
generally the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party), occasionally the
PAN, and only on very rare occasions by the PRD. This means that in
virtually all cases at least two, and usually all three, members of the labor
board have a vested interest in seeing that the independent union loses.
These tri-partite labor boards can block democratic unions from
representing workers by any number of bureaucratic ploys. First, unlike in
the United States, a union must have a certification or registro before it
may legally represent workers in a particular workplace. While these are
theoretically available by following a relatively simple administrative
process, and in fact are available to the official unions in a matter of days
or weeks, the pretexts for denying them to independent union are, in the
words of one democratic lawyer, "as vast as one's imagination.,,99
As the authors indicate, the political reality often prevents unions from actively
protecting members of the working class public, and even prevents workers from forming
unions in the first place. Instead, the government protects industry and business interests
98Id.
99Id. at 150-51.
41
by blocking the formation of democratic unions. The requirement for initial union
registration with government easily facilitates government veto of the union; the
government may block unions at will, with no one to challenge its power. Additionally,
employers may also avoid legitimate employee unionization efforts by "entering into
protection contracts with sindicatos fantasmas or 'ghost unions. ",100
These protection contracts act as a barrier to legitimate unionization of the
workplace in several ways: first, they only contain minimal worker protection
provisions, protections that are already required by Mexican law; second, they generally
contain an "exclusion clause," which gives the workplace the right to fire workers at will;
and third, they impede the legal organization of a legitimate union. 101 In Mexico, once a
workplace union has been certified by workers filing the proposed contract and issuing a
strike notification to the employer, the challenger must seek an election through filing a
petition with the labor board. 102 The labor board, generally supportive of the protective
contracts with the "ghost unions," will create delay upon delay in order to avoid the
election. 103
100Id at 151. For example, workers at the Plasticos plant in Tijuana, Mexico were
unaware of the existence of a "ghost union" as they tried to organize and file for a new
union. The existing union "had never held a union meeting at their plant. Workersnad
no idea that union dues were being paid in their name, since the company paid CROM
directly." BACON, supra note 76, at 65.
101 La Botz, supra note 94, at 151-52.
102 Id at 152.
103 Id
42
Even if the proponents of the union are fortunate enough to be granted an
election, the obstacles do not end here; the election will take place by a voice vote, and
not a secret ballot. 104 This process is fraught with difficulty due to employer pressure on
employees, institutional barriers created by the labor board (who require workers to
"present their credentials" in the face of employer and "official union"
representatives).105 The employer also has the right to exclude representatives of the
proposed union from the elections. 106 As a result, the election is not likely to come out in
favor of the proposed unionization.
These difficulties are perpetuated by the fact that there is no legal requirement for
a public registry of unions or contracts; therefore, employees attempting to organize a
new union are generally not aware of the existence of a prior protective contract. I 07
Because a union must choose among various petitions based on whether a protective
contract already exists, the lack of awareness of an existing "contract" presents a distinct
barrier to potential organizing efforts. As a result, employees attempting to organize are
at risk of filing the wrong paperwork and having their petition dismissed. The board has
been known to dismiss "a representation petition because the name or address of the
incumbent union which is being challenged is incorrect.,,108 After the 2000 election,
104 1d.
lOS ld.
106 1d.
107 1d.
108 1d.
!_..
43
when the PAN political party was elected, "some had hopes for labor law reform and
labor revitalization. However, the neoliberal economic policies of the PAN have
essentially ensured the status quO.,,109
These barriers to workers' rights were further compounded by NAFTA, which
pressured Mexico to accept structural adjustment policies championed by the IMF. llo
Under NAFTA, employers faced increasing pressure to conform from policy-makers in
the north:
International financial institutions also got into the act, explicitly requiring
that Mexico reform its labor law in accordance with the neo-liberal model
which was the basis for structural adjustment programs throughout the
world. As Mexican labor lawyer Manuel Fuentes suggested, a new labor
regime was gradually being imposed on Mexico from the North. 111
In spite ofthe existence oflabor protections in the U.S. and other developed countries,
the economic interests of such countries prompted policy-makers to pressure Mexico to
conform, thereby resulting in less expensive labor costs for would be investors. In light
of the corporation-friendly trends as expressed via the WTO and NAFTA, state
governments face little incentive to expand employee protections. In fact, a government
that did take a strong stand on labor would likely be penalized in economic terms under
globalization.
The implementation ofNAFTA has further weakened constitutional protections
for workers in Mexico:
109 CAROLINA BANK MuNoz, TRANSNATIONAL TORTILLAS: RACE, GENDER, AND SHOP­
FLOOR POLITICS IN MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES 61 (2008).
110 La Botz, supra note 94, at 53.
IllId
44
There are several reasons that the labor provisions of the constitution are
not enforced. First, these provisions are not attractive to foreign capital
investment. Second, Mexican industries, which must abide by the
provisions, are not able to compete with foreign investors. Third, Mexico
has a long history of entrenched union corruption and state involvement in
labor relations. I 12
Lowered protections for workers tend to go hand in hand with globalization and
outsourcing of labor. Without the enticement of lax labor laws and lower pay in
developing countries, most CEOs would choose to continue to do business at home. In
other words, if the conditions in developing countries did not correlate with a positive
impact on profits, there would be no point in outsourcing. Mexican companies, in tum,
are not able to compete with these foreign investors; this means that Mexico then
becomes dependent on the foreign investors as a source of labor for its population, and
locally based production, goods, and innovation suffer as a result. Thus, when a foreign
corporation establishes an assembly plant in Mexico, and then relocates (to Asia for
example), the Mexican workers as individuals and the Mexican economy as a whole all
suffer.
The discussion of Mexico's labor policy would not be complete without mention
of how U.S. immigration and economic imperatives define Mexican policy.113 Munoz
attributes the methods of employment and interaction in border assembly plants to US.
immigration policy and border militarization strategies:
112 MuNoz, supra note 109, at 60.
113 Although I frame this discussion of globalization policy in terms of US. policy, I want
to caution that Mexico's government played an active role in the process. "Making
Mexico attractive to foreign investors ... is the policy of both the Mexican and US.
governments." BACON, supra note 72, at 72 (emphasis added).
45
u.s. state policies also impact the labor process in Mexico. The extreme
militarization of the border and the criminalization of immigrants create a
system whereby men more commonly take the risks of crossing the border
while leaving their families behind in border cities with few or no familial
networks. Women are thus forced into the labor market and serve as a
supply of cheap, vulnerable labor for the maquila industry and Mexican
national industries operating on the border. The process of globalization,
which involves the neoliberal export-processing development model and
NAFTA, World Bank, and WTO, has forced Mexico to loosen its
constitutional provisions protecting the rights of workers. Mexican state
nonintervention is, in fact, a strategic policy as the state, like the charro [or
ghost] unions closely allied with it, turns a blind eye to violations oflabor
law by both Mexican and transnational corporations alike. This feeds
these corporations with a pool of cheap, female labor. 114
The end result of Mexico's labor policies coupled with globalization is to foster
an environment where enforcement of the constitutionally guaranteed protections is
nearly impossible. Workers, particularly female workers, find themselves employed with
very few corollary rights and guarantees. Therefore, employers are able to use the
knowledge that their employees lack protections in order to perpetuate the lack of rights;
as long as workers are afraid of becoming unemployed, they will not organize, revolt, or
raise havoc, or so the story goes. In fact, workers do face incredible odds, the cards are
stacked against them.
However, social movements continue to persist as female workers struggle to find
new and creative ways to assert their rights, whether this be through taking more
114 MuNoz, supra note 109, at 63. Munoz continues to explain that women aren't
entirely passive in the process and continually assert active resistance to the status quo,
an issue I will take up in the next section of this thesis. The connection between the
militarization of the border, immigration ratios of men versus women, and the gender
politics on the factory floors is compelling, and serves as one explanation for the historic
preference for female labor in the maquiladoras. However, the fact that the ratio of
female to male workers is now shifting towards a preference for male workers calls the
last sentence of the quote into question.
46
bathroom breaks than they need while working on the line, or through grassroots
organizing efforts. Specifically, women have proven to be great agents of social change
in this regard, adapting to new scenarios and environments, persisting in their struggle for
survival.
Today, many women do continue to work in the assembly plants, while others
embrace other strategies as they confront a lack of employment caused by the relocation
of a plant or by the increased employment of men in a particular plant. In spite of these
challenges, Mexican women continue to devise and implement strategies of resistance,
both within and outside of the maquiladoras. Women are engaging in strategies including
NGD formation, local organizing efforts, women's empowerment groups, and unofficial
labor unions. These women who engage in small and large acts of resistance on a daily
basis are the reason for this thesis and are the subject of the next sections.
47
CHAPTER V
STRATEGIES OF RESISTANCE
Introduction
Women in the maquiladoras often go to work in order to provide for their
families. This section explores the ways in which women engage with the economic and
political institutions that govern their employment, wages, and the social pressures
exerted upon women. First, I focus on the ways that women have resisted the workplace
pressures resulting from NAFTA and the lack oflabor protections in Mexico (as
described above). Second, I tum towards two strategies of resistance women are
employing throughout northern Mexico: (1) women's participation in the informal
economy, and (2) women's activism in grassroots community organizing and NGO
formation.
These strategies of resistance include a wide array of social organizing efforts,
both in Mexico and in solidarity with workers across the U.S.-Mexico border. I find
these strategies, and the women who create them, incredibly compelling and instructive.
The webs of community and support that result merit examination by any group of people
who seek to form strong bonds, networks, and a socio-economic system that departs from
48
the dominant ideology of the times. In short, these women demonstrate ways in which to
reclaim control of one's own life, and, in tum, to survive. I 15
The Labor ofChange: Modes ofResistance in the Assembly Industry
I want to acknowledge that workers have employed a wide variety of tactics in the
fight to secure adequate union representation, safe workplace conditions, and to rectify
other injustices that take place on a regular basis within the maquiladoras. I 16 Workers
lIS With my use of the word "survive," I am indicating not only survival on a physical
level, which is often the concern of women in this thesis, but also survival on a spiritual
level. This spiritual survival stems from resisting systems of oppression that continue to
ignore the importance of women, deny their needs, and, in short, to operate as if these
women did not exist (or as if those in charge wished they would simply disappear).
For example, Dulce Cortez, "cofounder of Mujeres por la Democracia (Women for
Democracy) in Patzcuaro, Michoacan, stated: 'One of the things important to me in this
work is gaining knowledge in order to share it with the other women I represent in this
area. I have come to see that for me the most important thing is for our society to take us
into account. '" MILAGROS PENA, LATINA ACTIVISTS ACROSS BORDERS: WOMEN'S
GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING IN MEXICO AND TEXAS 4 (2007) (emphasis added).
116 One worker describes a rare victory for workers:
[I]n 2000 after five years of this complaint for unjust dismissals we gained
the first favorable resolution, but the company appealed. In 2002 we won
the complaint for reinstallation and back salaries for five years. Breed
refused to reinstall us, so they gave severance payments to everyone.
Including the severance payment, seniority, and back pay, they paid each
of us 10,000 dollars.
That set a precedent in our community because until then the maquilas
just closed and left when they wanted an no one ever made they pay up.
Thanks to the fiver years of resistance by my co-workers and the
international solidarity that we received, this was the first time that fiver
years of struggle weren't in vain in the face of the corruption and impunity
of the labor authorities and the government.
-Pedro Lopez, former Custom-Trim Worker
NAFTA FROM BELOW, supra note 26, at 20. Custom-Trim workers sewed the leather
coverings for car gearshifts. The workers experienced major problems due to chemicals,
toxins, and injuries caused by repetitive movement.
49
have turned to the Mexican courts, unions, and inspection agencies, and to the
international community (via the National Administrative Office of the North American
Agreement on Labor Cooperation), but with often less than ideal results. I 17 Additionally,
workers have utilized formal strikes (as allowed in the labor process), wildcat strikes, and
formal protests as methods of resistance. I 18 Some workers' rights groups have partnered
across country lines, finding solidarity with U.S. workers. ll9
All of these strategies have proved useful, and at times, powerful, instruments in
the advancement of workers' rights in the maquiladoras, although the success rate has
been categorically low. Fully developing each of these strategies would require more
space than this thesis allows. As a result, I focus this chapter on modes of resistance
employed specifically by women in the workplace. These strategies are frequently more
subtle than the traditional methodology (i.e., strikes, lawsuits, protests). These women
engage in subtle strategies of workplace resistance that range from taking more bathroom
breaks than officially allocated to implementing a management system divergent from
official policy in order to maintain a productive line.
In order to provide a context for this section, I begin with a more thorough
description of the inner-workings of a maquiladora. First, the supervisory structure.
While historically most of the line workers in the maquiladoras are women, most ofthe
supervisory roles are occupied by men. Each line of production has a line supervisor who
117 See generally NAFTA FROM BELOW, supra note 26.
118 See id.; BACON, supra note 72.
119 See generally NAFTA FROM BELOW, supra note 26; BACON, supra note 72.
50
literally oversees the work women undertake on the line. This supervisor is also viewed
by another level of supervisors, who, in tum, report to managers, all predominantly male.
My point is that each position is constantly under surveillance with men observing
women. Historically, the passive production line roles belonged to women where men
occupied the active, supervisory roles (passive and active defined by whether one sits or
stands). 120
Maquiladoras come in a vast variety of shapes and sizes, with different job
functions depending on the good being manufactured. However, I provide the example
of specific labor on the line to elucidate the complexities involved in work on a
production line located in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico:
The following ergonomic description of position 29 on the line illustrates
the extent to which one woman worker had to respond to model changes
within the twenty-two-second cycle. For model A, this position is laid out
as a series of left- and right-hand motions calculated to insert seven parts
within twenty-two seconds:
1. Transport time 3.0 seconds
2. Right hand inserts part A 1.8 seconds
3. Left hand inserts part B 1.9 seconds
4. Right hand inserts part C 1.8 seconds
5. Left hand inserts part D 1.9 seconds
6. Right hand inserts part E 1.8 seconds
7. Left hand inserts part F and check[s] the polarity 2.2 seconds
8. Right hand inserts part G 0.9 seconds
9. Release the pedal (to move circuit board down the line) 2.0 seconds
Note: Do not grab more than five components at the same time.
Rest time: 4.0 seconds
Efficiency rate: 97 percent.
120 MELISSA W. WRlGHT, DISPOSABLE WOMEN AND OTHER MYTHS OF GLOBAL
CAPITALISM 56-57 (2006).
51
For model B, this same position had to insert eleven parts, three of
which were different from those in model A, so each motion pared down
to even fewer increments of time. For model C, the worker had to insert
seven parts, two of which were not parts used in either model A or model
B. In other words, a single worker in position 29 had to remember which
parts pertained to which model, how to move her body according to the
scripted design, and how to assess the work without slowing down. 121
The work described in the passage above is incredibly exact and leaves little room for
error. Most line positions in the maquiladoras require similar degrees of measured
movement and precision. The prolonged and tedious work takes a great physical toll on
the workers. Angelita, a worker employed on a toy assembly line, explains her job and
the resulting physical pain:
I had to pull their little clothes on from the neck down and fasten two
tiny buttons. For sure, these little dolls say good-bye and hello, but
nothing in the world would make me buy one of the dolls for myself or my
daughter. I hate them.
We never had a fixed production standard; we just had to make as
many dolls as the supervisor wanted, the number demanded by the buyer.
All of us girls stood in a kind of circle, and as the conveyor belt went by,
some of us grabbed the dolls to dress them, and the rest did other things to
the dolls. The pace was so swift that very quickly the dolls began to stack
up. When that happened the supervisor would come to reprimand us, and
we just got more agitated.
The work was unpleasant. My hands really ached, every day worked
to the bone by the speed of the work. My hands hurt so much that when I
got home I couldn't do the housework; I couldn't even change my son's
diapers.
One day I just couldn't go one, and I told the supervisor that I wasn't
going to work anymore, that my hands just couldn't take it. "No," he said,
"wait until quitting time. Don't you see the dolls are going to stack up on
your co-workers?" I answered, "Who cares?" In any case, I tried to
continue working, but I went very slowly, because my hands hurt so
much. They couldn't take any more. Then the old man came up to me
and asked, "Why do you have so many dolls stacked up?" I replied, "I
just can't do the work." He told me, "Well, just quit then," "That's what
121 Id. at 55-56.
I'm going to do. I was just waiting for you in order to submit my
resignation." Angrily, I left the dolls there and walked out. I lasted only
one month. l22
Many women do quit work in the maquiladoras due to negative physical side effects,
boredom, and the lack of worker protections. In fact, the maquiladoras count on the
women quitting instead of succeeding in organizing workers; there are always other
women waiting to fill the job.
Similarly, Alma woman discusses her work in a maquiladora where she was
involved in a struggle to organize female workers:
We women did they complete piece. They gave each of us a pattern,
and we had to make the dress nearly from beginning to end. They gave us
the cut material and we had to sew it together. It wasn't like the majority
of textile maquiladoras, were the work is very segmented. That is, some
sew the sleeves, other the collar, others put on the buttons, zippers, and so
forth. By contrast, here they are always changing the pattern according to
variations in fashion and changing seasons. We just about get used to
making something and gain some skill with a piece, then they change it on
us!
The dresses we make are beautiful, for very fashionable women.
They're incredibly expensive! They sell them in the best stores in the
United States and they cost $200 or $300. And what do we get? We
make 45 pesos [about U.S.41.00] per dress. Incredible, don't you think?
We spend ten hours a day in front of a sewing machine to make a man rich
and we don't even know him. And the worst of it is that we continue
doing it, some not even making the minimum wage, without complaining,
asleep at the wheel, watching time go by, years in front of the sewing
machine. I recognize the glares, I know how we protest on the inside
because we don't dare say anything to the bosses. We wait for the quitting
bell to ring so we can hit the street, believing that it's all a bad dream, and
that it's going to change. It's like we put these thoughts aside for a
moment and go back to work, without doing anything more about it. At
times we forget why the devil we're working, just waiting for a little bit of
money so our kids can survive.
You get used to it all, or at least we pretend to. At times we let
ourselves be carried away by the noise or the music of the radios we all
122 PRIETO, supra note 93, at 8-9.
52
53
carry. It helps us forget the fatigue and the back pain we all have from
working in front of the sewing machine. The moment came when I just
couldn't take any more and I quit, knowing that the money my husband
makes, together with what our oldest daughter gives us, wasn't going to be
enough. I knew we were in for some hard times, but I never knew just
how much. 123
Like the woman above, Angelita, Alma explains the pain, fatigue, and dull ache to
the soul resulting from work on the line. The risks of maquiladora work stem beyond the
hazards described above. Here, Gabriela explains her work with dangerous chemicals in
a maquiladora:
I had to make chemical mixtures, and it was quite dangerous because
we did not have all the necessary laboratory safety and ventilation
equipment. I worked with a variety of acids: nitric, sulfuric, hydrofluoric,
acetic. We also worked with trichloroethylene, acetone, nickel, Freon, and
other substances. I breathed those acid vapors for many hours on end;
often ventilation was poor, and I would get sick to my stomach. One time
they had to put me on worker's compensation for four months because my
body was completely saturated with the chemicals. I received various
detoxification treatments at the Social Security clinic, and they told me I
could no longer work with chemicals. My stomach burned a great deal
and I had constant headaches. When I returned to the job, I went to work
again in the chemicals room; I felt like I was going to faint, and I began to
feel ill again. So I requested a transfer to another department.
The room still lacks good fans, and the ones they have often don't
work at all. I don't now how the muchachas keep working there, because
neither the general conditions nor the safety measures have been improved
in the least. Surely, they are going to suffer the same problems that I did.
One time there was an explosion and two co-workers were burned.
Fortunately, their clothing was stripped off right away and they were
washed down, which kept them from being badly burned. If the chemicals
had gotten on them, even one drop in the eyes, they would have been
blinded. One of the safety measures that we did have was goggles, but we
rarely used them because they made us so hot, as the room has not
ventilation. 124
123 I d. at 17.
124Id. at 10-11.
54
These women illustrate a range of the jobs that maquiladora line employees perform.
They also demonstrate a range of risks and negative side effects associated with
maquiladora work. Many of the women interviewed eventually quit their jobs as line
workers, only to have to seek another one due to economic hardships. However, other
women resisted the pressures of the work by taking more bathroom breaks that allotted,
purposefully slacking on their output, and engaging in organizing efforts. These forms of
subtle protest are limited because many women do fear losing their jobs. I now turn to
two women who held supervisory roles in the maquiladoras, a rare feat for a women in
these male-dominated spheres.
The women I discuss in the following section have all achieved higher levels of
education than a typical line worker. However, the women obtained the education at
varying times in their life; one woman began her work at a maquiladora with a middle
school-level education, but through evening classes, she obtained a college degree while
still maintaining her employment with the maquiladora. The women who are the subjects
of this section demonstrate a remarkable ability to read the work environment, adapt, and
create social systems that allow them to comply with the demands of their superiors and
also create strong bonds and alliances among co-workers. Because this type of
resistance is best explained in specific terms, I tum now to two specific examples.
Case Studies: Cynthia and Gloria
The infonnation for this section comes from Melissa Wright's book Disposable
Women and Other Myths ofGlobal Capitalism. While some of the analysis I employ
55
differs substantially from Wright's, I find her descriptions, interviews, and insights useful
and persuasive. Cynthia and Gloria both demonstrate varying levels of resistance to the
established maquiladora order. Wright employs Cynthia's experiences to question the
relationship between American and Mexican (and particularly Mexicana-- grammatically,
the female possessive of Mexican) cultures in the maquiladora. Cynthia confronts the
established order by asserting her Mexicana style and reveals differing cultural
expectations of what it means to dress professionally. Gloria also confronts the
established order, but by establishing her own managing mechanisms that are almost
wholly unknown to upper management. Through her management style and the resulting
alliances, Gloria obtains the loyalty and support of her workers, which becomes an
important element of her story.
Cynthia
Cynthia challenged the established order of the maquiladora where she worked in
a variety of ways. First, she was a highly educated woman, Second, she managed a line
of Mexican men on the shop floor. Third, she would not bend to the American
established norm of professional dress, and continued to wear clothes that she considered
to be professional for a Mexican woman in her position. Wright explains, Cynthia was
the "managerial liaison to the manufacturing engineers, all Mexican men, on the shop
floor. With a college degree in engineering and chemistry, Cynthia had the most years of
education in her family" and was working on her Masters of Science. 125
125 WRIGHT, supra note 120, at 109.
56
In spite of the high level of education and workplace status, Cynthia was
consistently disciplined because, as Wright alleges, she was too Mexicana. 126 Although
some of the write-ups attributed the discipline to her workplace performance, these
references were vague and unconvincing. 127 On one occasion, management disciplined
Cynthia for wearing a particular bow in her hair. Cynthia's response and management's
response are as follows:
"Do you know what they said to me? Those fuckers.... My bows. They
say I can't wear my hair bowl" She took a sparkling purple bow from her
hair and showed it to me. "My mom gave these to me for my birthday....
And it's Rosalia [another Mexicana manager] telling me this .... First it
was my hair: 'tone it down.' Steve calls me in his office and says he
wants me to look more like an American engineer. He said I had gone too
Mexican. Who the hell does he think he's talking to?"
Over a series of conversations, Steve explained to me that Cynthia
simply did not look professional, given her position. "I don't know if
she's here to discover her roots or what. I don't care. I just want my
engineers to act like engineers. I can't have my boss coming down here
and bumping into glitz and bows when he wants to talk about the fuel
system.... This might sound bad, but that's just how it is in this world. If
she wants to be a manger, she had better tone down the Mexican stuff."
Cynthia was not bending to the pressure. One day she came in
wearing a violet blue dress suit with rhinestone buttons and a bow to
match. "I dare them to say anything," she told me in the hallway. When I
asked Cynthia if she was tempted to yield in an effort to mitigate tensions,
she expressed anger and said, "Look, I'm not a white girl like you. And
I'm not ashamed of who I am. I show it. I'm a woman, I show it. I'm
mexicana, I show it. Outside, I wear blue jeans but here I'm professional
and that's what I show. If they don't like it, fuck 'em.,,128
Several intriguing perceptions are at play in this passage. First, Cynthia's outrage at
being disciplined for wearing an outfit that she considered to be professional. Cynthia
126 I d. at 110-112.
127 I d.
128 I d. at 109-110.
57
explains that she will not yield to the pressure management placed on her because she
wanted to dress in a way that was considered appropriate for a professional woman in her
perception of Mexican culture.
Clearly, this perception of professional dress was at odds with that held by
American managers, as well as Rosalia, another Mexican manager. Interestingly,
competing perceptions of professionalism exist among the Mexicanas working in
supervisory roles. Therefore, the conflict cannot be boiled down to a binary struggle
between the American male mangers and the Mexican women.
Steve, an American, explains that he has an established view of how engineers
should dress, and Cynthia's mode of professional dress clearly did not fit into his
parameters. He attributed her dress to a desire to "discover her roots" and asked her to
"tone down the Mexican stuff." Steve apparently had no desire to push the issue with his
own boss, who Steve seemed to want to shield from the glare of the bow worn by Cynthia
(sarcasm intended). While many workplaces do have dress codes, I consider Steve's
response to be sexist, racist, and, at the very least, completely non-sympathetic to
Mexican culture, especially gender norms as expressed culturally. Cynthia's response
shows considerable resolve. In the face of Steve's comments, Cynthia continued to wear
even more elaborate clothing.
After the events described above took place, Cynthia was written up in vague
terms for "not fulfilling her professional duties.,,129 "Paradoxically, while hours of staff
time were dedicated to the controversy over Cynthia's appearance, her performance as a
129 I d. at 110.
58
quality engineer, measured in terms of product defects and reliability, won the highest
award in the company, worldwide.,,130 She was forced to resign, but obtained another
comparable position and obtained a wide degree of success in her career. 131 Cynthia's
remarks prior to her resignation summarize the situation: "You know, I think these white
guys are in for a big surprise.... There's a lot of us, and we know what we're doing.
This is one of the few places where a mexicana can really do something in industry and
be recognized. We know both sides down here, and that scares them.,,132
Cynthia expresses an element of fear on the part of American management that
Mexican women will gain power in the industry and across the field, and perhaps
displace some of those very managers from their positions. In reality, Cynthia's
perception that the Mexicanas "know both sides" is incredibly accurate. Workers like
Cynthia and Gloria are able to flow between cultures in a way that many ofthe American
managers actually refuse to do, for example, by clinging to racist perceptions as
expressed by Steve, above, and refusing to engage in a dialogue regarding cultural
difference. The American managers simply demand that their expectations and cultural
norms be followed and that the workers will do so in order to keep the job. However, in
the end, that philosophy is not practical in the working environment. It is also not
appropriate to completely ignore cultural difference and diversity in the workplace;
managers have a responsibility to promote cultural sensitivity and dialogue. As Cynthia
130 Id
131 Id at 112.
132 Id
59
expressed, the Mexicanas have more skills in this regard than their male American
supervisors. Cynthia and others have worked in the factories and know the accepted
norms, but also have an intimate understanding of Mexican culture. Perhaps the increase
in male maquiladora employees may also be explained, in part, by a difference in the
ability or willingness to conform to the Americanized perception ofprofessionalism.
Gloria
Gloria's remarkable story demonstrates that her job-a job which management
considered to be a low-skill job-required enormous skill and creativity. Gloria created
her own management system!33 to mitigate the cultural differences between the American
managers and the Mexican line workers; through this system, Gloria obtained the almost
impossible levels of productivity required by her American bosses. The story is
complicated by the fact that Gloria's resistance to managing norms was actually
implemented to obtain management's objectives: a productive line.
Gloria works as a supervisor at Tres Reyes, a Mexican subsidiary of a Tennessee-
based coupon manufacturing plant. 134 Gloria began working at the plant when she was
seventeen, and was also expected to take care of her eight younger siblings. 135 In the
plant, her job was to ensure that the coupons coming from El Paso were separated, coded,
133 I d. at 137 ("Gloria enforced the corporation's division oflabor but not in the manner
described by her managers. She had developed over the years an elaborate social
network of insiders and outsiders to a patronage system encircling her.").
134 Id. at 127.
135 I d. at 133.
60
scanned with computers, invoiced, and then shipped. 136 Although management saw
Gloria's supervisory duties as requiring little skill, Gloria demonstrates that she
orchestrated a complicated system of social order in order to ensure production. Gloria
countered the idea perpetuated by upper management that the supervisory work in the
plant was easy due to the computer system (designed to remove the need for human
skill).137 When asked whether the supervisory work was easy, Gloria replied, "absolutely
not.,,138
Gloria mapped and divided "the Tres Reyes production area into sections of older
and younger, female and male, married and unmarried, single mothers and wed mothers,
rockers, rappers, gang members, urban and rural, and migrant and local employees who
performed a variety oftasks.,,139 Gloria's vision of Tres Reyes was clearly different from
that of her managers. Additionally, "her vision of how women became supervisors was
also at odds with the managerial account of their promotion.... male supervisors were
replaced with women who were adept at reading the complex networks within the city's
labor force.,,140 Wright summarizes Gloria's perception of the plant organization as
follows:
136 1d. at 133-36.
1371d. at 133.
138 1d.
1391d. at 136.
140 1d.
61
Unlike her managers, she did not see the company as run by the computer
system. Instead, she said that the workers actually exercised a great deal
of control over their own work because they controlled the pace. The
challenge for supervisors was to make sure that workers performed their
jobs up to speed and within the proper quality ranges. To accomplish this
task in such as way as to seem automatic, Gloria organized an elaborate
social system that her managers did not know even existed. Moreover,
given their descriptions for her, they thought her to be incapable of such
organizational skills.,,141
Notably, Gloria understood that to actually reach the levels of production required by the
standards imposed by plant managers, she could not simply rely on the computer system
to ensure production. Instead, she created her own elaborate system of management,
which divided workers into segments where they would work well together to meet the
production quotas. Ironically, the perception of a smoothly functioning system may have
actually contributed to management's erroneous perception that the supervisory role
required little skill.
Gloria's management system won incredible loyalty on the part of the workers. 142
The people who worked the lines could see what Gloria's managers were unable, or
unwilling, to see: Gloria's job as a supervisor requires an enormous amount of skill and
141 Id. at 137.
142 To summarize:
Gloria enforced the corporation's division oflabor but not in the maimer
described by her managers. She had developed over the years an elaborate
social network of insiders and outsiders to a patronage system encircling
her. Her social network extended through the supervisors to the section
leaders and down to the operators in a dynamic system of give and take,
which she manipulated to oust rivals to her authority at all levels.
Id.
organization. The perception that Gloria's job required little skill made it easier for
management to discount her and the work she put into Tres Reyes.
An important aspect ofGloria's system, which management overlooked, is the
conjianza between Gloria and her workers. Conjianza is usually translated as a
"combination of intimacy, trust, confidence, and loyalty.,,143 Gloria's networks of
conjianza were endlessly useful to her:
[H]er networks of confianza were critical for identifying who belonged
where within the division of labor and for controlling them in their jobs.
She relied upon her networks of conjianza to identify the employees-as
cholos, single, rappers, mothers, and so forth-and to keep these various
sorts of people in line. . ..
"You can't expect people to do something for you if they're always
afraid oflosing their job," Gloria explained. Her response to this rigid and
punitive social arrangement was to trade flexibility for loyalty. Several
operators talked of how Gloria would help them out, give them advances
and personal loans, provide pointers, and even tum a blind eye to an
occasional absence as long as they were loyal to her. Loyalty meant
advising a supervisor of a rebelde (someone who thought of organizing
workers for any reason) or lider (someone who challenged authority and
resisted being managed), or notifying a supervisor if someone was
cheating and stashing coupons in the bathroom trash to pad their numbers.
In exchange for loyalty, the operators were treated with leniency and
respect. One operator, Miriam, explained that she had worked at Tres
Reyes for over a decade because "when you find a supervisor who will
talk to you and find out why you missed a day or why you weren't feeling
well, then you stay. In other maquilas, they don't care.... Of course, you
have to give something in return."
The return to Gloria was an internal policing system. Information
passed up and down the floor, favors were handed out, and loyalty
promised such that Gloria knew most of the five hundred operators by
name. She also knew whom she could not trust if the employee had not
responded to supervisory efforts to cultivate conjianza with them. 144
143 I d. at 138.
144 I d. at 138-39.
62
63
Because Gloria herself began working in the factory as a line worker, and slowly worked
up to a supervisory role, her understanding of the various positions in the plant may have
helped her to gain the trust of her co-workers and to empathize with them. As a result,
Gloria was an incredibly generous manager by any standard. Her willingness to become
personally involved with her workers allowed the company to benefit by retaining its
workforce. While many people in the United States would view such personal
involvement as unprofessional, it may have been the only way for Gloria to reach
management's goals and objectives. Through her use of unconventional methods and
skill, Gloria achieved what many people could never have achieved, precisely because of
her willingness to interact with the workers on a personalleve1. Ironically, the very skills
which Gloria possessed, and management failed to see, were perceived as undesirable
traits in management's search for a new production manager.
Ultimately, Gloria's system of alliances and confianza helped her to achieve the
position of production manager in spite of incredibly hostility on the part of management.
The managers wanted to promote a male, Mauricio, from the operator line to production
manager. Mauricio had a master's degree in agricultural engineering. 145 Mauricio saw
himself as "being stricter and more authoritative than Mexican women, on average, and
more than Gloria, in particular,,,146 and perceived these qualities as desirable in a
145 Gloria also had almost completed a master's degree in business administration.
"When she started working at Tres Reyes, she had only finished the seventh grade, but
after years of night courses, she finally attained her goal of a college degree. Yet, her
education and years of work experience at Tres Reyes did not lay the foundation of
skilled experience according to the managers." ld. at 143.
146 1d. at 142.
64
production manager. From Wright's conversations with plant management, she "heard
that Mauricio was qualified for the position precisely because he did not present the
image of the typical Mexican woman," defined as a submissive female "with minimal
economic power.,,147 Additionally, "Mauricio's ability to Americanize" also worked to
his advantage. 148 Like Cynthia, Gloria also faced similar push-back for her dress, and
people interpreted Gloria's dress as a sign that she was not qualified for the production
manager position. 149
Ultimately, Mauricio was offered the job, but Gloria's conjianza network
provided her with incredible support which led to a reversal of this decision. One worker
explained: "They are trying to get rid of Gloria but it won't work. She knows how to run
this place with her eyes closed and they will soon see that. ... Just wait, Gloria will get
the job. ... Two days later, she did. On that morning, everyone came to work and sat
quietly at their desks and work stations, the coupons were not moving.,,150 The entire
plant threatened to walk out. However, a walk out did not take place, management
bowed to the pressure and Gloria was offered the job. The loyalty and respect that
resulted from Gloria's conjianza-based system facilitated her promotion.
Gloria's story is an example of the ways in which individual strategies of
resistance can impact and affect every person in a working environment. Even though
147Id.
148Id.
149 I d. at 144.
150Id.
---------------
65
management was unaware of Gloria's networks of support and of the degree of skill she
employed in her supervisory duties, the entire staff of the plant was aware of these
qualities. The flow of information on the plant floor ultimately led to management's
reversal of its decision to hire Mauricio. This story calls into question the definition of
skilled labor; the skills required of a certain position vary based on perception. Here,
Gloria utilized such skill to supervise and orchestrate the plant floor that she rendered her
skill almost invisible to management. Ironically, it was her very skill that allowed
management to continue in their perception that her job required little skill.
The story also challenges the modes through which resistance can take place on
the ground in plants. Traditionally, we think of wild-cat strikes, organized strikes, and
other labor movements as the primary methods of achieving change in a workplace
environment. However, Gloria worked tirelessly to ensure that there were no efforts to
organize labor or rebellion on the floor; in short, she worked continuously to achieve
management's objectives. Still, she had her own methodology for achieving the desired
results. While management did not understand the extent and power of this
methodology, it nevertheless proved incredibly effective and resulted in movement from
the bottom (plant floor) when Gloria's promotion was threatened.
Dollars and Sense: Women's Participation in the Informal Economy
One of the best ways to resist the pressures of capitalism is to subvert the system
as a whole. I include this section because it ties in to the discussion ofNAFTA and
globalization-in the globalized economy, where individual and state actors, particularly
66
women, are losing power in the economic arena, what viable economic alternatives exist?
We know that men in northern Mexico are seeking jobs in the maquiladoras formerly
occupied by women. How are women adapting to this economic change?
Women are struggling to survive and, increasingly, to support families as men
migrate north for work in the maquiladoras or in the United States. This is especially true
for indigenous families who have been ejected from subsistence farms and are now
adapting to an entirely new economic scenario. Indigenous women face increased threats
of violence and economic challenges, especially as male heads of household migrate in
search of employment. This section explores the connections between women and the
informal economy, and demonstrates how women who, in the past, may have sought
employment in the maquiladoras are now adapting to the post-NAFTA globalized
economy.
The concept of the informal economy grew out of the idea that a person could be
an economic actor without engaging with systems established by the state. One author
explains, "[i]nformality thus encompassed economic behaviors that were not inherently
illegal but occurred outside the purview of the state; it also constituted a field where
economic actors-employers as well as workers-circumvented government
legislation."i5i Generally, women have constituted a majority of the participants in the
informal economy:
Structural adjustment policies implemented during recent decades affected
female employment, and the economic crises resulted in a proliferation of
i5i OUT OF THE SHADOWS: POLITICAL ACTION AND THE INFORMAL ECONOMY IN LATIN
AMERICA 1 (Patricia Fernandez-Kelly & Jon Shefner eds., 2006).
67
income-generating survival strategies in popular sectors of countries like
Mexico. In general, women concentrated in small-scale commerce. These
occupations are precarious, poorly paid, and lack benefits. Women who
participate in these occupations earn less than those who have formal jobs
do. In addition, they frequently engage in subsistence activities requiring
intensive workdays. Moreover, women home workers hold jobs that are
more precarious compared to those which men hold. However, women
who are independent home workers frequently have better labor
conditions than do women industrial subcontractors who work in their
homes. 152
The above quote captures the negative implications of participation in the informal
economy. As I explain below, participation in the informal economy is risky-it does not
pay as well as the formal economy, it offers less predictability, and the wage gap between
women and men is exaggerated. However, as eluded to above, participation in the
informal economy also provides women with flexibility in their schedule, decent labor
conditions, a strong sense of agency, and the ability to stay at home with their families.
Participation in the informal economy takes many forms, from creating a neighborhood
restaurant in a home kitchen at lunchtime, to sewing buttons on dolls (for eyes), to
making tortillas for retail sale. Women participate in the informal economy in an endless
number of ways.
First, I look at women's participation in the informal economy, the wage
differential between men and women in this area, and the urban-rural divide associated
with the informal economy. I then move on to look at the ways in which work in the
152 Silvia Lopez Estrada, Work, Gender, and Space: Women's Home-Based Work, in
TIJUANA, MEXICO, IN THROUGH THE EYES OF WOMEN: GENDER, SOCIAL NETWORKS,
FAMILY, AND STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 172, 173
(Cecilia Menjivar ed., 2003).
68
infonnal economy benefits and empowers women, including some case studies as
examples.
To begin, 1 address the reasons why women have been compelled to participate in
the infonnal economy. One author attributes women's participation generally to
changing social conditions in Mexico:
Options in the marriage market and social expectations of married women
to stay in or close to the household have in the past led women to take
part-time jobs, create home-based self-employment, or opt out of the labor
force altogether. However, the share of the population under age 12 has
been declining nationally, potentially freeing up women's time previously
dedicated to childcare. 153
Although women in Mexico may still be encouraged to remain close to the home, they
are having fewer children and thus can utilize their time at home to participate in money-
generating activities. Another author connects the inability to maintain employment
outside of the household to self-employment: "[I]f women are unable to get salaried
work because of employer discrimination or because ofhousehold responsibilities, then
those who are not entrepreneurially talented might be forced into self-employment.,,154
This applies directly to women who are unable to get work in the maquiladoras due to
gender-based discrimination.
Women participate in the infonnal economy because they are unable to find work
elsewhere, because they need the money as they are the head of household, or, simply,
153 Fleck, supra note 16, at 134.
154 Susana M. Sancehz, & Jose A. Pagan, Explaining Gender Difference in Earnings in
the Microenterprise Sector, in THE ECONOMICS OF GENDER IN MEXICO: WORK, FAMILY,
STATE, AND MARKET 174, 184 (Elizabeth G. Katz & Maria C. Correia, eds., 2001).
69
because it is a good alternative. Let's put it on the table: women may actually enjoy
being self-employed. A woman may enjoy the sense of accomplishment that stems from
thinking of creative ways to make money, creating a business plan, and actualizing that
plan. She may enjoy contributing money to the household, or supporting herself. And
she may enjoy the sense of freedom and agency that comes from hard work.
Whatever the reason for their participation, women make up a large part of the
informal economy in Mexico, however, they receive less than half the wages of male
participants. "In Mexico ... women have become active participants in the
microenterprise sector through business ownership, job creation, and through their
contribution to overall economic growth.,,155 With respect to ratios of employment
among genders, "[fJemale-owned small businesses in rural and urban areas represent 26
to 44 percent of all of these firms in Mexico; nonetheless, women earn 36 to 50 percent
of what their male counterparts earn.,,156 The author continues to illustrate the gender-
based wage differential throughout Mexico:
Female participation in Mexico's microenterprise sector rose dramatically
during the first half of the 1990s. According to the Mexican National
Employment Surveys, female representation in the microenterprise sector
in localities with less than 100,000 inhabitants increased from 36 percent
in 1991 to 44 percent in 1995, whereas female representation increased
from 26 percent to only 29 percent in more urban areas. About 24 percent
of microenterprises in urban areas and 39 percent of microenterprises in
rural areas are owned by women. Nonetheless, female-headed
microenterprises account for 16 percent of total sectoral eamings in urban
155 1d. at 174.
156 1d.
70
areas and 27 percent in rural areas, and the fonner earn about 50 percent
and the latter 36 percent of what male-headed microenterprises earn. 157
The article continues to link the urban-rural divide to lower education levels of rural
women (and lower education levels of women as compared to men on the whole).158
Notably, the increase in female participation in the infonnal economy correlates with the
enactment ofNAFTA in 1994. Perhaps the increase is due to women who were displaced
from their land and turned to alternative fonns of income generation. In general, women
are much more likely to participate in the infonnal economy in rural settings as opposed
to urban environments. Women who are unable to find employment in rural
environments, which are devoid of assembly plants, factories, or other employment
opportunities for women, particularly those lacking education which is prevalent in rural
areas, seek to create their own home-based employment. The increase in female
participation in the sector may be due to women who were employed by the assembly
plants but were unable to maintain those jobs and returned to their homes in rural areas.
The high levels of female participation in the infonnal economy may also be
explained by the relationship between gendered household responsibilities and the ability
(as measured by time and feasibility, not skill) to work outside the home:
Family responsibilities have a direct effect on earnings by reducing the
amount of energy and effort available to devote to income-generating
activities. Because household responsibilities generally have
predetennined schedules, women's microenterprises are more likely to be
home based. This arrangement allows them to have greater flexibility in
hours worked, although at the expense of a lower growth rate and earnings
than those finns with fixed business premises. On the other hand,
157Id. at 176.
1581d. at 183.
71
accommodating work schedules might lead to lower earnings as a result of
compensating wage differentials arising from favorable working
conditions that allow women to combine family and job responsibilities.
Further, women and men might have different goals with respect to
microenterprise activity, which influences their business strategies and,
thus, their earnings. For example, many women select self-employment to
supplement family income and reduce risk. Thus, a woman might engage
in low-risk, low-return activities to provide her family with a stable source
of income. In fact, in Mexico's urban areas, 57 percent of women enter
the microenterprise sector to supplement family income, while 47 percent
of men go into self-employment out of their desire to become independent.
Finally, credit constraints might be an important impediment to
microenterprise growth. The presence of credit constraints affects the
availability of business owners to smooth consumption over time and
undertake profitable investments. Thus, the investment behavior of
microenterprises-and, therefore, their growth and earnings potential ­
might be restrained by limited access to credit services. 159
Sanchez brings to light many important aspects of women's participation in the informal
economy through this passage. First, the passage highlights the exchange of a lower
growth rate and less potential earnings for the flexibility of working from the home; this
flexibility makes it possible for women to combine family duties with employment. The
flexibility intrinsic in self-employment is attractive and may allow many women who
otherwise would not be employed to experiment with income earning strategies. 160
Also, Sanchez verbalizes the important point that women may choose self-
employment because of their own goals with respect to income. 161 Women who engage
159 I d. at 184-84 (citations omitted).
160 "In both first- and third-world countries, home-based work enables women­
particularly those with small children-to generate income for their families while also
fulfilling their domestic roles" Lopez Estrada, supra note 152, at 174.
161 I appreciate Sanchez approaching the problem from the perspective of women who
choose to participate in the informal economy. The word choice is instructive here.
72
in employment in order to substantiate family income and to avoid market risks may be
coming from a very different perspective than women who work in the maquiladoras. As
the passage points out, the majority of rural women who do enter into the microenterprise
sector do it to substantiate family income. These women wish to participate in the family
life on a daily basis, and a similar degree of participation is not possible when women are
employed in the maquiladoras; the travel time to work alone will generally add on two
hours to the nine- or ten-hour work day.162 As a result, substantial participation in the
everyday workings of the family life is all but impossible.
Regarding wealth and access to money, the relationship between access to money,
a need for money, and a lack of money may influence women's participation in the
informal economy, but perhaps to a lesser degree that many may at first imagine. Some
women choose to become self-employed because that employment facilitates a greater
degree of flexibility (as discussed above), personal freedom, and increased agency. Even
"women's perceptions of poverty may well be contingent upon the power they
themselves have over money and the degree to which the generation, allocation, and use
of income is dictated by their spouses or used as an instrument of male control.,,163
From the outside, it may be common to think that women who work in the informal
economy do it solely because of necessity; the passage, and the discussion below reveal
otherwise.
162 See generally NAFTA FROM BELOW, supra note 26.
163 Sylvia Chant, Female Household Headship, Privation, and Power: Challenging the
"Feminization ofPoverty" Thesis, in OUT OF THE SHADOWS: POLITICAL ACTON AND THE
INFORMAL ECONOMY IN LATIN AMERICA 126, 143 (Patricia Fernandez-Kelly & Jon
Shefne eds., 2006).
73
If faced with the choice between managing a household by herself, or managing a
household with a man, women may choose relative poverty in exchange for increased
agency: "[w]hen [women] manage households without men, for instance, they may have
fewer material resources but experience greater personal empowerment and even security
than they do in situations where male earnings do not translate regularly or substantially
into disposable income for domestic use.,,164 When women control their household
finances, they may experience personal empowerment at creating the income-generating
strategy, exerting the strategy, and providing for their families and themselves. Take, for
instance, the situation of women who face a dissolution of a partnership: "While
financial pressures may force some women to search for other partners following
conjugal breakdown, it is also significant that most female heads in the case study
localities choose to remain alone rather than return to ex-partners or to form new
relationships.,,165 These passages reveal that women take into account the experience of
agency, flexibility, and freedom from abuse when judging their options; a purely
financial analysis fails to reveal all of the elements in play.
Women may, in fact, value the experience of agency and empowerment more than
tangible material wealth.
[C]ontrary to conventional wisdom, female-headed households often have
comparable, if not higher levels of per capita income than their male­
headed counterparts.... Accepting too that poverty is not just a material
164 I d. at 143.
165 A general failing ofthe market-based capitalist system which fails to allocate for
intangible aspects of life such as empowerment and satisfaction, or, in the environmental
field, for value to the ecological community as a whole.
74
state, but a perceptual one influenced by feelings of vulnerability, power,
and control over resources, it is interesting that many female heads not
only declare that they are better-off without men but sometimes forfeit
material assets (a spouse's wage, a family home, and so on) in the interests
of enhancing the overall or longer-term well-being of their households. 166
Chant points to the link between the experience of poverty and feelings of vulnerability
and lack of control. Essentially, two women living in households with equal income may
feel varying degrees of poverty; the woman with relative power and control over her
resources will likely experience less poverty than the woman who lacks that control. The
experience of agency and empowerment contribute so much to feelings of relative wealth
that women may even forgo material assets that a spouse, father, or brother could provide
in the interest of the overall well-being of the household. 167 The willingness of women to
forgo material wealth in exchange for a greater experience of agency and well-being
demonstrates that empowerment and agency are, in some circumstances, actually valued
more highly than material wealth.
Departing from the theoretical background, at this point I tum to a discussion of
the practical aspects of female self-employment in Mexico. I explore the types of
income-generating activities that women engage in, and how women create the space for
those activities inside the home. Throughout this section, I refer primarily to an article by
Silvia Lopez Estrada. Lopez Estrada analyzes women's home-based work. While most
of women's participation in the informal economy is home-based work, note that other
166 I d. at 144.
167 For example, take the specific instance of dividing food at meal time. As is
customary, men are generally given the best portions of food, while women place the
needs of their children ahead of their own. The hierarchy of man, male children, female
children, mother shifts when women establish themselves as the head of household.
75
possibilities for participation are also possible. In general, "[t]he nature of home-based
work is diverse, ranging from commerce and service occupations-such as the processing
of foodstuffs, the production of handicrafts, the marketing of groceries or catalogue
merchandise (Tupperware, cosmetics, clothes), child care, hairstyling and sewing-to
professional services-such as dentistry, accounting, and cosmetology.,,168
In order to balance the domestic duties associated with being a wife and mother
and home-based work, women arrange their schedules, physical space, and priorities
accordingly, often utilizing a great deal of creativity. For example,
a worker who prepared food preferred to work on the weekend because
she felt less pressure to care for her children and husband in terms of
preparing their meals and doing their laundry. For some workers, another
important reason for working weekends was that the product they sold was
in greater demand at that time. This was particularly true for a woman
who baked cakes for birthdays, weddings, and other events, since these
usually take place on the weekend. Many women worked by appointment
because that gave them flexibility. If the client could not keep an
appointment, she or he could call to postpone or cancel and, being at
home, the woman home worker could continue doing domestic chores,
something that would not have been possible if she was working outside
the home. 169
Estrada points to the flexibility inherent in at-home work and notes that women may
appreciate that flexibility as related to the ability to work during a particular time of day,
week, season, or periodically, as shaped by an upcoming event. Many women choose to
complete work on the weekends to minimize the conflict between family demands,
168 Lopez Estrada, supra note 152, at 173.
169 Id at 179-80.
76
availability of physical space, and work. 170 However, women were also comfortable
adjusting their work schedule to accommodate the needs of their family. Some women
worked for a particular goal (for example, to pay for a daughter's quiencefiera, a major
rite of passage for young women in Mexico), while others decided whether or not to take
in more work based on the needs of their families. 171
Additionally, to restate the obvious, at-home work allows women to maintain a
physical presence in the home while participating in the informal economy. While this
point seems obvious, the associated benefits merit consideration. A woman working
from home can take care of her children when required, does not have to spend hours
away from home traveling to and from her job site, does not have to find childcare, is not
put out when a client cancels or re-schedules, and can adjust her work schedule as
necessary judging from the needs and demands of her family life. Unlike women who
work in the maquiladoras, at-home workers are able to complete domestic tasks such as
the shopping and cooking. Women working in the maquiladoras are hard pressed to
complete these tasks because of the long hours required by their employers, the great
travel times to and from the workplace, and because stores are often not open for business
in the evening hours, when these women return from work.
In spite of the potential benefits of at-home work, some women experience such
work as a strain on their domestic lives and on personal boundaries:
170 I d. at 187.
171 I d. at 189.
77
Although this flexibility in organizing time seems to work well for some
women, others find that it leads to working longer, harder days than if they
had been employed in a formal occupation. For example, Mariana, a
seamstress, worked while her husband and children were sleeping, and
Tony, a distributor of pharmaceutical products, had clients who came to
her home at all hours. 172
In these situations, the at-home work interferes unduly with domestic life, and because
the work takes place at home, no physical boundaries that exist in other workplace
settings are present. For example, clients would not be able to acquire pharmaceuticals at
a formal place of business at all hours; clients showing up at all hours of the night would
be incredibly disruptive to domestic life, even though potentially beneficial to clients.
Women may also simultaneously carry out domestic tasks and income-generating
activities (what Estrada terms "reproductive" and "productive" tasks, respectively)
simultaneously, as in the instance of a seamstress doing the family's laundry while
sewing. J73 But, certain activities render this impossible, such as dentistry, which requires
a great deal of concentration. 174 Home conditions often not right for the job and make the
tasks more difficult than they would be in a space with better lighting, ventilation, and
storage. 175 Work may also be interrupted by the needs of children and other family
members. 176
172 Id at 180.
173 Id
174 Id
175 Id
176 Id at 187.
78
Overall, "women interviewed in this study expressed their satisfaction with their
work. The working-class women said that their work was necessary for the survival of
their families."I77 However,
[m]iddle-class professional women experienced contradictory feelings
about family and work. Intrusion of home-based work into family life
caused them to perceive that they were not adequately performing their
maternal roles. In their narratives, they gave priority to being a mother,
but, in practice, this was a source of conflict for them because they wanted
to continue doing their paid work. Because being a home worker was also
an important part of their identity, these women could not ignore those
occupations and the meanings attached to them. 178
Notably, this sense of ambiguity was greatest among middle-class women; these women
are seen as having the "option" of whether to take up work in addition to the domestic
duties of a mother and wife. Where working class women worked to ensure the survival
of their families, middle-class women do not face that same pressure. However, both
middle-class and working-class women derive a great deal of worth and enjoyment from
their home work.
Women also noted that society granted less value to in home work as opposed to
work outside the home. 179 Estrada points out that "[p]eople' s perceptions about home-
based work seem to be attached to conventional definitions and the meaning of the home
as a nonworkplace.,,180 Women commented that the space in their home does not have
177 Jd at 190.
178 Jd
179 Jd at 191.
180 Jd
------------------_._------
79
the same appearance of a professional office that provides similar services (for instance, a
woman working as a dentist from her home would not likely have a waiting room or a
receptionist, which is what people have come to expect of their interfaces with medical
offices).181 The discrepancy between expectations of a professional environment and the
reality of home-based work environments serve to perpetuate the idea that women who
perform home-based work are not as socially valuable as women who work outside the
home. The problem of perception plagues women as they participate in the informal
economy and as they complete the domestic work associated with motherhood. Both
aspects of participation in the informal economy tend to be valued less than employment
outside of the home.
One author suggests the possibility of community collaboration in order to
strengthen the position of the relative participants: "The possibility for subsistence and
perhaps success for informal grassroots market economies is predicated upon the
presence of networks of cooperation that can help strengthen the position of informal
actors. Cooperation can help level the playing field and allow informal actors to compete
more successfully.,,182
The possibility of informal grassroots market economies is appealing in that it
raises consciousness of women's participation in the informal economy by bringing
181 Id.
182 Jose Itzigsohn, Neoliberalism, Markets, and Informal Grassroots Economies, in
OUT OF THE SHADOWS: POLITICAL ACTON AND THE INFORMAL ECONOMY IN LATIN
AMERICA 81,82 (Patricia Fernandez-Kelly & Jon Shefner eds., 2006).
80
together a critical mass of women participants and allowing them to engage with
consumers, or other members of the community. In this way, perhaps the grassroots
market approach would help women to gain more value in society as more and more
people were made aware that many women in their community do, in fact, contribute to
household earnings and economic production. Women might also find a support network
through the structure that the market would provide. Such a structure opens the potential
for shared childcare duties and communal meals. Additionally, the forum may provide a
space for women to share their experiences, strategize for the future, and to create
positive change.
Home-based work is a viable alternative to maquiladora work, especially in the
face of changing gender dynamics in the maquiladoras and increased migration of male
heads of household. The flexibility inherent to at-home work allows for adjustment to
changing dynamics. However, at times the income generated by participation in the
informal economy may not bring in enough money for women to provide for their
families. These women are likely to tum to other sources of income including sex work
and the maquiladoras.
Women, Grassroots Efforts, and NGO Formation
Mexican women face social challenges both inside and outside the maquiladoras.
One strategy increasingly in used to promote social mobilization among women in all
arenas is the formation of community-based grassroots groups. Grassroots organizing
can take many shapes and forms, from the formation of an NGO or community
81
organization to community education campaigns to small weekly meetings in someone's
kitchen. I consider participation in all of the above as strategies of resistance. When
women come together to figure out a way to confront a specific problem, to improve their
community, or to strategize in order to achieve social change, they are resisting the
dominant culture and society. In this section, I first establish the background of the
women's movement via grassroots organizing in Mexico. I then look at specific
strategies of resistance in response to the maquiladora industry and suggest ideas for the
future.
A core strategy of resistance utilized by women in Mexico (and Latin America as
a whole) is the formation of grassroots organizations and collectives-sometimes in the
shape ofNon-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). In my mind, women's collectives
(whether they take the shape of an informal women's group, a community organization,
or are formalized as an NGO) provide a forum for organizing efforts stemming from a
central mission or goal. They also provide a formal space for this organizing, and the
resulting social movements and activities, to take place. The creation of a space for
organizing activity to occur is important; in order to create social change, we must often
carve out spaces and places for concepts and ideas to take shape where none existed
before. In other words, social change does not materialize out of thin air. It requires
effort, planning, execution, collaboration, participation, education, and community buy-in
to manifest as a reality. Creating a conceptual space and physical place for the work to
happen are stones along the path to revolution.
82
Women's collectives tackle a wide range of topical subjects throughout the world.
A short description of the history ofNGOs in Mexico and Latin America provides a
context in which to analyze community organizing efforts more generally. "NGOs are
diverse institutions having two things in common: they are separate from any state or
government agency and they engage in social work or community organizing around
social issues.,,183 Historically, NGO formation in Latin America can be linked to:
(1) the 1960s U.S. economic plan for Latin America called the Alliance
for Progress, followed more recently by the neoliberal policies of the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); (2) the Catholic
Church's Second Vatican Council, which encouraged religious
organizations to work more closely with the poor; and, (3) the church's
Latin American Episcopal Conference in Medellin, Columbia, in 1968,
which also emphasized working with poor and marginalized groups.
In the wake of these events, one notes two basic types ofNGOs:
those that channel resources and administer projects funded and shaped by
the strategies of organizations like the U.S. Agency for International
Development (U.S. AID), and those that are supported by
nongovernmental actors like philanthropic foundations and are committed
to grassroots organizations. These more 'nongovernmental' NGOs, which
are more likely to have evolved from protest or resistance groups, are the
ones that tend to link themselves to and become a part of women's
movements.... [W]omen's NGOs can deepened the women's agenda by
mobilizing with global economic and political perspectives.
While virtually all NGOs may be categorized as resisting the cultural and social norms,
those funded by U.S. AID and other governmentally funded institutions often have a
distinct agenda as funding is tied to implementation of particular policy goals and
programs. As a result, I exclude this category ofNGOs and organizations from my
discussion. In contrast, the NGOs funded by philanthropic foundations and other
fundraising efforts are less inclined to be tied to an outside agenda (arguably, no NGO is
183 PENA, supra note 115, at 6.
completely free from outside influence as funding does inevitably influence
programming). The NGOs and collectives that have evolved as a result of grassroots
83
struggle, protest, or resistance movements, are the natural loci for the furtherance of the
women's rights movement. These are the groups that form the base of the following
discussion.
When women's collectives are employed in order to resist or change the social
norm, the internal structure of the organization can serve as a model for the change that
women wish to create in society. Author Milagros Pefia tackles this topic in her book
Latina Activists Across Borders:
Mexican and Mexican American women who form their own NGOs tend
to reject hierarchical forms of governance. In describing the
organizational structure of La Mujer Obrera (the Woman Worker) in El
Paso, its director, Marfa Antonia Flores, noted: "We do not have a
pyramid. We have a collective organization, an organization that
functions through a collective working, with respect, and collective unity.
Yes, within it we have a board of directors as any organization needs, ....
but the implementation of our work is a circular one as a collective, as
equals.,,184
The equality at work within the organizational structure of La Mujer Obrera models a
shift in hierarchy that would give women more power and a louder voice if embraced
throughout society at large. The women working within the group also gain the
experience of working within the model, and discover a new way of relating to one
another that will inevitably impact their relationships with their families and society l85:
184 Id at 17-18.
185 This statement stems from my own work in a non-profit dedicated to providing
women with access to women's healthcare, birth control, education, and reproductive
choice.
84
Social and personal crises bring women to [women's collectives] "to
network, to interact, an to communicate" on issues central to their needs
and from there to "influence, negotiate, and make decisions" that empower
them as a group. Moving from personal crises, which often begin in local
communities, to activism can be an important process in the development
f 1·· 1 . 186o a po lhca VOice.
Thus, the collective also serves as a mechanism to spur the transition from personal
empowennent to group empowennent, which is the base of community activism.
Women gravitate towards community collaboration and participation on a wide
variety of issues, depending on the needs present in their own lives and communities.
Pefia further elaborates on the topical foci of the organizations she studied:
Developing strategies to confront the forces of global capitalism is no easy
task, and it requires collaboration among like-minded people. Women in
the two communities I studied [Michoacan and EI Paso/Ciudad Juarez]
identified core issues that their NGOs address, including the
marginalization of women by a patriarchal system of dominance; violence
against women; the increasing number of single women who head
households and raise families while under- or unemployed; abuse of low­
income workers that affects women in particular ways; and health,
environmental, and other issues that link women to larger human-rights
concerns. 187
The topical list of issues tackled by women's collectives and NGOs reflects many of the
substantive issues addressed in this thesis, specifically, single women who head
households, the abuse of low-income workers, violence against women, and the health
and environmental issues associated with work in the maquiladoras. The scope of
already-existing organizations is expansive and broad; women may be enticed to join an
organization because it provides an existing structure and framework with which to
186 PENA, supra note 115, at 19.
1871d. at 21.
85
confront a particular problem. Also, in the instance where a collective has not yet been
formed to confront a specific problem, women may be able to look to an already-existing
organization to provide them with the structural framework that would allow for the
creation of a new organization.
Another important element of grassroots organizing is that it allows women who
share similar goals to collaborate and cooperate in spite of existing social hierarchies.
Historically, alliances across lines of race and class were not always characteristic of
women's activism in Mexico, however, those alliances formed over time to allow a
broadening of social movements throughout Mexico:
The study of women's activism in Mexico shows that what was elusive to
the movement in the 1970s, a convergence with women across class and
race lines, began to take shape in the mid-1980s. . .. What is particularly
important about the change is that women from a number of other
movements, primarily poor urban, rural, peasant, and indigenous groups,
made demands of what had been a predominantly academic and upper­
class women's movement. This is important for students of social
movements because poor people's movements throughout history have
made demands of societies and sometimes of other social movements.
The transformation of the Mexican women's movement underscores the
fact that social movements often impact each other, intentionally and
unintentionally.188
The formation of alliances between women from diverse classes and racial groups
allowed for an expansion of social movements in general; the work done in solidarity
between women of diverse backgrounds demonstrated that grassroots movements could
function to create social change, and thus, opened the door for the formation of new
social movements based on a similar organizational model. Marginalized groups were
188 I d. at 68.
86
then able to seize upon the opening created through alliances across race and class, and
use the organizational structure to further other goals.
Social movements do not exist in a vacuum; work done within one movement
impacts another movement, whether intentional or unintentional. There is a push and
pull that sometimes looks inward in self-examination, creating room for alliances, and, at
other times, calls for an exerted effort outward to push for specific elements of social
change. With this in mind, I examine the specific grassroots efforts through women's
organizations that stemmed from the expansion of the maquiladora industry along the
U.S.-Mexico border.
Case StudY: Ciudad Juarez
On the U.S.-Mexico border, women have formed organizations and NGO's which
have been used to confront problems related directly to the great number of assembly
plants located there. Unlike other areas of Mexico, activism along the border is
fundamentally shaped by border politics, and not by other ideologies of social change:
[T]he present-day women's movement on the U.S.-Mexico border is not
directly rooted in the Chicana/o movement or in the locally influential
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)-though these
movements have a legacy in the region. Rather, U.S.-Mexico border
politics shape women's NGO activism today, particularly in greater EI
Paso/Ciudad Juarez.189
Let me pause for a moment to consider the elements that comprise border politics.
Border politics is based on U.S. immigration policies-who can come in and out of the
U.S., and with what level of ease-and these core policies have a profound relationship
189 Id. at 70.
87
with labor in the border region. Many of the maquiladoras have offices in close
proximity on both sides of the border; the border between the United States and Mexico
does not halt the movement of money or goods across country lines. However, the
border does prevent the fluid movement of people, or labor, across country lines. In spite
of the barrier to the movement of people, the reality is that there are Mexican people
working in assembly plants, meatpacking plants, tortilla factories, etc. on both sides of
the border. U.S. immigration policy has a profound impact on the reality of who works
where, but, as we all know, it is not controlling. People still continue to immigrate the
United States without the proper papers.
The lack of a fluid labor policy that would allow workers to cross the U.S.­
Mexico border with ease creates a series of corollary issues that also contribute to border
.politics. These corollary issues include: the differing labor laws of Mexico and the
United States, the increased levels of poverty in Mexico as compared to the United
States, a myriad of problems that stem from finding work in Mexico or in the United
States as an immigrant without legal status, etc. These issues have shaped cross-border
organizing efforts and solidarity movements.
The geographical and cultural relationship between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso,
Texas illustrates a point I raised in Chapter I; a border between two countries runs
through these two towns, however, '''EI Paso and Juarez are two halves of a single
metropolis, sharing the same air, the same water, and the same future.",190 In spite of the
artificial line drawn between Mexico and the United States, albeit a line that has
190 I d. at 72 (citation omitted).
88
fundamental and profound effects on a great many people, the two cities are linked by a
bridge that spans the river separating them. I point this out to illustrate the connections
that connect the citizens of El Paso and Juarez, connections that are further extended by
the relationship between U.S. companies, the development of maquiladoras, and the
women's collectives that have stemmed out of these relationships.
Women who work in the maquiladoras are often immigrants from other areas in
Mexico. Because the maquiladoras historically provided jobs that were easy to obtain
and that commence immediately, providing a ready source of income, immigrant women
who obtain maquiladora jobs arrive in a new city and workplace with few, if any,
networks of support. These women are frequently apart from their families and distant
from their home towns. To counter these effects and to form spaces of solidarity, women
working in the maquiladoras engage in the formation of community networks.
Most women between the ages of fourteen and thirty-five ... as well as
migrant women of all ages, use social networks created through their
employment in maquiladora factories to achieve their autonomy.
Workplace networks may alleviate isolation and provide support that can
be helpful in this process. In most cases, success resulted from taking
advantage of contacts through informal work and voluntary work in non­
governmental organizations (NGOs). Therefore, gender solidarity through
this type of employment proves to be a valuable tool for migrant women
who lack other local connections and support.
Regarding maquiladora employment, all younger women interviewed
expressed that it is the most accessible job available. Therefore, they were
likely to take maquiladora jobs upon arrival or when all other options have
failed. When asked their interpretation of their experience as maquiladora
workers, 75 percent of younger women of migrant origin reported that
maquiladora employment offered them the option to establish valuable
social contacts. These contacts allowed them to experience the sense of
support and solidarity missing in other personal circles or at their place of
origin. Consequently, it provided the opportunity to enlarge women's
89
networks and offered a potential means towards autonomy and freedom
from violence. l91
As explained in this passage, the organizations and NGOs served various functions for
young maquiladora workers: they provided women with community networks and
systems of support that allowed them to experience greater autonomy than they did prior
to working in the maquiladora,192 they were instrumental in creating a space for gender
solidarity, they served as a springboard for the formation and extension of other women's
networks, and in this way, potentially encouraged women to seek autonomy and a life
free of violence. According to Bergareche's account, these women made astounding
changes in their own lives and in the lives of other women via participation in grassroots
orgamzmg.
While the organizations described above focus on countering the negative effects
of life within the maquiladoras, other organizations formed to counter the negative effects
of the maquiladoras on Ciudad Juarez. The influx of maquiladoras located in Ciudad
Juarez severely impacted the organization and structure of the city. Pefia relates the
emergence of one organization to the growth of the maquiladora industry in Ciudad
Juarez:
As Monreal Molina noted, the emergence of OPI coincided with the
growth of the maquiladora industry:
191 Ana Bergareche, The Roots ofAutonomy though Work Participation in the Northern
Mexico Border Region, in WOMEN AND CHANGE AT THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER:
MOBILITY, LABOR, AND ACTIVISM 91,96 (Doreen J. Mattingly & Ellen R. Hansen eds.,
2006).
192 Interestingly, women who come to work in the maquiladoras may experience a greater
degree of support and solidarity than they did at "their place of origin."
90
"This [the coming of the maquiladoras] had everything to do with the
way city politics were oriented in favor of the installation of the
maquiladoras. That is to say, the urban infrastructure, lights, and public
services that were directed to areas where industrial parks were being
constructed. That had a lot to do with the demands at that time, demands
for basic public services, demand for water, drainage, electrification, and
paved roads. At first, it seemed almost a privilege to be in areas where
they were going to put a maquiladora. Instead it was local residents, not
the maquiladoras, who were charged for putting in the infrastructure."
In response to the tension with local residents, federal monies were
channeled to pay for the infrastructure to attract the factories. But Ciudad
Juarez residents continued to be upset that no subsidies were earmarked
for the colonias, which were straining the city's budget. And as
maquiladoras grew more numerous so did the colonias, as new waves of
migrants came to Ciudad Juarez for maquiladorajobs.193
As we see from Molina's description, as Juarez changed shape due to the expansion of
the maquiladora industry, existing neighborhoods and communities were denied services
in exchange for extending those services to the colonias (or shanty-towns) where the
maquiladora workers were to be housed. I have looked at a wide array of pictures of
these colonias online, and I can say that they are in no way luxurious. Most of the
colonias lack basic services including access to electricity. But, even the cost of the basic
infrastructure, including dirt roads, shacks, washing areas, took away from the citizens
who were already living in the city. Notably, the maquiladoras did not bear this cost, the
city and the existing residents did.
As citizens responded to the injustice of being asked to shoulder the cost of the
new infrastructure that would directly benefit the multinational corporations that run the
maquiladoras, and not the citizens of Juarez themselves, a group formed the Organizaci6n
Popular Independiente (Popular Independent Organization or OPI). The OPI protested
193 PENA, supra note 115, at 76-77.
91
"that government officials had laid out a red carpet for the maquiladoras at the expense of
local residents.,,194 OPI organized to confront the root issues created by maquiladora
employment, including: efforts by maquiladora employers to avoid unionization and
labor rights, efforts to avoid demands for better pay by threatening to return the company
to the United States, the sexism that permeates the employment environment, and the
problems of homelessness that result from increased migration to the region by people
seeking maquiladora jobs, but finding none. While many of these problems still remain
in Ciudad Juarez, now there is a network of support waiting to support women of all
backgrounds who confront the repercussions of the maquiladoras.
Women's grassroots activism in Ciudad Juarez also provided a forum for social
organizing in response to the numerous murders of women along the border. 195
[T]he murders of women in recent years along the U.S.-Mexico border has
heightened awareness not only of violence against women but also of the
plight of migrants, many of women die of dehydration and other causes
while trying to cross the desert. Women's NGOs on the U.S.-Mexico
border have emerged to engage in this human rights arena, "constantly
struggling to promote their agenda on both sides of the border because for
many of them human rights issues transcend the border.,,196
194 Id. at 77
195 For a comprehensive film on the topic, see Senorita Extraviada by Lourdes Portillo,
which details the efforts of families to find their daughters who were kidnapped and, in
most cases, murdered. Lourdes makes the connection between the impunity of the police
and judges and the lack of responses in the kidnapping cases. Additionally, she connects
the murders to employment in maquiladoras owned by U.S. businessmen. SENORITA
EXTRAVIADA (Women Make Movies 2001).
196 PENA, supra note 115, at 78.
92
Officials "investigating" the murders were quick to dismiss the case and failed to take the
murders seriously.197 What little information about the murders that is publicly available
is largely due to the efforts of a few valiant journalists, the filmmakers who made
Senorita Extraviada, and the families of the women who were murdered who would not
stop pushing until their deaths were vindicated. 198 Those few people who have truly
investigated the murders in Juarez have connected the murders to the maquiladoras,199
197 SENORITA EXTRAVIADA, supra note 195.
198 Often these efforts put the families at risk. Id.
199 Id. The popular perception of the murders was complicated by the question of
whether the women who were murdered were leading "double lives" or whether they
were "good girls." Melissa W. Wright, Public Women, Profit, and Femicide in Northern
Mexico, 105 S. ATLANTIC Q. 681, 74 (2006). "The implication was that 'good girls' do
not go out at night, and since most of these victims disappeared in the dark, they probably
were not good girls." Id. The local police then used this narrative to treat the
investigation of the murders dismissively. However, women's groups
have countered these murder narratives with a version of the victims as
hardworking and poor members of the community who deserve more
public attention than they are receiving. Through editorial writing and
public appearances, they warn that a "climate of violence against women"
pervades the city. They identify male jealousy of wives' /girlfriends'
economic independence and sexual and social liberty as motivating factors
behind the crimes as well as behind police reluctance to treat the murders
seriously. And they have met with the principal maquiladora trade
association (Maquiladora Association, or AMAC) in the city to ask for
assistance in curbing the violence. During such meetings, the message has
been repeated that, even though thousands of workers have to cross unlit,
unpatrolled, and remove stretches of desert as they make their way to the
buses that stop only on main thoroughfares, and even as many victims
disappear while on such commutes, there is nothing that the industry can
do to stop the violence (Author interview with activist Esther Chavez in
1998). Rather, the industry's stance is that no degree of funding for
security personnel, or outlays for improved streetlighting, or in-house self­
defense workshops, or changes to production schedules will help.
This position has not changed noticeably even in light of more obvious
connections linking maquiladora industrial activity with the murders,
93
This tragic connection heightens the need for collaboration between NGOs and grassroots
efforts in order to tie together work being done to counter the negative effects of the
maquiladoras on local communities and the realization of human rights for women in
those same communities, not to mention the role of the police and justice system in
ensuring that the murders remained unsolved?OO
Even now, in the atmosphere of violence perpetuated by drug-related killings,
women in Ciudad Juarez refuse to let the public, government, and media forget the
murders.201
For the Future
Women's grassroots organizing efforts proved to be a useful tool for women in
the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. However, the organizing efforts face challenges; these
challenges come primarily in the form of funding problems and conflict among the
NGOs?02 In spite of these challenges, women's grassroots organizing efforts continue to
serve as an outlet for women who wish to create social change. Pella returns to an
Id. at 76-77.
200 SENORITA EXTRAVIADA, supra note 195.
201 Elisabeth Malkin, As Mexican Killings Rise, Groups Take Envoy to Task, NEW YORK
TIMES, Apr. 12,2009,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/world/americas/13envoy.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
(women's groups protesting the appointment of Francisco Barrio Terranzas as Mexico's
ambassador to Canada due to his misogynistic reactions to the murders of women in
Juarez and his willingness to let the perpetrators live in impunity).
202 PENA, supra note 115, at 134-41.
94
example that she presented at the beginning of her book, where one woman noted the
similarity between the words "femenismo" (feminism) and "fe-en-mi-mismo" (faith in
myself). "[A]s ... grassroots women's [organizations] ... strive[] to accomplish in
empowering women to activism, feminist visions can indeed begin with developing "fe-
en-mi-mismo" or faith in oneself. ,,203
The struggle to define the term "feminism" has permeated the grassroots women's
rights movement in Latin America since its inception; feminism originated in a middle-
upper class movement that did not necessarily include/encompass the interests and
points-of-view oflower-class women, particularly women with coming from different
paradigms that contrasted with the euro-centric perspective that shaped the mainstream
feminist movement. Many female activists in Latin America have noted this discrepancy
and have "call[ed] for a grounding of feminist visions by incorporating grassroots
women's contributions into them.,,204 The dialogue between women of different classes,
racial groups, geographies, and country lines must continue as the movement progresses.
The history of the women's rights movement in Mexico and Latin America provides a
wealth of information and is a model of inclusivity and grassroots work. The work done
by Mexican women via grassroots efforts has already exerted a profound effect on the
maquiladora industry and in changing the perception of women's roles in society.
203Id at 146.
204 Id For other accounts of feminist visions and activism in Latin America, see
RIGOBERTA MENCm) & ELISABETH BURGOs-DEBRAY, ME LLAMO RIGOBERTA MENCHU Y
Asi ME NACIO LA CONCIENCIA (1985); DOMITILA BARRIOS DE CHUNGARA, DOMITILA &
MOEMA VIEZZER "SI ME PERMITEN HABLAR ... ": TESTIMONIO DE DOMITILA, UNA MUJER
DE LAS MINAS DE BOLIVIA (1982); RUTH BEHAR, TRANSLATED WOMAN: CROSSING THE
BORDER WITH ESPERANZA'S STORY (2003).
95
However, this tool will prove useful as women continue to combat against the economic
and social challenges facing them today.
96
CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSION
The economic environment in Mexico has shifted dramatically as a result of
NAFTA and, more generally, globalization. Maquiladora workers have experienced
these shifts acutely due to the lack of labor protections in NAFTA and under Mexico's
labor laws. Additionally, the economic shifts have a disparate impact on women,
particularly indigenous women, who meet with increasing gender-specific violence and
pressure to support themselves and their families. As men displace women in the
maquiladoras, women engage in various strategies of resistance in order to survive.
Some women resist the cultural norms within the maquiladoras in an effort to challenge
the status quo, or in an effort to further the business objective of the corporation-to run
an efficient line. Other women have turned to the informal economy in order to bring in
money for themselves and their families. These women have engaged in creative
strategies to allow for their sun ivaI. These and other women participate in community
organizing efforts in order to tackle social change. While these strategies do not solve the
myriad of problems women face in northern Mexico, they do provide a starting point, a
space for hope to grow.
As drug-related violence in Mexico increases, women will likely face increased
threats of violence and economic pressure. In the face of these threats, women may be
able to capitalize on some of the strategies discussed in this thesis. With respect to legal
97
remedies, women should continue to use social organizing mechanisms in conjunction
with legal strategies for change. Community organizing could prove to be an effective
mode through which to achieve a change in the enforcement of Mexico's constitutional
labor protections. Additionally, women along Mexico's northern border may also wish to
tum to international human rights legal instruments such as the Convention on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which Mexico ratified in July
of 1980.205 Organizing efforts may also seek to partner with attorneys, both in Mexico,
and across the border in the hopes of utilizing legal tools. Cross-border NGOs may be a
valuable place to forge this connection.
In the future, I would like to expand the research reflected in this thesis with an
empirical study done in Mexico, tracing the migration patterns of specific women and
families, through Mexico and to the United States. This is a large-scale idea that would
require extensive funding, but it would help to shed a great deal of light on the
connections between the post-NAFTA economic shifts in Mexico and patterns of
employment and migration.
This thesis holds a great deal of importance to me on a personal level. As I am
about to graduate from law school, I have been reflecting a great deal on my career path.
A mentoring attorney told me that I should imagine what type of attorney or professional
I would like to be towards the end of my career, and then work backwards with that goal
in mind. I see this thesis as a step in that trajectory. In my past professional life, I
worked with immigrant women, particularly Latina women, in the arenas of women's
205 See United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, Department of
Economic and Social Affairs, http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/states.htrn.
health, birth, and advocacy. In the future, I would also like to maintain my connection
with Latina women as a friend, attorney, advocate, and policy-maker. I hope that in
writing this thesis I can better understand the realities that women face on both sides of
the border.
98
99
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