Sweat Shops in Mexico Essay

     As companies grow larger and more competitive, they are looking for cheaper ways to produce their wares and increase their profit. That is, after all, how companies are able to succeed, by giving their customers a comparable product for a cheaper price. This increases sales and the overall bottom line. Which seems to be a beneficial plan for both the companies and the consumers. That is, as long as the consumers don’t know how the product is being produced. The places that produce these products for an extremely cheap cost are called “Sweatshops”. A sweatshop is a small manufacturing establishment in which employees work long hours under substandard conditions for low wages. Sweatshops came about

Over the years, women have been key participants in the work force, labor unions, and strikes. Recently, women have taken part in organizing the labor in the maquiladoras in Mexico. The duty-free assembly plants located on the U.S./Mexican border, known as maquiladoras, have threatened and abused their workers and repeatedly ignored the labor laws. Women have begun to take a stand and fight for their rights as well as for their fellow workers.

In one case, Alma Molina, a worker in the electrical parts industry of Juarez, was laid off from her job after it was discovered that she was associated with other workers who were attempting to organize a union. From that point on, it was very difficult for Molina to find another job because she had been blacklisted by her former employer. [3] Fortunately, organizing campaigns are slowly started to emerge. Jaime Cota of the Workers Information Center in Tijuana says, “While we still have a long way to go, there are now more than 30 different groups trying to organize independent unions in the maquiladoras,” “We're trying to bring all those groups together so we can build a more effective movement.” There are many social issues associated with maquiladoras because of the mistreatments that the workers face on a day to day basis. Often times, maquiladora workers are exposed to dangerous chemicals and machinery with little to no protection. [4] These manufacturing operations are a serious concern to the Mexican society and need to be appropriately addressed by both governments and private companies

Increasing the wages of employees would make a point against the misogynistic view that poverty-stricken women are an ideal source of cheap labor. This stems from an academic article, “Murder in Juarez: Gender, Sexual Violence, and the Global Assembly Line”, written by Jessica Livingston. In the article she states, “If this male resentment and hostility was not tolerated by Mexican authorities, and if it could also be reduced with more egalitarian and better paying working conditions, perhaps the murdering of women in Juárez would also cease” (71). High male unemployment after the establishment of NAFTA meant men in the local Juárez area had and still do have to look for work elsewhere, often north of the border, because the new job openings targeted mainly young women. This gender bias causes violent repercussions against innocent women and girls merely attempting to make a living. This does not apply only to the maquiladora plants, but to other multinational corporations NAFTA enticed with cheap Hispanic

313). A maquiladora is a Mexican Corporation located in central Mexico or the US/Mexico border that receives imported goods such as machinery and electronics to assemble in factories by workers. These imported goods are then exported back to the United States in addition to other countries. Women are preferred to work in maquiladoras as they are less likely to report workplace abuse, have little to no education, and own no phone or car (Navarro 2). In maquiladoras, these women are exposed to unsafe equipment, poorly designed workstations, extreme varied weather, and poor lighting among other issues (Abell 597). As a result, they suffer from a myriad of health problems as well as poor reproductive

maquiladoras were required to locate within 20 miles of an international border or coastline, but to this day the regulation of the maquiladora industries have change a tremendous amount.. In 2000, 57% of the adult population lived in the capital region, in which Mexico City is located, or in surrounding central states. During the 1990s, the share of the population in the border region, in which most maquiladoras are located, rose slightly from 17% to 18%. This small increase in the border population is remarkable, given the dramatic growth in maquiladora employment and in the population of large cities, such as Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, that occurred in the region. Border employment has grown primarily through firms attracting workers from

The maquiladora industry has had a major impact on the lives of its employees. A documentary from 2006 Maquilapolis, by Vicky Funario and Sergio de la Torre, show different women talking about the type of products they assemble, from filters, toys, batteries, and electrical parts to automobile parts. In 1960, when maquiladoras emerged in border cities, it changed people’s perspective for better opportunities and a better future. The majority of people working in the maquiladoras were women. The reason for that was because women were considered to have smaller hands and could assemble the parts faster and more efficiently than men. Some of the women in the interviews talked about having to work double shifts and even night shifts, leaving their children home alone without sufficient

As a major contributor to the global economy, Mexico’s sweatshops have contributed to the United States’ wealth and economic growth. It is the unfortunate truth that many individual workers have suffered as a result of this prosperity. The sweatshops, known as maquiladoras, are in debate because of the ethical and lawful reasoning behind their existence and conditions. How can we, as a First-world nation, allow such industries to exist where people are denied basic and fundamental human rights? What, if any, laws and regulations are put into place for the maquiladoras? Are these laws and regulations hindering, harmful, or helpful? Are they enforced emphatically? If not, how does this affect development? After

The maquiladora industry has had a major impact on the lives of its employees. A documentary from 2006 Maquilapolis, by Vicky Funario and Sergio de la Torre, show different women talking about the type of products they assemble, from filters, toys, batteries, and electrical parts to automobile parts. In 1960, when maquiladoras emerged in border cities, it changed people’s perspective for better opportunities and a better future. The majority of people working in the maquiladoras were women. The reason for that was because women were considered to have smaller hands and could assemble the parts faster and more efficiently than men. Some of the women in the interviews talked about having to work double shifts and even night shifts, leaving their children home alone without sufficient care and the attention children require. All done in order to survive

In Mexico, the maquiladoras are a great and beneficial source for the economy, rising up their earnings and wasting little money on their employees. Maquiladoras are own by large corporations, which they only seek for more earnings by establishing these maquiladoras in profitable locations. These corporations know exactly where to locate their maquiladoras, within near poor communities, where families are in need of jobs to put food on the table. The majority of the maquiladoras mainly hire women that are willing to work under harsh conditions. These women obtain unfair treatment and low quality of work conditions, and the reason some of these women continue to work for the maquiladoras is because they need the job to support their families. Also, maquiladoras are known for paying slightly higher wages than common jobs in which women had worked before. Though, these conditions for working in maquiladoras does violates these women’s human rights and the mistreatment they received from working long tough hours can cause serious problems to their health. The maquiladoras in Mexico are always looking for cheap labor in order to “pay less and make more”, creating a social injustice on women working for maquiladoras. Numerous women working for maquiladoras are view as objects of labor and nothing more, these corporations take advantage by putting the women’s body under extreme corrupt working conditions. Maquiladoras owned by these large corporations that are from countries in

In the United States, there are more than 30 million people who work in jobs that pay poverty wages and provide few if any benefits (Low, 2015). The lowest income bracket has been getting increasingly poorer and since 1968, the real value of the minimum wage has progressively declined (Dietrich, 2004). Most low-wage employers do not offer health insurance to their employees and if they do, premiums are too high for employees to afford. Sick pay and retirement benefits are not likely to exist in these types of jobs. Due to a lack of training or continuing education benefits, most workers are unable to advance themselves and are locked into these low-wage positions. Although many people assume that fast food restaurants and large chain stores are the only low-wage employers, they are wrong as low-wage, low-reward jobs are all around us and include such jobs as security guards, nurse’s aides, child-care workers, pharmacy assistants, and hair dressers. Low-wage service workers have little power to change their situations as many political, economic and corporate decisions have weakened the bargaining power of the average worker (Low, 2015). Unions that once negotiated contracts that propelled autoworkers, steelworkers, machinists, and truck drivers to middle-class status have grown weaker over the years (Greenhouse, 2015). Currently, only 11 percent of workers belong to a union which is a far drop from the 35 percent back in the 50’s and 60’s (Greenhouse,

Labor’s deterioration has made working environments undesirable: low wages, high inequality, and insecure work. Not only has the decline in the labor movement made work conditions worse, but it helped elect president Donald Trump. Although we need unions now more than ever, the impact that they bring is questionable. Within the past 7 years, several class actions were ruled against, and now that Republicans hold on to all three houses, the importance of democratic unionization may be absent. For now, small, collective actions are needed to be brought to economist’s attention to help improve precariousness in

The main argument against the creation of sweatshops is that there several ethical violations involved in running a sweatshop. Multinational corporations play an important role in creating opportunities for people in less developed countries but they also perform a substantial role in regulating and maintaining ethical working conditions. The working conditions in sweatshops are often long hours, low

emerges in the world. “Mexico has a $1.26 trillion economy, making it the 13th largest economy in the world, and the 11th taking into account power purchasing parity” (Wikipedia). Mexico is a great trader with the United States as it shares borders, culture, money being sent from immigrants to their families, and its heavily exportation of oil to our nation. Yet, there are many other countries that are willing to make investments with Mexico, looking for opportunity to grow for themselves. Although Mexico has been showing to be one of the largest growing nations it has also faced and is still facing today economic issues. “In spite of its growth, there are enormous gaps in Mexico that remain between the urban and the rural population, the

Mexico’s economy is placed at position number eleven when it comes to purchasing power and at position thirteen in nominal terms (IMF, 2017). Its economy has over the past 22 years become oriented towards manufacturing since the NAFTA become effective. The country’s per capita income is approximately one third that of the united states, with the distribution of income remaining largely unequal. The country is the third largest source of imports and largest export market in the US. In 2014 alone, two-way exchange of products totaled to $590 billion (World Bank, 2017). The country has free trade arrangements with forty-six countries. In the near term, the Mexican economy remains susceptible to external pressures such