Meeting Mexican Women Laborers after the NAFTA (2)
By Park Nam-hee
Published: September 16, 2011
Translated by Gayoung Yoon
Lives of Women Laborers
in the Free Trade Zone
On
August 19th, I travelled 4 hours by bus to visit the Tehuacán free trade zone. During my 2-day
visit I met women laborers who work there. They produce famous-brand jeans.
 |
| I met women laborers in the Tehuacán free trade zone. ©Park Nam-hee |
However,
this scene has changed since the jeans companies with foreign capital have
relocated factories to other Central American countries like Nicaragua and
Honduras, where labor costs are cheaper. There were 75,000 employed laborers in
2001, but the number has now dropped to 45,000. Most of the laborers are women.
A basic
daily wage is 65 pesos (about 6,500 KRW) and more is added depending on the
numbers of jeans produced, through a “temporary worker system.” When there is a heavy workload, they have to work all night
long,
but it is difficult to make a living when the workload is light.
Women
laborers I met here have worked in the free trade zone from at the shortest 8
years to 20 at the longest.
However,
they said
with one voice that the working conditions are becoming not better but worse
instead. It is mainly due to the
loss of jobs caused by the
unforeseen relocation of factories
to other areas or countries.
I also
worked as a laborer at a sewing factory for a long time in the Seoul Guro
industrial complex (the “Guro
digital complex”
at present). There were large-scale sewing factories in the industrial complex, but they were gradually replaced by small subcontract
factories. Even those have now
disappeared, and what is left is near cottage-industry standards. In search of cheaper
labor costs,
these factories have moved to China, other Asian countries, South America, and to the Kaesong Industrial Park in North Korea.
Enjoying Festivity at Gathering to Call for Clearance of Overdue
Wages
I visited a group meeting
where women were striving for full payment of overdue wages. A woman laborer I
met there said she had worked for 20 years at a factory where they produced famous
brand-name jeans. However, the factory did not pay the wages it owed her when
it was shut down. In July, she started to take action in order to receive these
unpaid wages.
Gifts from members of the production community--a bag and a
t-shirt with the community logo ©Park Nam-hee
The meeting I attended was a
place where people explain about legal procedures for receiving overdue wages
and discuss funding for their struggle. As a sewing laborer and as a labor
activist I shared my experiences and stories with them.
We also experienced the same
situation as these Mexican laborers. We underwent an industrial restructuring at
the end of the 1980s, and many women laborers who worked in sewing, shoe-making
and electronic factories lost their jobs. After that, most of the women
laborers had no real choice but to work as irregular employees in restaurants,
service industries, and affiliated workshops. The reality of women laborers in Tehuacán was not very different from
what we went through in Korea.
At the meeting, we made tacos,
Mexican traditional food. Women from the community also joined in our joyful
dinner. One shared meal became a cheerful community event. While I was spending
an evening with them, I thought of things Koreans have forgotten, and how we feed
ourselves with convenient or delivery food because of our busy lifestyles.
Moreover, we live in a society
where happiness is defined by material possessions such as expensive food,
brand-name clothing and a nice house with fancy furniture and electronics. In
the meantime, we have lost community festivities like sharing food. In the past
when we did not have much, sharing a meal had a great value. We shared although
we knew that none of us had enough. Mexican women received me, a traveller from
far away, with their heartfelt hospitality.
The Story of
Reina – a Tehuacán Indigenous Woman
Reina, who organized a labor
center called “Colective Obreras Insumisas,” is a daughter of Tehuacán indigenous people. She was
born and raised in this region. She worked for 10 years as a laborer in the
free trade zone. She became aware of labor rights and women’s issues when she
joined a labor education program. She now works to coordinate laborers.
Indigenous woman Reina, who work to organize women laborers ©Park Nam-hee
The labor center that Reina
organized was established 2 years ago. They provide laborers with education
programs on labor legislation, the function of labor unions, maternity
protection, and many other topics. They also screen movies for people from the community.
This group has become more
active since 2010, when they opened a forum for the current situation of women
laborers. They also cooperate with various research centers and the regional
government in discussing policies in regard to women laborers. They work especially closely with the
regional government on the issue of setting up child day-care centers and making
written agreements between the free trade zone and laborers.
People said it is tremendously
difficult to form a labor union in Mexico, especially in the free trade zone. When
there is a sign of labor solidarity, the factories are prone to immediately shutting
down and relocating. Moreover, like Korea in the 1970s, there are labor unions
that are established by the companies, and thus it is another task to
reorganise a company-dominated union into a democratic union. Reina
enthusiastically stated that women laborers have to achieve unity and speak for
their rights in order to solve problems on their own.
She suffered from tuberculosis
while she was working for 10 years at a sewing factory. When we met, her nails
and toenails were pale and swollen because of heart problems. Despite her
health issues, she looked very energetic. Reina, with her hearty voice and laugh
and her active engagement in organizing women laborers, was truly beautiful.
Women who build
a Production Community for Self-Reliance
The labor center was also looking
for a way to organize a production community so that women laborers can stand
alone and work even after factories are relocated in other countries.
About 12 people are
participating in the production community where they recycle jeans and make
bags on order. They collect old jeans from universities, other social groups
and churches, and they also work hard on making new products.
Maria, who has worked in the
free trade zone for 18 years, said, “I know it is difficult to maintain a
production community and there are many failed cases. But factories are often
closing down and sewing laborers are losing jobs. That is why we keep on trying
to make hope on our own.”
In order to cope with poor
working conditions and tough living conditions, women laborers here in Mexico
are creating new alternatives by organizing themselves and working together.
Park
Nam-hee, who worked for 10 years with the Women’s Trade Union in Korea, has
been sending us stories of women laborers
whom she met during her travel in Mexico. Her stories, in a 5-part series, show
Mexican society in transition after the NAFTA between Mexico and the USA, and
women’s activities to cope with it.
*Original article:
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