Maquiladoras

The readings focus on the way people in these Mexican shops known as maquiladoras are exploited. In these shops about 70 percent of the workforce are women who are often treated unfairly, discriminated against and paid extremely low wages. “Keeping cost down is precisely the reason companies insist on the test.” ( IWS 465 ) This quote which refers to women who are given pregnancy tests as a requirement to be eligible to be hired at one of these factories I thought showed a very good point about how women are discriminated against and that the goal of these companies is simply to make a profit without any regard for the health or safety of the workers they employ. It is important to take an intersectional approach when studying this phenomena of maquiladoras to understand exactly how the U.S. companies exploit these people especially when and basically use them as slave labor to keep cost low and profits high. These women are often faced with extreme poverty and often have little choice besides taking these jobs in order to simply survive and make enough to pay for food and some second hand clothing. And instead of spending the money they make in factories in their local towns many travel to the U.S. to purchase things for cheaper which further hinders the local economies where these people are residing.

“Mothers who work on the assembly lines often have no choice but to leave their children at home to look after themselves, and they often turn to drugs and gang violence as they get older.” ( IWS 467 ) Since many mothers with children are forced to work in factories at these low paying jobs to try to help out an provide for their families children are often left to fend for themselves leading to a cycle of poverty and gang violence. These women also often times fall victim to sexual harassment in the work place where there are little regulations to protect them. Because of the lack of opportunities many of the Mexican people are faced with as it is apparent in these stories many are migrating to the United States in hopes for a better life away from these maquiladoras. At least in the United States they will be able to find jobs where minimum wage as not been surpressed like it said it had been in this story. Also the work environments will be much safer without being exposed to hazardous chemicals which the people are not only exposed to at work but the vegetables they rely on for food are irrigated with water polluted by the factories. It is important to understand the many different risk factors that the women who work in these factories face that is why an intersectional approach is necessary.