Environmental Justice Case Study:
Maquiladora
Workers and Border Issues
By:
Elyse Bolterstein
 |
Table of Contents |
| Background | |
| Problem | |
| Key Actors |
|
| Strategies |
|
| Solutions |
|
| References |
|
| (EPA, 1999) |
Background
Within the last 30 years, the 2,000-mile border between the
United States and Mexico has become what the American Medical Association
calls, "a virtual cesspool and breeding ground for infectious disease
(Public Citizen, 2000)." The
causes of this unfortunate observation are the more than 3,000 manufacturing
plants that cover the Mexican border known as the “maquiladoras.” The maquiladoras are the mostly
American-owned factories along the Mexican border that assemble products for
export to U.S. markets (Nation’s Health, 1998).
The
Mexican maquiladora program, implemented in 1965, created a free trade
agreement for foreign companies to bring materials into the country for
manufacturing. The goal of the program
was to provide Mexico’s northern cities with a better job market while also
providing foreign manufacturers with cheap labor. The maquiladoras do provide Mexican border cities with a great
number of jobs, but at the expense of low wages, terrible working conditions,
low job security, and high exposure to toxic chemicals (EHC, 1998).
The
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was implemented by the Mexican,
U.S., and Canadian governments in 1993.
NAFTA proponents promised that the agreement would help to alleviate
many of the current border problems caused by the existing free-trade
zone. NAFTA would also help to improve
working conditions, better enforce environmental laws, and decrease the high
maquiladora concentration along the border (Public Citizen, 2000).
Unfortunately,
NAFTA did not have the effect that its proponents had talked of. In 1995, two years after NAFTA was
implemented, the maquiladora work force increased by 20%. The agreement also did little to help
disperse the plants further from the border areas. In 1995, 85% of all maquiladora workers were employed in one of
the six Mexican Border States (Public Citizen, 2000). Another downfall of NAFTA was the disposal of toxic waste from
the foreign-owned factories. Under the
original maquiladora program, foreign manufactures were required to return all
waste to the country of origin, however NAFTA allows all goods imported to the
maquiladoras to remain in Mexico, including the waste products (EHC, 2000).
Problem
Working
Conditions
The
948,658 Mexicans that work in the maquiladoras must endure a terrible working
environment that includes inadequate training, exposure to many potentially
hazardous materials, and inadequate information and protective equipment
(Sawicki, 98). In a recent survey by
the Comite de Apoyo Fronterizo Obrero Regional, 177 workers from 77
maquiladoras in Tijuana and Tecante, Mexico described their work
experiences.
·
One-fifth
of the workers surveyed reported illnesses believed to be caused by working
conditions.
·
53%
of the workers interviewed claimed not to have received any written information
from their employers that explained the hazards of some of the materials used
on the job.
·
40%
never received any training sponsored by their employer that went over hazards
and different safety precautions.
·
40%
of the maquiladoras represented in the survey did not have a joint
management-worker health and safety commission. Such a program is required my Mexican law (Nation’s Health, 98).
Environment
Hazardous
conditions within the maquiladoras are just the beginning of the problem. The presence of the maquiladoras combined with
loosely enforced Mexican environmental laws and a lack of suitable waste storage
and treatment facilities, cause the border area to be among the most polluted
in Mexico. Even in the event that
one of the factories is shut down for environmental reasons, that does not
necessarily mean an end to the factory’s pollution to the surrounding community.
Metales y Derivados, a lead-smelting facility in Tijuana, was shut
down in 1994 when its owners failed to comply with toxic waste disposal laws.
However, the waste was never
properly treated and/or relocated and is currently leaking through its containers,
seeping into the ground, and contaminating community’s water supply (Global
Exchange, 2000).
Air pollution is a great concern along the border. Border residents are exposed daily to extremely high air-pollutant levels including high levels of carbon monoxide. Deteriorating water quality is another concern along the border. There is a considerable amount of pollution that is dumped into the Rio Grande, poisoning wildlife and communities all along the river and causing a much greater Hepatitis A risk (Public Citizen, 1998b).
The Maquiladoras’
Effects on the U.S.
Although there have been environmental problems in Mexico since the implementation of the maquiladora plan, industrial damage is becoming more apparent on the United States border. Water and air pollution generated in Mexican border cities travels freely into the United States. In cities such as San Diego, CA and El Paso, TX, the air exceeds U.S. ambient air quality standards and ozone levels are extremely high (Public Citizen, 1998b).
Birth
defects are a problem on both sides of the border. A study conducted in 1994 was the first to show that maquiladora
workers gave birth to lower weight babies than women who worked in other
industries (Eskenazi, 1994). Since
then, studies have progressed to charting remarkable trends in birth defects.
In
1991, public health officials began their study of Brownsville, TX where an
inordinate number of cases of anencephaly, babies born missing part or all of
their brains, had occurred. Brownsville
is located in Cameron County, which is one of the four Texas border
counties. The pattern in birth defects
was originally attributed to regional vitamin B deficiency in pregnant mothers
who were then advised to take folic acid supplements (Mathis, 2000). The families of the anencephalic babies were
not convinced by this reasoning and pressured the Texas government to examine
the case further (Knight, 1998).
A study by the Texas
Department of Health from 1993 –1996 showed that 15 out of every 10,000 babies
born in the four Texas border counties were anencephalic, which is more than
double the national rate. During that
same time period, 46 anencephalic births were reported in Cameron County alone,
as well as 42 cases directly across the border in Matamoros, Mexico (Knight,
1998). This trend still continues and
in 1998, the Texas Department of Health has declared the entire border area
continues to be a “high-risk area [for neural tube defects] compared to the
rest of the US." (Public Citizen, 1998b).
Key Actors
Comité Ciudadano Pro Restauración del Cañón del
Padre, A.C.: A
non-profit organization that is comprised of over 25,000 lower- to middle-class
Mexican families who live close to the El Padre Canyon in Tijuana. The organization was founded in 1980 by its
president, Maurilio Sanchez Pachuca, in order to organize communities to fight
for workers’ rights and also to provide more information to the communities so
that the general public can become more involved in the political
processes. The comité’s main goals
today include their continued efforts in providing workshops on health issues
and risks for maquiladora workers and also the clean up of Metales y Derivado –
an abandoned lead smelter (EHC, 2000).
North American Commission for Environmental
Cooperation (NACEC): Includes Mexico, the United States, and Canada that
was formed to prevent trade conflicts between the countries and enforce
environmental laws. The NACEC is comprised
of three parts: Council, the environmental ministers from each country; Joint
Public Advisory Committee, 5 government appointed official from each country
whose main job is to advise the council; and Secretariat, professional staff
who conduct research and work with citizen’s petitions. (NACEC, 2000)
Environmental Health Coalition (EHC): A grassroots organization
that promotes environmental justice through their dedication to the prevention
and clean up of toxic waste and contaminated areas. EHC created the Border Environmental Justice Campaign that works
with social justice groups to promote workers’ and communities’ right-to-know
about hazardous chemicals used in the maquiladoras in their area (EHC,
1999a).
Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network: A volunteer
network of over 400 occupational and safety professionals from the United
States, Mexico, and Canada who are part of a resource to provide information
and assistance regarding the maquiladoras.
The network was started in 1993 at a meeting of the American Public
Health Association (APHA) (Brown, 2000).
Large Foreign Corporations: Take
advantage of cheap labor and less strict environmental laws along the Mexican
border by sending raw materials to Mexico to be assembled in the
maquiladoras. Corporations that are
represented along the Mexican border include Ford, GM, Honda, Mattel, Sony,
IBM, Fischer Price, and Xerox (Corporate Watch, 1999).
Mexican
Governmental Agencies: Includes the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS),
Social Security Institute (IMSS), and Department of Health (SSA). The agencies help to establish laws and
regulation regarding maquiladora labor, but have been repeatedly unresponsive
to numerous worker complaints (Brown, 2000).
Demographics
Mainly
low-income, working-class families inhabit the Mexican borderlands. The problem lies in the fact that most Mexican
maquiladora workers barely earn enough wages to sustain themselves and their
families. Although factory workers
in both the U.S. and Mexico perform comparable work, the minimum wage in
Mexico is only $3.40 per day compared to $5.75 per hour in the U.S.(Public
Citizen, 1998a). Almost all of the
workers’ weekly wages are spent on necessities making it nearly impossible
for them to save money and improve their situation. In 1998, the Mexican government raised minimum wage by 14%, however
the consumer price index rose 18.6% that same year (Corporate Watch, 1999).
Woman
and child labor is also commonly exploited in the borderlands. 60% of all maquiladora workers are female and
many of them are younger than 20. Women
and children typically receive 10% to 30% less wages than men performing comparable
work. Although it is legal to work
in Mexico at age 16, it is not uncommon for forged documents to allow children
as young as 12 years old to work in the maquiladoras (MLNA, 1999).
Organization
of communities and groups
With
so many people in border towns who are affected by the maquiladoras, there has
to be a method of organizing groups into a more powerful force in order to bring
about a more efficient campaign. One of
these groups is Comité Ciudadano Pro Restauración del Cañón del Padre,
A.C. Since its start in 1980, the group
has successfully rallied 23 communities together in the struggle against the
maquiladoras. Through community
outreach and organization, the Comité Ciudadano Pro Restauración del Cañón del
Padre, A.C. has helped to close down Metales y Derivados and Alco Pacifico, two
large lead smelters, because they were not in compliance with Mexican
environmental laws and therefore a public hazard (EHC, 2000).
Petitions
One
way for Mexican citizens to speak out against environmental hazards is to file
a petition through the NACEC against the offending corporation. In 1998, the Environmental Health Coalition
and Comité Ciudadano Pro Restauración del Cañón del Padre, A.C. have filed such
a petition with the NACEC regarding the clean up of the 5,400 tons of toxic
waste which remained after the shut down of Metales y Derivados in 1994. Their citizen’s petition is currently being considered
by the NACEC (Global Exchange, 2000a).
The process of filing a petition with the NACEC is a long and
complicated process that involves multiple reviews of the submission by the
Secretariat as well as an opportunity for the offending party to comment on
the situation, which is a process that can be completed in an unlimited amount
of time. Another problem in the system is that it does
not allow for the filing citizens or group to challenge the offending party’s
position on the case or be directly involved in the process. Finally, even if the group does make it through
all the preliminary requirements and prove that the offending party is at
fault, there is no law that forces the party to comply with the environmental
laws. The filing citizens have to
hope that another party or government will become involved in the situation
and pursue the claim further. Even
though the petition process has its flaws, it is still a reasonably effective
way to bring more attention to the problem (EHC, 2000).
File
Complaints with the Government
Unfortunately,
one of the least effective strategies in the fight for worker’s rights is
contacting Mexican government agencies. Workers at the Auto Trim and Custom
Trim plants in Valle Hermoso and Matamoros, Mexico have been trying for over
two years to get the Mexican Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) to
conduct an inspection of the plants.
The workers have written many detailed letters describing their exposure
to hazardous chemicals, lack of information about work-related health and
environmental issues, as well as the company’s disregard of Mexican
environmental laws. The workers have
yet to hear back from STPS (Brown, 2000).
Help
and Support for Maquiladora Workers
La Casa de la Mujer -
Grupo Factor X is an organization that is dedicated to providing information to
all maquiladora workers, but what makes this group special is that they cater
to women, who incidentally make up 60% of the maquiladora work force (MLNA,
1999). La Casa de la Mujer was
originally formed in 1989 by the feminist group, Emancipación, to advocate
legal abortion. The group and cause
gained national attention when the Mexican federal police imprisoned 14 of its
members. The group than joined forces
with other American social-rights groups and turned their attention to the
environmental problems involving the maquiladoras. La Casa has held numerous
workshops on health, reproductive and workers’ rights, domestic violence, and
environmental hazards for maquiladora workers (Martinez, 1999).
Fair Trade Stores
An indirect way to
help the border situation is to simply not buy products produced by
maquiladora-owning companies. Global
exchange, along with other non-profit organizations, owns several fair trade stores
where consumers can be assured that they are not contributing to the horrible
working conditions of the maquiladoras.
Many fair trade stores guarantee equal opportunities, gender equality,
no child labor, and 15-30% of the retail price to their artisans, who would
ordinarily earn a very small portion of the profits (Global Exchange, 2000b).
Solutions
The
maquiladoras present a very complex list of problems to the people living on both
side of the border, so a single, concrete solution is nearly impossible to
formulate. In an email interview Laura
Durazo, a coordinator of Proyecto Fronterizo de Educacion Ambiental (PFEA),
reiterated this complexity: “There are policy issues, legal issues, compliance
issues, technological advances issues, financial issues, social, cultural
political and infrastructure ones as well.
All of these are factors that contribute to environmental justice
problems (Durazo, 2000).”
Recommendations
For
this case study, I will focus on the opinions and recommendations from three
different groups and/or people that are involved with the border campaign: the
Environmental Health Coalition (EHC), PFEA, and Lori Saldaña, a former
chairwoman of the City of San Diego's Wetlands Advisory Board.
As mentioned previously, the
EHC conducts extensive work with border issues through their Border Environmental
Justice Campaign (BEJC). BEJC has
four main points of recommendation to help 
improve the border situation.
· Right-to-Know: Promote workers’ rights
to know what chemicals and hazards they are exposed to in the workplace.
· Amend NAFTA:
Currently NAFTA’s regulations for protecting maquiladora workers and the
environment are weak and not often enforced.
The agreement needs to be amended to help provide for the health and
safety of the workers.
· Right to Participate:
Many workers refuse to speak out against working conditions for fear of losing
their job and being blacklisted from other factories.
Every citizen should be guaranteed the right to participate
in the implementation of projects that can affect their quality of life. BEJC calls for
government and industry to require public participation in big decisions that
affect everyone.
· Toxic Waste Cleanup: The cleanup of
abandoned toxic waste sites and maquiladoras such as Metales y Derivados (EHC, 1999b).
Proyecto Fronterizo de
Educacion Ambiental is a Mexican based non-profit organization that deals with
border environmental issues. The main
goal of PFEA is to promote public participation in matters of pollution
prevention and resource preservation along the Mexican-American border (EHC,
1999b). Members of the organization
believe that the better exchange of information and more educational
opportunities are key in starting to solve the border problem. The organization has been influential in the
past in helping to make changes in environmental policy such as the promotion
of a community’s right to information.
This victory was a big step for the border issues and PFEA is ready to
fight the border challenges that are yet to come (Durazo, 2000).
Lori Saldaña is still involved in wetland conservation in San Diego, CA and has been the plaintiff in a lawsuit regarding the construction of a wastewater treatment plant in the Tijuana River Valley. Her recommendations are very similar to those of the EHC and include a greater enforcement of Mexican environmental laws, encouraging maquiladora owners to better invest in the infrastructure of northern Mexico, and also developing funding programs to improve conditions along the border (Saldaña, 96).
References
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