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MAQUILÁPOLIS [city of factories]
A film byVicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre in collaboration with the women of Colectivo Chilpancingo Pro Justicia Ambiental CITTAC (Workers’ Information Center) Promotoras por los Derechos de las Mujeres and the former organization Grupo Factor X / Casa de la Mujer
Funders The MAQUILÁPOLIS Community Outreach Campaign was made possible by: Creative Capital Foundation Creative Work Fund Panta Rhea Foundation Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media Potrero Nuevo Fund San Diego Community Foundation / Lawyers’ Fund for Justice Sunflower Fund Threshold Foundation and generous private donors, including Betty Carr Muse MAQUILÁPOLIS was produced in association with ITVS A project of Creative Capital with support from California Arts Council Creative Work Fund Discussion Guide Grousbeck Family Foundation John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation LEF Foundation Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund National Endowment for the Arts This discussion guide was produced with funding from The Sunflower Fund New World Foundation Potrero Nuevo Fund Sundance Institute Documentary Fund Threshold Foundation Tides Foundation, advised by Avi Peterson U.S.-Mexico Fund for Culture (now Cultural Contact) and generous private donors David Maung Letter from the Filmmakers Dear Colleagues, lives, blossoming as women, human be- While films rarely effect measurable, ings and activists. We knew that working concrete changes in the world, they are We began the Maquila Project in 2000, with them would be an amazing way to powerful tools: they open minds and by inviting factory workers in Tijuana tell the intertwined stories of globaliza- create dialogue, necessary precursors and community organizations in Mexico tion, of the maquiladoras and of citizen to and ingredients of action. One of our and the U.S. to join us in creating a activism. We hoped the collaboration great pleasures has been to watch this film that depicts globalization through would yield a documentary which film open up new realms of thought, the eyes of the women who live on would be useful to the promotoras and emotion and experience for audiences, its leading edge. The factory work- their communities. We also hoped to just as the process of making the film ers who appear in the resulting film, further the promotoras’ work by opened our own minds and hearts. We MAQUILÁPOLIS, have been involved providing them with the equipment hope that through this film and discus- in every stage of production, from and skills to create their own videos sion guide viewers come to understand planning to shooting, from scripting to in the future. After the completion of their own intimate relation with Tijuana, outreach. We wanted to engage in a col- MAQUILÁPOLIS, we have continued with Carmen, Lourdes and other maqui- laborative process that would break with to work with the same group of promo- ladora workers. We hope that people the traditional documentary practice of toras as well as a broad cohort of partner on both sides of the production/con- dropping into a location, shooting and organizations on a Binational Commu- sumption equation begin to recognize leaving with the “goods,” which would nity Outreach Campaign. This Discussion each other as global citizens rather than only repeat the pattern of the maquila- Guide is one piece of that campaign. simply as consumers and producers. We dora itself. We sought to merge art-mak- hope that people will understand that ing with community development and As to our personal motivations for mak- ing this film, we are both artists who NAFTA-style treaties do not benefit the to ensure that the film’s voice would be many but the few, and that one way to truly that of its subjects. believe that art can and does participate in a cultural dialogue concerning social combat them is to support causes like One thing all the participating workers change and justice. Our work is in- those of the Chilpancingo Collective, in MAQUILÁPOLIS have in common is formed by our own hybrid lives: Vicky is CITTAC and the NGOs that organize to a sense of agency: they are promotoras, a U.S. citizen who grew up in four coun- question and to resist the dark side of women who sought out training in tries and six cities, including Mexico City. globalization. We hope that you will be human rights, labor rights and environ- Sergio is a U.S. and Mexican citizen who inspired to action, so that the work of mental justice from non-governmental was raised in Tijuana and migrated to women like Carmen and Lourdes can organizations (NGOs) and who became the San Francisco Bay Area as an adult. lead to ever greater changes for the bet- advocates committed to passing their Our work on MAQUILÁPOLIS is part of ter, in Tijuana and around the world. knowledge on to their communities. our ongoing investigations into bicultur- When we met the promotoras, they ality, migration, gender and labor. Vicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre were each at a point of discovery in their Filmmakers, MAQUILÁPOLIS
2 Table of Contents Credits and Letter from the Filmmakers 2 Acknowledgements The Film 3 This guide is based on an earlier The Campaign 3 guide produced by the PBS series Using this Discussion Guide 4 P.O.V. for the national broadcast of MAQUILÁPOLIS. We are grateful to Planning an Event 4 them for their permission to adapt Facilitating a Discussion 5 that guide for our campaign. Background Information 6 CREDITS, P.O.V. guide: Discussion Questions 12 Writer: Faith Rogow, Taking Action 14 Insighters Educational Resources 15 Consulting Guide Producers, P.O.V.: Eliza Licht, Senior Manager, The Film Community Engagement and Education, P.O.V. Carmen and Lourdes work in Tijuana’s maquiladoras, the multinationally-owned facto- Shabnam Ahamed, ries which came to Mexico for its cheap labor. Each day these factory workers confront Outreach and Development labor violations, environmental devastation and urban chaos – life on the frontier of Assistant, P.O.V. the global economy. In MAQUILÁPOLIS, Carmen and Lourdes reach beyond the daily Irene Villaseñor, Youth struggle for survival to organize for change: Carmen takes a major television manufac- Views Manager, P.O.V. turer to task for violating her labor rights. Lourdes pressures the government to clean Cari Ladd, Content Reviewer up a toxic waste dump left behind by a departing factory. The women also use video diaries to chronicle their lives, their city and their hopes for the future. CREDITS, this guide: As they work for change, the world changes too: a global economic crisis and the availability of cheaper labor in China begin to pull the factories away from Tijuana, Writers: Vicky Funari leaving Carmen, Lourdes and their colleagues with an uncertain future. As promotoras Dan LaBotz – community advocates who fight for social justice – Carmen and Lourdes serve as role Swathi Malepati models for taking action in the face of adversity. With additional material from some of our Campaign partners: The Campaign • Binational Feminist Collective Our Binational Community Outreach Campaign, designed and implemented collab- • Chilpancingo Collective for oratively with factory workers and stakeholder organizations in the U.S. and Mexico, • Environmental Justice uses MAQUILÁPOLIS in diverse education and advocacy contexts to create meaning- • CITTAC/Worker’s Information ful social change around the issues of globalization, social and environmental justice • Center and fair trade. The primary strategy is to use the film to promote dialogue and as an or- • Environmental Health Coalition ganizing tool: to get people involved and mobilized for change and to support cross- • Global Exchange issue and cross-border activism. • Maquiladora Health and Safety Our campaign team includes dedicated activists on both sides of the border, media- • Support Network makers commited to social change, and most importantly a group of women factory • San Diego Maquiladora Workers workers struggling to bring about positive change in their world. Our core Campaign • Support Network Partners are: Chilpancingo Collective for Environmental Justice; CITTAC/Worker’s Infor- • SweatFree Communities mation Center; Binational Feminist Collective; Environmental Health Coalition; Global • Women Thrive Worldwide Exchange; Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network; San Diego Maquiladora • Women’s Rights Advocates Workers Support Network; SweatFree Communities; and Women Thrive Worldwide. Other organizations have also partnered with us to organize and promote events, in- Translation: Lilia Escalante cluding the Sierra Club, Comité Fronterizo de Obreras (CFO/Border Workers’ Commit- tee), Students Against Sweatshops and many others. We invite you to participate in Design: Catherine Farman the campaign by using the film and this discussion guide in your own organization and community.
3 Potential Partners and Using this Discussion Guide Target Users This guide is designed to help you use MAQUILÁPOLIS MAQUILÁPOLIS is well suited for use in a variety of settings and is especially recom- as the centerpiece of a community event. It contains sug- mended for use by: gestions for organizing an event as well as ideas for how • Groups focused on any of the Key Issues to help participants think more deeply about the issues in listed on the next page the film. The discussion questions are designed for a wide • Promotoras (Community Advocates) in range of audiences. Rather than attempt to address all the Mexico and the U.S. questions, choose those that best meet the needs and • High school and college students interests of your group. • Faith-based organizations and institutions • Legislators and other policy makers Planning an Event What other participants might you • Community organizations with a mission need? Do you need an outside facilitator, to promote education and learning translator or sign-language interpreter? MAQUILÁPOLIS can be used to present Are there local experts on the topic or information, get people interested in Event Ideas community leaders who should be pres- taking action on an issue, provide oppor- ent to speak with the audience? Use a screening of MAQUILÁPOLIS to: tunities for people from different groups or perspectives to exchange views, and/ • Celebrate International Women’s Day (Mar or create space for reflection. Using the Have you scheduled time to plan for 8), May Day (May 1, International Workers’ following checklist as a planning tool will action? Planning next steps can help Day), Labor Day (first Monday in Sept), Earth help ensure a high-quality, high-impact people leave the room feeling energized Day (Apr 22) or Hispanic Heritage Month event: and optimistic, even if the discussion has (Sept 15 – Oct 15). been difficult. Action steps are especially • Invite your elected officials to discuss their important for people who already have Have you identified groups who could positions on NAFTA and on other proposed a good deal of experience talking about be co-sponsors and/or participants? free trade agreements. Ask them to explain the issues. For those who are new to the Use this opportunity to build alliances the provisions of these treaties and their issues, just engaging in public discussion and coalitions in your community. Target real and proposed impact. serves as an action step. groups who would find it useful to talk • Convene a panel of experts to compare the with others about the issues raised in environmental issues raised in the film with Is the event being held in a space where the film – as well as people who can link community responses to industrial pollution all participants will feel comfortable? these conversations to concrete changes in your community. in your community. Is it wheelchair accessible? Can the site be reached easily by various kinds • Tell the story behind how a category of of transportation? If you are bringing consumer products, such as clothing or Have you defined your goals? Set together different constituencies, is it electronics, comes to market. Discuss how realistic goals with your partners. Will a neutral territory? our purchasing decisions might help or harm single event serve your goals or will you workers in developing countries. engage in an ongoing project? How will you evaluate the event to see if you Will the way that the room is set up help have met your goals? How large an audi- you meet your goals? Is it comfortable? Will you be using a video projector and ence do you want? (Large groups are If you intend to have a discussion, can screen or a TV monitor? DVD player or appropriate for information exchanges. people see one another? Will everyone computer? Do you have speakers that Small groups allow for more intensive be able to see the screen and hear the are loud enough for the space? Have dialogue.) film easily from their seats? Are there you tested the equipment? spaces to use for small breakout groups? Get the word out. Try reaching people What other materials do you need? through newsletters, community bulletin Help your audience feel welcome by: Flyers? Handouts? A resource list? Some boards, email, bookstores, churches, and Providing driving directions and public materials are available on our website, libraries. When feasible, personal invita- transportation information in advance, www.maquilapolis.com tions work best. Think about mailing, fax- letting people know where to park, using ing, or handing out invitations. Follow signs, maybe providing refreshments. Will you need childcare for the partici- up with phone calls. pants? Discussions are more productive when children are entertained, if you can afford it or arrange it with volunteers. 4 Preparing the Group
Facilitating a Discussion Consider how well group members Controversial topics often make for excellent discussions. know one another. If you are bringing together people who have never met, By their nature, those same topics can also give rise to deep you may want to devote some time at emotions and strongly held beliefs. Strong facilitators can the beginning of the event for introduc- create an atmosphere where people feel safe, encouraged tions or an icebreaker activity.
and respected, making it more likely that they will be will- Agree to ground rules around lan- ing to share their ideas openly and honestly. Here’s how: guage. Involve the group in establish- ing some basic rules to ensure respect. Typically such rules include prohibiting Identify your own hot-button issues. Preparing Yourself yelling and the use of slurs and asking View the film before the event and give people to speak in the first person (“I yourself time to reflect so you aren’t Who should facilitate? You may or may think….”) rather than generalizing for dealing with raw emotions at the same not be the best person to facilitate, others (“Everyone knows that…”). time that you are trying to facilitate a especially if you have multiple responsi- discussion. bilities for your event. If you are particu- Ensure that everyone has an oppor- larly invested in a topic, it might be wise tunity to be heard. Be clear about how Be knowledgeable. You don’t need to be to ask someone more neutral to guide people will take turns or indicate that an expert on Mexico, working conditions, the dialogue. Be sure that your facilita- they want to speak. Plan a strategy for or international trade to lead an event, tor receives a copy of this guide well in preventing one or two people from but knowing the basics can help you advance of your event. dominating the discussion. If the group keep a discussion on track and gently is large, are there plans to break into Key Issues correct misstatements of fact. In addition small groups or partners? MAQUILÁPOLIS is an excellent tool for out- to the Background Information section reach because the people directly involved on the following pages, you may want tell their own stories, bringing global issues to take a look at the suggested websites Talk about the difference between down to a personal and practical level. The and books in the Resources section and dialogue and debate. In a debate, par- film will be of special interest to people the Reading List on pages 15-17. ticipants try to convince others that they interested in these issues: are right. In a dialogue, participants try to understand one another and expand Border issues Be clear about your role. You may find their thinking by sharing viewpoints and yourself taking on several roles for an Economics listening actively. Remind people that event, such as host, organizer or even they are engaged in a dialogue. Environmental justice projectionist. If you are also planning to Environmental law serve as facilitator, be sure that you can focus on that responsibility and avoid Encourage active listening. Ask the Feminism distractions during the discussion. As group to think of the event as being Globalization members of the group share their view- about listening as well as discussing. Par- ticipants can be encouraged to listen for Immigration points, it is important to remain neutral and help the discussion along without things that challenge as well as reinforce Industrialization imposing your views on the dialogue. their own ideas. International trade Labor Rights Know your group. Issues can play out Remind participants that everyone sees very differently for different groups of through the lens of their own experi- Migrant labor people. Is your group new to the issue ence. Who we are influences how we Mexican/American border or have they dealt with it before? Factors interpret what we see. Everyone in the group may have a different view about Multinational corporations like geography, age, race, religion and socioeconomic class can all have an the content and meaning of the film they NAFTA and Free Trade impact on comfort levels, speaking styles have just seen, and each of them may be Pollution and prior knowledge. An experienced accurate. It can help listeners to un- derstand others’ perspectives if people Poverty facilitator can help make sure everyone gets heard. identify the evidence on which they base Fair Trade their opinions. Social justice Unions Women’s and gender studies 5 Background Information What is a maquiladora? to protect workers’ rights and to curb leaving Mexico. 350,000 maquila jobs pollution. Complaints filed by workers disappeared, and unemployment under the resulting labor side agree- became endemic in Tijuana. Displaced Maquiladoras are the multinationally- ment, the North American Agreement workers had to face the reality of Tijua- owned assembly plants which dominate on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), have na’s dependence on a global economic the economy of the U.S.-Mexico border included life-threatening health and system which offered them no long-term region. In 1965, the Mexican and U.S. safety conditions, firing workers for security. governments established the Border union organizing, forced pregnancy Industrialization Program, designed to testing and denial of collective bargain- encourage the building of factories on After several years of decline, Tijuana’s ing rights. Yet, as of 2004, according to the Mexican side of the border. Under maquiladoras began to rebound, be- the Maquila Solidarity Network, “not one the program, an American corporation cause locating assembly plants in Mexico of the 28 complaints made under the could set up a plant in Mexico, ship parts continues to offer substantial savings to NAALC has resulted in any significant or raw materials there for assembly, corporations. The National Council for improvements in labor law enforcement and bring the finished goods back into the Exporting Maquila Industry (CNIME) or in workers’ lives.”2 The environmental the U.S., all duty-free. U.S. companies reports that at the end of 2006 there side agreement created the Commission began opening assembly plants, drawn were over 1.1 million people working for Environmental Cooperation of North 5 by these lucrative tax incentives, cheap in the industry nationwide. However, America (CEC) to encourage adherence labor and weak enforcement of environ- many of the women who participated in to environmental regulations, but it did mental and labor laws. The new system the MAQUILÁPOLIS project report that not have the authority to force clean- provided jobs for Mexicans, cheaper their living and working conditions are ups. That was left to the North American consumer goods for U.S. citizens and significantly worse than before the 2001 Development Bank (NADBank) and the higher profits for manufacturers. With economic crisis. In 2009, with the world Border Environment Cooperation Com- the advent of the factories, Tijuana be- in a new and more serious crisis, their mission (BECC). Despite many reports of came one of the first “maquilized” cities futures are more uncertain than ever. environmental abuses, enforcement of in the Americas. It grew at an astounding Today, Tijuana is a sprawling, chaotic city NAFTA’s environmental side agreement rate, more than quadrupling in size in 30 that provides for the rest of the world be- has been lax.3 years. fore it provides for its own people. With plans in the works for NAFTA-style trade NAFTA supporters point out that over agreements throughout the Americas The Impact of NAFTA the past decade the U.S. Environmen- and Asia, Tijuana is also an example soon tal Protection Agency has spent more to be followed by cities throughout the When the North American Free Trade than half a billion dollars on cleaning developing world. Agreement (NAFTA) took effect in 1994, contaminated water and improving air the growth accelerated: between 1994 quality in border areas that have grown The remarkable women profiled in and 2000 the number of maquiladoras under the treaty. They also emphasize MAQUILÁPOLIS are part of the multitude in Mexico doubled, and the industry’s that Mexico’s gross domestic product of factory workers who weave the very labor force grew to more than a million has increased from $767 billion to more fabric of daily life for every consumer people. At the peak of the NAFTA boom than $1 trillion since NAFTA’s implemen- nation, producing televisions, electrical 4 in 2000, there were 3,700 maquiladoras tation. cables, toys, clothes, lenses, computer operating in Mexico, employing over 1.3 keyboards, batteries, IV tubes and more. 1 million workers. Tijuana’s infrastructure Globalization’s Boom and Carmen Durán, Lourdes Luján and their could not keep pace with this growth, colleagues are working to transform leaving vast areas of the city without ba- Bust Cycle their world and carve out lives of agency sic services. Globalization promised jobs, in this new and complicated century. As and working class Mexicans uprooted In 2001, NAFTA’s boom gave way to a factory worker Lupita Castañeda says: their lives in other parts of the country bust: with the global economic desta- “Within globalization, a woman factory to migrate to those jobs, despite the bilization of 2001-2003 and with the worker is like a commodity. This worries costs: low wages, poor labor conditions, increasing availability of much cheaper me because we are just objects, objects human rights violations, lack of housing Asian labor, factories suddenly started of labor… I want to be a person, I want and environmental degradation. to realize my dreams.”
2 Maquila Solidarity Network, “NAFTA Ten Years 4 Opponents of NAFTA had predicted Later: Why the Labour Side Agreement Doesn’t “Behind the Debate: Propelled to Protest, Driven some of these consequences and had Work for Workers”,
In the film, Carmen takes her labor claim against Sanyo to the local Labor Board provides only the minimum wage and (Junta de Conciliación y Arbitraje). The Mexican Labor Boards are tripartite bodies government-mandated benefits. This made up of government officials, employer representatives and corrupt union -offi “protection contract” protects the em- cials. Although the supposed purpose of the boards is to protect workers’ rights, they ployer from a legitimate union and from typically deny workers the right to strike, collaborate with employers to fire workers having to pay higher wages or provide who speak out and refuse to recognize independent unions. more benefits. The resulting “ghost union” is so called because workers often don’t know it exists. When workers Unions and the Maquiladora Industry decide they want to organize a union, they get an unpleasant surprise from the Since the Mexican Revolution, the Mexican government has controlled the labor boss: “You can’t organize – you already unions and forced them to follow government policy, at times using military and have a union.” As Jaime Cota explains, police force to do so. For over 70 years, virtually all of the large “official unions” were “The unions don’t serve the workers, be- affiliated with the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Union officials got out cause they don’t even need the workers’ the vote for the PRI, and the PRI made union officials into Senators, Congressional dues. They live off the money paid by the Representatives and state governors. In 2000, when Vicente Fox of the conservative employers to the union. So naturally the National Action Party (PAN) became Mexico’s president, the links between PRI, gov- union protects the employer.” ernment and unions began to break down. The official unions increasingly turned to company owners for support, tending to become company unions. Despite the collusion between govern- ment, corporations and corrupt unions, Most new employers will choose a union for their plant before workers are even workers in Mexico continue to struggle hired. The corporation pays a labor lawyer and the union official for a contract that for independent unions. As Benedicto Martínez of the independent Authentic Labor Front (FAT), explains, “The FAT and the National Union of Workers (UNT) and others have continued to build a democratic workers’ movement that can have an impact on public policy. And we have made some advances. It is encour- aging that recently we have succeeded in bringing the independent unions, peasants’ and farmers’ organizations, and the indigenous movement together in one coalition.”1
1 Personal correspondence between filmmaker Vicky Funari, Benedicto Martínez of the FAT and Robin Alexander of the UE, March 2007 Photo: Darcy McKinnon 7 Globalization, Free Trade, Fair Trade What is Globalization? kets to foreign investors and “free trade,” facturing plants. In solidarity with worker devaluing currency, cutting the federal organizing, sweatfree advocates put Globalization, or more specifically social welfare budget and fuel and food pressure on big name brands and on “corporate globalization,” refers to the ex- subsidies, weakening the power of labor stores to quit dealing with manufactur- pansion of capitalism to cover the world unions, and eliminating or rolling back ers and subcontractors that flagrantly and draw every country and people labor regulations. In Mexico, as in other violate workers’ rights. In response, some into it. One could say this began in the debtor nations, these changes hurt the corporations have created “corporate 1500s with the Spanish conquest of Latin working class but favored multinational codes of conduct,” rules their manu- America and the creation of a world corporations, which flooded into the facturers are supposed to abide by to slave trade. During the 19th century, lucrative trade environment. protect workers. The danger of corporate global expansion took the form of impe- codes of conduct is that they may be rialism, as European nations, the U.S. and Some Strategies for used as cosmetic measures designed to Japan built empires by conquering other Change: Fair Trade and cover up continued worker exploitation. countries, principally in Africa and Asia, The sweatfree movement recognizes this and making them colonies. In the 20th Sweatfree limitation to so-called “corporate social century, revolutions led some nations to responsibility” and has been active in In reaction to the devastation caused withdraw from capitalism and attempt to exposing ongoing workers’ rights viola- by free trade, reformers and activists create socialist economies. But with the tions by corporations that claim to no have developed a variety of strategies to fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, and with longer use sweatshops. promote alternatives. These strategies, China and Vietnam adopting capitalism, which involve activism by consumers, few non-capitalist countries remain. To- Many countries, particularly in Europe workers, stockholders and policy- day capitalism covers the world, spread and Latin America, have a history of makers, can be broadly grouped under by the continuing process of corporate worker-owned cooperatives. Worker- the names “fair trade” and “sweatfree.” globalization. Since the 1980s, global- owned cooperatives exist in manufactur- Strategies include: sweatfree campaigns ization has been furthered by debt and ing, construction and services, and have to get schools, religious institutions, and neoliberalism. been most successful in finance, such as city and state governments to do busi- banks and insurance programs. When Debt and Neoliberalism: ness with companies that commit to workers own and run the company, the respecting workers’ rights in their supply company treats workers more fairly. The Washington Consensus chains; stockholder activism to get For example, the Comité Fronterizo de Comes to Mexico corporations to agree to ethical sourc- Obrer@s in Piedras Negras has created ing and social responsibility; workers’ a worker-owned maquiladora that pro- During the 1970s oil prices rose. Mexico’s cooperatives that pay a living wage and duces organic cotton t-shirts. However, government, like those of other oil-rich enable workers to have a voice on the workers’ cooperatives, like sweatfree countries, borrowed billions of dollars, job; pressure on companies to respect businesses, find it hard to compete in the using its future oil income as collateral. workers’ demands for better prac- current free market economy. When oil prices fell in the early 1980s, tices using tactics like union activism, Mexico went bankrupt, putting it at petition drives, store actions, solidarity the mercy of the New York banks. The strikes, boycott campaigns, and interna- Resources for Promoting tional networking; and educating and Mexican bankruptcy took place at the Sweatfree and Fair Trade same time as the rise of “neoliberalism,” pressing legislators for fair trade laws the new free market economic politics and changes to free trade agreements. SweatFree Communities coordinates cam- promoted by the administration of Presi- paigns for public and religious institutions dent Ronald Reagan and taken up by the The fair trade movement calls for greater to adopt sweatfree policies that end public International Monetary Fund (IMF) and fairness in dealings between developed support for sweatshops and generate demand the World Bank. These policies came to and developing countries. Non-govern- for products made in humane conditions, be called the “Washington Consensus.” mental organizations (NGOs) are build- with living wages. ing an alternative marketing system to Global Exchange is a membership-based bring Fair Trade certified agricultural To get loans to keep their economies international human rights organization goods and handicraft products made going, Mexico and other developing dedicated to promoting social, economic and by fair trade cooperatives to markets in nations had no choice but to accept the environmental justice around the world. IMF’s neoliberal “structural adjustment the U.S. and Europe. Large corporations programs” (SAPs). Borrowing nations are have been pressured to sell Fair Trade See Resources, page 15, for information on required to write letters of intention ac- certified products with some success. how to contact them and get involved. See ceding to the IMF’s austerity plans, which Taking Action, page 14, for ideas on steps you typically require: privatizing of govern- “Sweatfree” or “no sweat” campaigns can take to promote sweatfree working condi- ment-owned companies, opening mar- fight exploitative conditions in manu- tions and global fair trade. 8 Environmental Justice Resources for Promoting Environmental Justice Lourdes Luján is an ex-factory worker and resident of Colonia Chilpancingo, a neighborhood that borders a huge industrial park in Tijuana. In MAQUILÁPOLIS, The Chilpancingo Collective for Environ- she recounts how she came to realize that the chronic health problems she and her mental Justice is a group of Tijuana citizens neighbors were suffering from might be the result of toxic wastes from the factories. who work for environmental justice and to Together with Environmental Health Coalition of San Diego (EHC), they started the protect the health of communities near the Chilpancingo Collective for Environmental Justice to advocate for the cleanup of wa- maquiladoras. terways and of a toxic waste site in their neighborhood. The Chilpancingo Collective Environmental Health Coalition is a social and EHC are waging a long-term, cross-border environmental justice campaign, just and environmental justice non-profit organi- one of many environmental justice initiatives in communities around the globe. zation founded in 1980, which organizes and advocates to protect public health and the The environmental justice movement believes that all people and communities are environment threatened by toxic pollution. entitled to the right to live, work, learn and play in a safe and healthy environment. The movement builds self-determination in communities that bear an unequal envi- See Resources, page 15, for information on ronmental burden: low-income communities, communities of color, residents of the how to contact them and get involved. See developing world, and women and children. Communities around the maquiladoras Taking Action, page 14, for ideas on steps are among the most severely affected by industrial pollution and by government you can take to promote environmental failures to legislate effectively and to enforce existing environmental laws. justice in maquiladora communities and in your own community.
An Update on Metales y Derivados Of the 66 documented toxic waste sites in Mexican border states, the most infamous is Tijuana’s Metales y Derivados, a U.S.-owned maquiladora that recycled batteries. The film tells the story of the fight to clean up the site, located in the Otay Mesa Industrial Park, just uphill and upstream from the Chilpancingo neigh- borhood. In 1994, Metales y Derivados was shut down because of its failure to comply with Mexico’s environmental Lourdes Luján videotaping during the Metales y Derivados Site Cleanup, 2007. Photo courtesy of EHC laws. The owner, U.S. businessman José Kahn, abandoned the site and fled to In 2004, after over a decade of organiz- example of the failure of NAFTA to live San Diego to avoid arrest. He left behind ing, EHC, the Chilpancingo Collective up to its negotiators’ promise to protect 23,000 tons of mixed waste, includ- and the community finally celebrated a public health and the environment. Yet it ing 7,000 tons of lead slag, exposed to landmark cleanup agreement. The film is also a symbol of environmental justice the elements and threatening Colonia documents the signing of that agree- achieved. The case established for the Chilpancingo. Residents tested positive ment, which called for remediation to first time a structure for cross-border and for elevated levels of lead in their blood be completed within five years; included community/government collaboration and there were high rates of cancers and long-term, independent community on toxic site cleanups. Amelia Simpson birth defects. 1 monitoring; and established a binational of EHC notes that, “It’s time to reject working group that included commu- the NAFTA model in favor of a fair trade In 1998, EHC and the Chilpancingo nity residents and the Mexican and U.S. model that includes enforceable envi- Collective filed a petition with NAFTA’s governments. ronmental mechanisms that citizens can environmental agency, the Commission use to protect their communities.” for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), Soil samples taken during the cleanup hoping to compel a cleanup. The result- process showed concentrations of lead The cleanup was completed in 2008, ing 2002 CEC report concluded that the as high as 200,000 mg/kg. The indus- ahead of schedule. Lourdes was there site represented a “grave risk to human trial cleanup level in both Mexico and to document the final stage on video, health.” Yet the CEC has no authority or- the U.S. is 800 mg/kg. Neither Metales noting that “a final remediation plan resources to clean up toxic sites. y Derivados owner José Kahn nor his represents a historic moment for my company contributed to the cost of the community, the environment, our cross- cleanup.2 Metales y Derivados is a clear border region and Mexico.” 1 “A Toxic Legacy on the Mexican Border: Aban- doned U.S.- Owned Smelter in Tijuana Blamed for 2 “EPA Says Worst Toxic Waste Removed from Ti- Birth Defects, Health Ailments” by Kevin Sullivan, juana Site.” By: Joe Cantlupe, Copley News Service, The Washington Post, February 16, 2003 August 5, 2005 9 Resources for Promoting Women in the Maquiladoras Women’s Rights “As a promotora, you promote the law. What little you know, you pass on. I can’t stay Women Thrive Worldwide is an advocacy quiet anymore, I have to defend whatever right is being violated. You sow the seeds of organization that shapes U.S. policy in the what you have learned. You are a student, and gradually you become a teacher.” areas of international assistance and trade, –Carmen Durán, factory worker and promotora to make them more responsive to the needs of poor women in developing countries to What Does Gender Have To Do With It? foster economic opportunity for women living in poverty. Women have been central to the maquiladoras since the first factories were built in the mid-1960s. Prevailing beliefs about gender helped determine the structure of the The mission of Colectiva Feminista Binacio- maquiladoras and of export processing zones around the world. The corporate en- nal is to strengthen the human, spiritual, trepeneurs who designed the maquiladora model envisioned their ideal work force: and political aspects of the various women’s docile females, with no organizing experience, and with small, agile hands. Women struggles in the border region. originally made up 80% of maquiladora workers. In recent decades, more men have See Resources, page 15, for information on been hired due to labor shortages and more heavy industries, but according to the how to contact them and get involved. See American Friends Service Committee, women “are still in the majority, constituting up Taking Action, page 14, for ideas on steps to 70 percent of the workforce in light assembly industries and 57 percent overall.”1 you can take to promote women’s rights. Beyond the hardships faced by all maquiladora workers, women workers face ad- ing and caring for children, husbands ditional obstacles based on their sex alone. More men are hired to work in higher- and extended family. Many are single paying jobs as administrators, technicians and skilled workers, while more women heads of households, which increases than men work in the lowest-paying jobs on the production line. Maquiladoras prefer their burden, both as parents and as young women, typically refusing to hire women over 35. This forces older workers to wage earners. cling to jobs, knowing they cannot seek better conditions elsewhere nor risk getting fired by advocating for better conditions. Also, most maquiladoras require pregnancy Women and Activism tests as part of the hiring process. Refusing to hire pregnant women saves employers the cost of paying for maternity leave, but is a violation of Mexico’s labor law. MAQUILÁPOLIS traces the lives of a group of women as they develop over Far from protecting its workforce of women in their prime reproductive years, the the course of several years and shows industry typically does not provide adequate safety equipment or training. Constant them not as victims of their circumstanc- exposure to toxics on the job is a health risk for all workers, but it represents a greater es but rather as social change agents. problem for women of reproductive age because toxics have a greater impact upon growing children and developing fetuses than they do upon adults. As worker Car- As women have entered Mexico’s men Durán discovered when she asked an English-speaking visitor to translate the workforce, they have gained financial label on a tube of paste she worked with, she was endangering her own children by independence and challenged their carrying toxics home on her skin and clothes. Also, sexual harassment is common in traditional roles in society. In communi- the maquiladoras, and is one of the most difficultlabor problems to address because ties around the maquiladoras, women it is frequently seen by perpetrators, victims and regulators as “natural” behavior are frequently the grassroots leaders, rather than as a violation of human rights. organizing their neighborhoods to fight for land titles, running water, sewage Women work la doble jornada, doing double duty as factory workers and as domestic systems and electricity, bringing del- workers, arriving home from the factory only to start their other job – cleaning, cook- egations and rowdy demonstrations of 1 American Friends Service Committee, “Women in the Maquiladora,” http://tamejavi.com/mexico-us- women to city hall. Acknowledging and border/womeninmaquiladoras.htm furthering the power of women in their communities, many organizations have adopted a model of organizing based on the promotora. A promotora – literally a promoter, but also meaning a pioneer or an instigator – is an educator, agitator, and organizer in the community. Promo- toras seek out training in human rights, labor rights, environmental justice, and women’s health from non-governmental organizations (NGOs). They go on to teach others in training sessions held in homes or neighborhood centers. They grow personally through this experience, and they become leaders. 10 Photo: David Maung Participatory Media Media portrayals of the maquiladoras typically focus either on the economic op- portunities the industry brings to Mexico or on the plight of workers as disempow- ered victims of globalization. In MAQUILÁPOLIS, maquiladora workers are experts who can provide us with keys to our common future. They tell their stories in their own voices, through their own eyes, and with their own cameras. Through a series of workshops, the MAQUILÁPOLIS filmmakers trained a group of factory workers who were also promotoras to use video cameras, to record sound, to write narra- tion, and to edit. The participants created intimate video diaries and portraits of their communities, helped structure the stories told in the film, and have partici- pated in the outreach campaign from planning to execution. The MAQUILÁPOLIS filmmakers were able to buy production and editing gear for the group, and this gear remains in Tijuana, housed at the offices of the Chilpancingo Collective for Environmental Justice, for the long-term use of the promotoras.
Photo: Darcy McKinnon The Promotoras of MAQUILÁPOLIS
“We are community advocates, Carmen Durán is a factory worker and Lourdes Luján is an ex-factory worker promotoras. We are women who single mother of three. She worked and resident of Colonia Chilpancingo, for Sanyo for six years, but when the a neighborhood that borders a huge have worked in the factories and company moved the product line to industrial park in Tijuana. When she have learned about our rights as Indonesia and laid off workers without found out that the chronic health prob- women and as workers. Through providing legally required severance pay, lems she and her neighbors were suffer- this knowledge we see things dif- Carmen became an activist and helped ing might be the result of toxic wastes ferently. Every day, we clear new spearhead the filing of a claim with the from the factories, she co-founded the labor board. That claim was eventually Chilpancingo Collective for Environmen- paths. We make changes in our settled successfully, and Carmen was tal Justice. After a long struggle against daily lives, in our communities, in awarded severance pay of US$2,500, an great odds, the Collective, along with our workplaces and within our- amount far greater than the US$200- the U.S.-based Environmental Health selves. To be a promotora is a big $300 companies generally pay. Carmen Coalition, won a binational government responsibility.” continues to work in factories, and is also clean-up of the abandoned Metales y a volunteer promotora at CITTAC, the Derivados factory site. Lourdes partici- – Lupita Castañeda, Promotora Worker’s Information Center in Tijuana. pated in MAQUILÁPOLIS video produc- She participated in MAQUILÁPOLIS video tion and editing workshops and has Lupita Castañeda is an ex-maquiladora production and editing workshops, travelled to Seoul, Oslo, New York and worker and a promotora. A migrant from co-voiced the film’s narration, and has other cities to speak with audiences. She Guadalajara, she worked in a pantyhose travelled with the film to Barcelona, participated in our 2007 Street Cinema factory, but after a medical leave she New York and other cities to speak with Tour, visiting 7 cities along the U.S.-Mexi- could not find another job because she audiences. co border to show the film in community was past 35, the age typically considered settings. by the maquiladora industry to be “too Teresa Loyola is a long-time factory old.” This dilemma led her to seek train- worker, mother and grandmother. She is The other participating promotoras ing to become a promotora, an advo- a co-founder of the Tijuana group are: Diana Arias, Eva Bailón, Lucía Blanco, cate for women’s and workers’ rights. Promotoras por los Derechos de las Natividad Guizar, Vianey Mijangos, Lupita has participated extensively in Mujeres (Women’s Rights Advocates). Yesenia Palomares, Delfina Rodríguez, the MAQUILÁPOLIS project: she took our She participated in MAQUILÁPOLIS video Francis Rodríguez, Adela Rivera, Rocio video production and editing work- production and editing workshops, co- Salas, Blanca Sánchez and Coty Valdez. shops, co-wrote and co-voiced the film’s wrote and co-voiced the film’s narration, Many of them are available for speaking narration and was Outreach Campaign and has travelled with the film to Min- engagements. Their contact information Coordinator. She has travelled widely neapolis, San Antonio and other cities to is in the Resources section of this guide with the film, and she organized our speak with audiences. She participated on page 15. Street Cinema Tour, which in 2007 visited in our 2007 Street Cinema Tour, visiting 7 cities along the U.S.-Mexico border to 7 cities along the U.S.-Mexico border to show the film in community settings. show the film in community settings. 11 Discussion Questions Immediately after the film, you may want to give people a few quiet moments to reflect on what they have seen. If the mood seems tense, you may want to pose a general question and give people some time to themselves to jot down or think about their answers before open- ing the discussion.
Unless you think participants are so un- comfortable that they can’t engage until they have had a break, don’t encourage people to leave the room between the Photo: Annelise Wunderlich film and the discussion. If you save your General Questions Questions on Labor Conditions break for an appropriate moment during the discussion, you won’t lose the feeling • The government official from Baja Cali- of the film as you begin your dialogue. • What new information or insight did you gain from this film? What was your initial fornia (the Mexican state where Tijuana reaction? is located) describes the maquiladoras as One way to get a discussion going is to places where workers can earn relatively pose a general question, and then follow • What was the one thing that struck you high wages. He says that people who work up with questions more specific to the most or surprised you? in the factories “are in good shape.” If you goals of your event and the interests of • Which scenes from the film did you find to had been at that meeting, how would you your audience. be especially powerful? What, specifically, have responded to him? What is your as- did you find to be compelling? sessment of the benefits and harm of the maquiladoras? • If you could ask anyone in the film a single question, whom would you ask and • Describe the physical conditions of the what would you ask them? workers’ neighborhoods. How does their standard of living compare with that of • What context does your own experience average factory workers in the U.S.? What provide for interpreting the events in the accounts for the differences? film – things that have happened in your life or community? • How do you feel about your own job? Do you feel you have good wages, conditions • Given the health risks described by the and fair treatment? What would you like to women in the film, if you were in their see changed at work? How difficult would position, do you think you would seek work it be to achieve that change? at the factories? Why or why not? • To defend themselves, workers need • List all the ways that you see people in power. How can workers organize to build the film working for justice. Define justice their power to improve their lives and in this situation. their communities? What are the principal obstacles to worker self-organization? • Are your labor rights guaranteed in your nation’s Constitution? Do you believe that your labor law is good on paper? What about in practice? Why or why not? What sorts of reforms do workers and unions in your country need? What sorts of changes in government economic policies might improve your job situation? • Do you have a union where you work? How do you feel about your union and/or unions in general? Do you think workers should have the right to unionize? What sort of presence do labor unions have in your community? 12 Photo: jesikah maria ross Photo: David Maung Questions on Globalization, Questions on Questions on Gender and Free Trade and Fair Trade Environmental Justice Women’s Rights • The women in MAQUILÁPOLIS come to see • U.S. labor and environmental laws • The film reports that “when the maquila- the function of workers in the globalized prohibit many of the practices described dora industry began, women represented economy as replaceable commodities. Do in the film on American soil. Some Ameri- 80% of the industry’s labor force.” In your you share their vision of how workers fit cans blame those laws for adding to the view, what are the potential impacts of into the economy? Who benefits from this cost of doing business and driving jobs to this gender division on the workplace, free-market system? Whom does it harm? countries with fewer regulations or lax families and the community? • Have you ever done the shirt tag test? enforcement. Given what you see in the • Do you think that women in the maqui- Look at the tags on shirts worn by people film, should the U.S. relax its regulations ladora industry face the same problems in this room. Read the labels on other in order to keep jobs in America? How and issues as male workers? Are there clothes, shoes, and furniture, and on the would you balance the need for jobs with obstacles that might be specific to women equipment used to show you this film. the need for the protection of workers workers? and the environment? Where were they produced? What do you • Have you ever faced gender discrimina- know about how products are manufac- • What would you do if you saw environ- tion in the workplace? Or sexual harass- tured in those countries? mental changes in your neighborhood ment? How did you handle those problems? like the ones in the film? What kinds of • What do you perceive as the roles of the • How have you seen women’s roles in following in establishing and protecting environmental threats do exist in your community or neighborhood? How does your family change over the last three workers’ rights: the corporations that generations? Have women in your family manufacture products in the maquila- your community stay informed about pos- sible threats? What might you do to make entered the workforce and how did that doras, the U.S. government, the Mexican change your life and theirs? Were your government, religious institutions, human your own community’s living conditions healthier? grandmother’s and mother’s experiences rights organizations, and U.S. and Mexican different than your own? Do you see the citizens? • Lourdes explains her motive for environ- doble jornada, women’s double duty, in • Would you be willing to pay a little more mental activism by saying, “I am strug- your own family? for food, clothes or other merchandise if gling to give my kids a healthier, cleaner future… my hope is that someday, there • What specific steps did the women in the you knew they were being produced under film take to become promotoras? What fair conditions? What about others in your will still be factories, but ones that don’t destroy the environment.” Can you imag- risks did they take? What rewards did they community – friends, neighbors, business reap? owners, public servants, church-members? ine a world where industrial processes would not be in conflict with environ- • Have you ever been involved in learn- • How do you think your local city officials mental balance and public health? What ing about an issue and then teaching and would react if you asked them whether are a few simple steps you could take to guiding others on that issue? How did that city uniforms come from factories with promote such a vision? experience affect you? Can you see using good working conditions, and asked them the promotora model in your workplace, to commit to sweatfree procurement poli- community or society at large? Who are the cies? How might your local grocery store advocates in your community? How might staff react if you asked them to stock a fair you support them? trade product?
13 Taking Action What does it mean to take action to solve a problem? Taking action runs the gam- ut, all the way from beginning to think and learn about an issue, to doing research, to participating in or organizing discussions, to exerting pressure to change things. What sort of action are you prepared to take now? How might you begin? List anything in the film that inspired you or made you angry. Choose one item from your list and follow up on it. Research it and suggest possible actions, or find organizations working on the issue and ask them what they are doing and how you can help. Or just use one of the suggestions below to get started:
Photo courtesy of EHC Participate in a Border Tour. Border labor activist to visit and speak at a union In the U.S., you can support the following Tours are a great way to learn more meeting and brainstorm about ways to two initiatives by Partner Organization about the issues, meet maquiladora build worker-to-worker and union-to- Women Thrive Worldwide: The GROWTH workers and activists, and forge cross- union ties. Act would give women in the devel- border links. MAQUILÁPOLIS Partner Or- oping world the tools and resources ganizations the San Diego Maquiladora Promote sweatfree workplaces. they need to lift themselves and their Workers’ Solidarity Network, CITTAC, En- A sweatfree purchasing campaign is an families out of poverty. The International vironmental Health Coalition and Global effective and concrete local action you Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) Exchange all offer border tours that visit can take to help humanize the global incorporates solutions for reducing maquiladoras, workers’ communities sweatshop economy. Here are three violence against women into U.S. foreign and grassroots groups in Tijuana. For ways to take action with Partner Organi- assistance programs. You can sign online tours led by CITTAC and the San Diego zation SweatFree Communities: petitions to Congress supporting these Maquiladora Workers’ Solidarity Network, 1. Bring the sweatfree campaign to your groundbreaking pieces of legislation: visit: www.sdmaquila.org/. For tours community. To learn more, email www.womenthrive.org led by Environmental Health Coalition, [email protected] visit: www.environmentalhealth.org. For 2. Endorse the campaign: Get involved with a faith-based social tours led by Global Exchange, visit: www. www.sweatfree.org/endorse justice committee. Many churches, syna- globalexchange.org. Tours to other cities 3. Next time you buy clothes, buy gogues and other religious organizations along the border are led by similar orga- sweatfree: www.sweatfree.org/shopping have social justice committees that work nizations in Texas and Arizona. to improve conditions in the community. Promote fair trade. When the U.S. Trade Organize a showing a MAQUILÁPOLIS Support the organizations that do the Representative negotiates a free trade through your local church social justice work, and stay informed on their agreement, it must go to Congress for a committee. The committee could look activities. Donate to the MAQUILÁPOLIS vote. This is the key time to demonstrate into environmental and labor conditions Partner Organizations listed on pages 15- your support of fair trade policies and in your own community. The church 16. Tell interested friends and colleagues your opposition to the failed NAFTA could invite a speaker from CITTAC, the about the work these groups are doing. model. If you are a U.S. citizen, call and Environmental Health Coalition or a These organizations need your support! write your representative. You can have similar organization to talk with church To stay informed about what they are up a powerful effect by simply asking his or members and build support for change. to, sign up on their email lists and/or cre- her stand on trade policies and express- ate google alerts. For example, you can ing your opinion on these policies. To Meet with and support immigrant and sign up for the San Diego Maquiladora find your representative’s number, call Latino workers in the U.S. Many com- Workers’ Solidarity Network email list the Capitol switchboard at 202-224- munities have workers’ centers or Latino at: maquilatijuanasandiego@earthlink. 3121, or go to www.house.gov or community organizations that involve net. They send out e-bulletins on current www.senate.gov. Latino laborers and immigrants. Reach labor and maquiladora news.. out to these organizations and set up Promote women’s rights around the a screening of MAQUILÁPOLIS where Build worker-to-worker and union-to- globe. Women throughout the world are immigrant and Latino workers can watch union ties across borders and organizing around issues of equal rights, it along with other community mem- industries. If you are a labor union mem- equal pay and treatment on the job, and bers. Create an opportunity for dialogue ber, whether as an industrial worker, to prevent violence against women. Set about the impact of globalization on service worker, public employee or up a screening of MAQUILÁPOLIS at a migration and the economies of both teacher, arrange to show MAQUILÁPOLIS women’s organization in your commu- Mexico and the U.S. to your union. Workers could be asked nity. Consider whether a local women’s to compare their own experiences with organization might effectively adapt the that of the maquiladora workers. You promotora model for its own work. could invite a maquiladora worker or a 14 and the environment in our community and for all communities nearby the maquiladoras.
Resources Contact: How to Buy the Film Lourdes Luján, Yesenia Palomares, Magdalena MAQUILÁPOLIS is available for educational, community and home Cerda, 664-647-7766 video purchase in the U.S. from distributor California Newsreel. [email protected], [email protected], Please contact: www.newsreel.org, 877-811-7495 [email protected] (full-length version, 68 minutes) Av. del Fuerte # 15861, Col. Campestre Murúa, Tijuana, BC C. P. 22500 MAQUILÁPOLIS is available in Mexico through the Chilpancingo Collective for Environmental Justice. Please contact: Colectiva Feminista Binacional Lourdes Luján, Magdalena Cerda, 52-664-647-7766, (Binational Feminist Collective) We are an independent, binational feminist [email protected], [email protected] organization. Our mission is to participate in A shorter version (56 minutes) is available in the U.S. from P.O.V. for the formation of a new movement that helps strengthen the human, spiritual, and political community screenings. Please contact: aspects of the various women’s struggles in http://www.pbs.org/pov/utils/povengagements.html the border region. MAQUILÁPOLIS Contact: The MAQUILÁPOLIS Team Community Campaign Carmen Valadez, 664-622-4269, 664-104-1194 Vicky Funari, Community Outreach [email protected], Campaign Director and MAQUILÁPOLIS Partner Organizations [email protected] Producer/Director: [email protected], Dolores 32 B, Fracc. Dimenstein, Tijuana, BC www.maquilapolis.com, 707-980-2053, Following is a list of our Campaign Partner 610-642-1188, 707-557-0946 Organizations on the MAQUILÁPOLIS Environmental Health Coalition Sergio De La Torre, MAQUILÁPOLIS Community Outreach Campaign. Please con- Environmental Health Coalition is a 25-year- Producer/Director: delatorreguerrero@ tact these organizations to find out what they old social and environmental justice non- gmail.com, 510-421-1569 are doing to bring about progressive change. profit organization with offices in San Diego Lupita Castañeda, Promotora and And get active! In addition, these organiza- and Tijuana. EHC organizes and advocates to Campaign Coordinator in Mexico: tions can lend out DVDs of the film for orga- protect public health and the environment [email protected], nizing and community-based events. threatened by toxic pollution. EHC works with 044-664-331-23-30, 664-686-98-75 low-income communities and communities Carmen Durán, Promotora: 664-636-2047 CITTAC, Centro de Información of color on both sides of the border. Natty Guizar, Promotora: para Trabajadoras/es, A.C. [email protected], 664-626-3690 (Workers’ Information Center) Contact: Lourdes Luján, Promotora: The Workers’ Information Center (CITTAC) Amelia Simpson, Director, Border [email protected], chcolectivo@ is a civil association of women and men of Environmental Justice Campaign prodigy.net.mx, 664-647-7766 Baja California that promotes and supports http://www.environmentalhealth.org, Teresa Loyola, Promotora: workers’ struggles, especially assembly plant t: 619-474-0220, f: 619-474-1210, [email protected], 664-626-4938 workers, to improve their living and working [email protected] Yesenia Palomares, Promotora: conditions, to defend their human rights, par- 401 Mile of Cars Way, Suite 310, National City, [email protected], 664-647-7766, ticularly labor rights, and to create indepen- CA 91950 044-664-291-5586 dent and democratic organizations. To contact any of the other participating Global Exchange promotoras, please email or call Campaign Contact: Global Exchange is a membership based Coordinator Lupita Castañeda. Jaime Cota, Margarita Avalos, Carmen Valadez, international human rights organization 664-622-4269 The MAQUILÁPOLIS Directory dedicated to promoting social, economic http://cittac.org/, [email protected], and environmental justice around the world. The MAQUILÁPOLIS website offers a down- [email protected], We do this by sending U.S. people on Reality loadable, bilingual Directory of Support [email protected] Tours, hosting and supporting speaking Organizations for Workers and their Com- US address: PMB 193, 601E San Ysidro events, providing alternatives and organizing munities created by the MAQUILÁPOLIS Boulevard, Suite 180, San Ysidro, CA 92173 local and international campaigns. Outreach Campaign as a free community Mexico address: Dolores 32 B, resource. The Directory, like the film, takes Fracc. Dimenstein, Tijuana, BC Contact: a cross-border and cross-issue approach to Kirsten Moller, Executive Director exploring solutions, actions and change. Colectivo Chilpancingo Pro Justicia http://www.globalexchange.org/, The work of the 110 groups in the Direc- Ambiental (Chilpancingo Collective for t: 415-255-7296, f: 415-255-7498, tory ranges widely, from supporting labor Environmental Justice) [email protected] struggles to promoting environmental We are a group of compañeras/os who work 2017 Mission Street #303, San Francisco, CA justice, from protecting women’s rights to together for environmental justice and to pro- 94110 advocating for global fair trade policies. We tect the health of our community. We work to invite you to use and to share this resource. raise consciousness among our neighbors and Please visit http://www.maquilapolis.com/ we demand of the Mexican and U.S. govern- to download. ment authorities that they protect the health 15 SweatFree Communities P.O.V.’s MAQUILÁPOLIS SweatFree Communities supports and Maquiladora Health & Safety Support coordinates local campaigns for public and webpage http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2006/ Network (MHSSN) religious institutions to adopt “sweatfree” maquilapolis/ The Maquiladora Health & Safety Support procurement policies that end public sup- In 2006, the PBS series P.O.V. broadcast Network is a volunteer network of occupa- port for sweatshops and generate signifi- MAQUILÁPOLIS and produced a companion tional health and safety professionals who cant market demand for products made in Web site, which offers streaming video clips provide information, technical assistance humane conditions by workers who are paid from the film, a podcast version of the film- and on-site instruction regarding workplace living wages. Sweatfree campaigns succeed maker interview and a wealth of additional hazards in the 3,000 “maquiladora” (foreign- because they advance a positive agenda for resources, including a Q&A with filmmakers owned assembly) plants along the U.S.- worker justice and dignity and because they Vicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre, and the Mexico border. Our goal is to build the capac- allow activists to organize for worker justice following interviews: ity of workers and their organizations to in their own communities where they know understand occupational health and safety the political landscape and have direct ac- Wasting Away issues and to be able to speak and act in their cess to decision makers. Author Elizabeth Grossman talks about own name to protect their health and to the environmental impact of electronics exercise their rights. Contact: manufacturing, the health risks faced by the Liana Foxvog, National Organizer maquiladora workers, and the necessity of Contact: http://www.sweatfree.org/index.html, enforcing environmental regulations across Garrett Brown, Director t: 413-586-0974, f: 207-262-7277, borders. Find out more on how you can be a http://mhssn.igc.org/, t: 510-558-1014 , [email protected] responsible consumer. f: 510-525-8951, [email protected] 140 Pine Street, #10, Florence, MA 01062 P.O. Box 124, Berkeley, CA 94701-0124 Growing a Green Economy Women Thrive Worldwide MAQUILÁPOLIS makes the case that the well- Promotoras por los Derechos de las (formerly Women’s Edge Coalition) being of factory workers in Tijuana is directly Mujeres (Women’s Rights Advocates) Women Thrive Worldwide is an advocacy linked to a consumer’s individual spending The promotoras are the group of community coalition, based in Washington DC, that habits. Two experts in social investing explain activists/educators in Tijuana, Mexico who works to mold U.S. policy in the areas of how one educated shopper’s dollar can wield collaborated with the production team to international assistance and trade, to make clout and influence corporate practices. create the film. These women met in training them more responsive to the needs of poor workshops at Casa de la Mujer/Grupo women. Their targets for education and Factor X, a Tijuana women’s organization. advocacy are the Congress and some of the NAFTA-related websites Since the closing of Factor X in early 2004, executive branch entities (the U.S. Trade some of the promotoras formed this new Representative’s office, the Millennium www.mac.doc.gov/nafta advocacy group while others have gone on Challenge Corporation, U.S. A.I.D., etc.). They This site provides the text of the North Ameri- to work with other organizations. consult closely with women’s organizations can Free Trade Act. For information on side around the world to develop and shape agreements about labor, go to www.naalc. Contact: proposals to reflect their needs and views. org and www.dol.gov/ILAB/programs/nao/ Tere Loyola, 664-626-4938, Members of the Women Thrive Worldwide main.htm. [email protected] include CARE, Bread for the World, Christian Children’s Fund, the Hunger Project, InterAc- www.cec.org San Diego Maquiladora Workers tion Commission on the Advancement of The Commission for Environmental Solidarity Network (SDMWSN) Women, Lutheran World Relief, Soroptimist Cooperation, created to monitor adherence The San Diego Maquiladora Workers International of the Americas, United Meth- to the environmental provisions of NAFTA. Solidarity Network is a bi-national effort to odist Women and many other national and support the struggle of Mexican workers local groups. www.epa.gov in Baja California. Our network supports The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency workers‚ struggles to improve life and work Contact: website provides information on current conditions and create progressive organiza- McKenzie Lock, Communications Manager government-sponsored environmental clean- tions in the maquiladoras. The network also www.womenthrive.org, ups and policies. promotes the bi-national friendship and soli- t: 202-884-8376, f: 202-884-8366, darity between San Diego and Baja California [email protected] www.profepa.gob.mx/profepa workers. The SDMWSN works together with 1825 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 800, Mexican Environmental Protection Agency the Tijuana Maquiladora Workers Network, Washington DC 20009 website provides information on current Workers‚ Information Center (CITTAC) and government sponsored environmental clean- other workers organizations in Baja California. ups and policies.
Contact: Enrique Dávalos, 619-216-0095, [email protected] http://www.sdmaquila.org
16 Selected Reading List NOTE: These resources are mostly in Websites English. For suggestions on Spanish- The Children of NAFTA http://mhssn.igc.org/ language reading material, please by David Bacon, © 2004, published by Resources on maquiladoras and work- contact our Mexican partner organiza- University of California Press place health and safety. The site has links tions. to many articles, some by MAQUILÁPO- Globalization and its Discontents LIS project advisor Garrett Brown. A few by Joseph Stiglitz, © 2003, published by particularly helpful ones are: Reports W.W. Norton & Co Globalization at the Crossroads: This is a great book about the way the “Speak Out: Portrait of a Failure, Ten Years of NAFTA in the San Diego/ IMF and the World Bank operate around NAFTA and Workplace Health and Tijuana Border Region the world. It does not deal specifically Safety,” by Garrett Brown, at http:// Environmental Health Coalition report, with Mexico, but it does help to under- mhssn.igc.org/brown_synergist.htm. © 2004 stand the situation Mexico is in as a This site also has a whole slew of links to http://www.environmentalhealth.org/ debtor nation. key NAFTA 10th Anniversary Reports at CoverGlobalizationReport.html http://mhssn.igc.org/nafta18.htm Genders in Production: Making NACLA Report on the Americas, July/ Workers in Mexico’s Global Factories http://www.cfomaquiladoras.org/ August 2005 issue, Vol 39, #1 by Leslie Salzinger, © 2003, published by dataprincipalabril05.htm “Mexican Workers Since NAFTA.” Many University of California Press Maquiladora statistics on Comité articles, one by MAQUILÁPOLIS project Fascinating analysis of the role of gender Fronterizo de Obreras website (in advisor Robin Alexander. You can get in global production. Spanish) these articles on the NACLA site: http://nacla.org/archives Lives on the Line: Dispatches from the http://en.maquilasolidarity.org/en/ U.S.-Mexico Border resources Metales y Derivados Final Factual by Miriam Davidson, © 2000, published The website of the Maquila Solidarity Record by the University of Arizona Press Network offers extensive resources on NAELP, North American Environmental worker rights, globalization, corporate Law and Policy, Commission for Environ- Free Trade and Economic Restructuring social responsibility, and more. mental Cooperation of North America, in Latin America, a NACLA Reader © 2002. This is the official report by the Ed. by Fred Rosen & Deirdre McFadden, © NAFTA-created CEC on the situation at 1995, published by Monthly Review Press Metales y Derivados. Articles from North American Congress on Latin America give broad background Mexican Labor News and Analysis for what is happening in the maquilado- Ed. by Dan La Botz. Bimonthly news ras by analyzing the effects of neoliberal- magazine on labor and economic policy ism all across Latin America. in Mexico. http://www.ueinternational. org/Mexico_info/mlna.php The Selling of Free Trade; NAFTA, Washington and the Subversion of American Democracy Books by John R. MacArthur, © 2000, published NAFTA FROM BELOW: Maquiladora by Hill & Wang Workers, Campesinos, and Indigenous Exposé of how NAFTA got passed. Communities Speak Out on the Impact of Free Trade in Mexico Illegal People: How Globalization Ed. by Martha Ojeda and Rosemary Hen- Creates Migration and Criminalizes nessy, © 2007, published by the Coalition Immigrants for Justice in the Maquiladoras by David Bacon, © 2008, published by The story of free trade as told by maqui- Beacon Press ladora workers, a powerful disclosure of NAFTA’s impact on those most affected Mask of Democracy: Labor by it - Mexican workers and farmers - and Suppression in Mexico Today their organized resistance in fighting for by Dan LaBotz, © 1992, South End Press a better world with dignity and justice. Overview on labor law and rights and Purchase at: http://coalitionforjustice. brief history of labor movement in info/CJM_Website/New_Sites/NAFTA_ Mexico. Shows how charro unions and Book/NAFTA_Book.html company unions work in tandem with the PRI and corporations to keep labor down. 17