Worker Rights Protection in Mexico's Silicon Valley: Confronting Low-Road Labor Practices in High-Tech Manufacturing through Antagonistic Collaboration By MASSAGHU3ETTIENS TITUTE Hector Salazar Salame B.A. International Affairs James Madison University, 2004 ARCHIVES Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in City Planning at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY September 2011 © 2011 Hector Salazar Salame. All Rights Reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT the permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part. Author Department of Urban Studies and Planning June 20, 2011 11_ 2 Certified by Professor Judith Tendler Department of Urban Studies and Planning Thesis Supervisor Accepted by Professor Joseph Ferreira Chair, MCP Committee Department of Urban Studies and Planning Worker Rights Protection in Mexico's Silicon Valley: Confronting Low-Road Labor Practices in High-Tech Manufacturing through Antagonistic Collaboration By Hector Salazar Salame Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning on August 4, 2011 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master in City Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ABSTRACT Front and center against a backdrop of globalization and the ensuing outsourcing of manufacturing activities to low-income countries, has been a growing interest from scholars regarding the protection of labor rights and the means for improving labor conditions in the developing world. In the past half-decade, scholars have paid greater attention to these issues in the electronics manufacturing industry, particularly in response to recent publications highlighting its onerous working conditions around the globe. Yet, research regarding how specific actors contribute to improving working conditions in this sector remains largely absent. This thesis contributes to these scholarly discussions by analyzing the work of a local NGO, the Centro de Refleccidn y Accidn Laboral (CEREAL-GDL), which has been working to improve working conditions in the electronics manufacturing cluster known as Mexico's Silicon Valley located in Guadalajara for over a decade. Specifically, this thesis analyzes how the organization has evolved its activities over time and the local and international relationships it has developed to protect worker labor rights and promote working condition improvements in this sector. This thesis argues that the organization does not fold neatly into the molds within which scholars typically place and analyze the efforts of developing-country labor rights NGOs. These molds include participation in transnational advocacy and the monitoring of private codes of conduct (COC). While notably CEREAL-GDL was an indirect, yet central, actor in the birth of transnational advocacy related to the global electronics industry, which consequently led to global electronics industry firms establishing the first industry-wide COC, its efforts are not limited to participating in transnational advocacy or related to direct monitoring of firm adherence to the COC. Moreover, in addition to confrontational strategies such as organizing workers, CEREAL-GDL participates in an institutionalized direct dialogue and labor violations remediation process developed through antagonistic collaboration with electronics firms in Guadalajara. Ultimately, by analyzing the organization's activities and the interrelated web of actors and the context in which it operates, this thesis explores how and why there have been some working condition improvements, and whether the forged relationships among actors in Mexico's Silicon Valley may lead to future improvements, and, if so, how. Thesis Supervisor: Judith Tendler Title: Professor of Political Economy Thesis Reader: Diane Davis Title: Professor of Political Sociology ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I must thank Jen Steele and my family for their unwavering support, not only in relation to this thesis, but my academic journey over the past two years. This thesis would not have been possible without their ongoing encouragement, words of wisdom, and love; its completion is as much their accomplishment as it is mine. Similarly, I could not have completed this research project without the insights offered by my advisor Judith Tendler and my thesis reader Diane Davis. Beyond their engagement with this work, through their tutelage over the past two years, I have come to view the world in a different way. I will apply the skills and augmented worldview I have gained from both in all of my future academic and professional endeavors. Thanks are also due to my peers and colleagues at MIT who provided invaluable feedback, from conceptualization to copy editing, to this research project. In particular, I would like to thank Ben Rissing and Alyssa Bryson. Ultimately, this thesis would not have been possible without the numerous days and weeks the staff of CEREAL-GDL dedicated to supporting this research. From my first round of interviews with them to my seemingly never ending follow-up questions and clarifications, the staff never shied away from dedicating their limited time to aiding the development of this project. Along these lines, I am eternally grateful to the workers that took time away from their families and other responsibilities to share their stories with me. It was an absolute pleasure to collaborate and engage with CEREAL-GDL's staff and the workers they serve; they all welcomed me not just as a researcher, but also as part of their team. Animo! TABLE OF CONTENTS List of A cronym s........................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................ 9 Chapter 2: Strong Labor Rights, Thinned Worker Protection in Mexico......................... 18 Section 2.1: Weakened Trade Union Power and Reduced Worker Protection.................. 19 2.1.1: Weakening Trade Union Power Under the Guise of Democratization ................... 20 2.1.2: Promoting the Proliferation of Employer Protection Contracts.............................. 20 2.1.3: Tolerance of Employment Agencies....................................................................... 22 2.1.4: Current State of Corporatist Relationship and Trade Union Power ....................... 23 Section 2.2: Structure and Operation of Labor Boards in Mexico.................................... 24 2.2.1: Decentralized Structure of Mexico's Labor Boards ............................................... 24 2.2.2: Operation of State Labor Boards ............................................................................. 26 Section 2.3: Chapter Sum m ary........................................................................................... 29 Chapter 3: Low-Road Labor Practices in Mexico's Silicon Valley..................................... 30 Section 3.1: Overview of the Electronics Industry in Mexico's Silicon Valley ............... 31 Section 3.2: Working Conditions in Mexico's Silicon Valley ........................................... 34 3.2.1: Short-term Contracts and Employment Uncertainty ............................................... 34 3.2.2 : L ow W ages ................................................................................................................. 36 3.2.3: Long and Irregular Working Hours ........................................................................ 36 3.2.4: Lack of Freedom of Association............................................................................. 37 3.2.5: Hiring and Workplace Discrimination and Harassment ......................................... 38 Section 3.3: Worker Perceptions of and Response to Working Conditions....................... 38 Section 3.4: Labor Dispute Remediation through Mexico's Labor Boards ...................... 39 Section 3.5: Chapter Sum m ary........................................................................................... 41 Chapter 4: Confronting Low-Road Labor Practices in Mexico's Silicon Valley............... 43 Section 4.1: Establishment and Structure of CEREAL-GDL .......................................... 44 4.1.1: CEREA L-G DL's Roots ........................................................................................... 44 4.1.2: Institutionalization of CEREAL-GDL as a Jesuit Initiative ................................... 45 4.1.3: Internal Controversy due to CEREAL-GDL's Focus on Electronics Manufacturing 46 4.1.4: Benefits of Being Under the Umbrella of the Jesuit Institution ............................. 48 Section 4.2: Educating and Organizing Workers ............................................................. 50 4.2.1: CEREAL-GDL and the CTIE.................................................................................. 51 Section 4.3: Legally Representing Workers and Using the Local Media .......................... 53 Section 4.4: Shinning an International Spotlight on Working Conditions: Transnational Advocacy and the Response from Firms........................................................................... 55 4.4.1: Transnational A dvocacy ........................................................................................ 56 4.4.2: The Electronics Industry Citizen Coalition and Code of Conduct .......................... 56 Section 4.5: