Wowen Exploitation
Are Women Being Exploited in Maquiladoras?
Karyn Talbot
Essay #2 Argumentative Essay
There is a debate that women around the world in the workforce are exploited more than men. In the essay “Life on the Global Assembly Line” by Barbara Enrenreich and Amrete Fuentes it mentions a woman named Anna in Ciudad Juarez and her struggles as she works in the maquiladoras. She leaves at 4am in the morning to catch the ruteras (a run-down van that squeezes many workers in at one time) to ride from the slum neighborhoods to the industrial parks. This ride may take many hours to arrive to work in the maquiladora and endures horrific working conditions.
A maquiladora is an assembly plant in Mexico, especially along the border between the United States and Mexico, to which foreign materials and parts are shipped and from which the finished product is returned to the market. This program was started in the 1960s to stimulate the economy in this part of Mexico and the benefits to the market are cheaper labor and low taxes. These factories are known as a company in Mexico to take advantage of cheap labor and lax regulations. Anna’s family lost their family farm, so when the maquiladora opened she thought it would be a great help to her family, and gain confidence as a wage earner. Instead she found the wages and health conditions deplorable.
The original goal of the maquiladora program was a noble one. The goal was to provide Mexico’s northern cities with a better job market while also providing foreign manufacturers with more affordable labor and tax breaks. This in and of itself was not to exploit women; in fact it was to empower women to earn a living while contributing to the global economy. The maquiladoras do provide Mexican border cities with a great number of jobs, but at the expense of low wages, horrible working conditions, low job security, and high exposure to toxic chemicals. The problem is in the lax regulation and management of the factories.
Karyn Talbot
Essay #2 Argumentative Essay
There is a debate that women around the world in the workforce are exploited more than men. In the essay “Life on the Global Assembly Line” by Barbara Enrenreich and Amrete Fuentes it mentions a woman named Anna in Ciudad Juarez and her struggles as she works in the maquiladoras. She leaves at 4am in the morning to catch the ruteras (a run-down van that squeezes many workers in at one time) to ride from the slum neighborhoods to the industrial parks. This ride may take many hours to arrive to work in the maquiladora and endures horrific working conditions.
A maquiladora is an assembly plant in Mexico, especially along the border between the United States and Mexico, to which foreign materials and parts are shipped and from which the finished product is returned to the market. This program was started in the 1960s to stimulate the economy in this part of Mexico and the benefits to the market are cheaper labor and low taxes. These factories are known as a company in Mexico to take advantage of cheap labor and lax regulations. Anna’s family lost their family farm, so when the maquiladora opened she thought it would be a great help to her family, and gain confidence as a wage earner. Instead she found the wages and health conditions deplorable.
The original goal of the maquiladora program was a noble one. The goal was to provide Mexico’s northern cities with a better job market while also providing foreign manufacturers with more affordable labor and tax breaks. This in and of itself was not to exploit women; in fact it was to empower women to earn a living while contributing to the global economy. The maquiladoras do provide Mexican border cities with a great number of jobs, but at the expense of low wages, horrible working conditions, low job security, and high exposure to toxic chemicals. The problem is in the lax regulation and management of the factories.