Borderlinks

       I would like to focus on the visit to the maquilador of the Borderlinks fieldtrip.

    The plant I visited was the Garment Factory that was making aprons, shower curtains, table cloths and medical scrubs. The plant sub-contracted jobs from various companies. One contract they had was producing shower curtains for international distribution and two other contracts were producing table cloths for U.S. companies. Because they were doing different jobs for different companies they are considered a shelter company. They only provide the space and the labor. The companies supplied the materials and equipment. The labor consisted of mostly women doing the sewing and operating the small machinery and men supervising or operating the heavy machinery. Any raw materials left over have to be shipped back to the U.S. with the finished goods. This particular plant only holds contracts with companies that qualify NAFTA benefits. There is no duty on raw goods from a NAFTA participator.

    The plant recognizes the competition it faces with other maquiladors so it tries to offer benefits that appeal to the workers; buses are available to pick up and drop off workers, lunch breaks and breakfast breaks are provided, overtime is paid for over 48 hours worked during the week, and seven paid holidays.

    This plant participated in the housing program designed to help workers become homeowners.

    Up front it appeared the plant was very pleasant to work at. I did get the feeling that some of our questions were avoided and we were shown the things they wanted us to see. The workers did not appear particularly  satisfied or dissatisfied. We may not have seen the truth about the conditions since they were prepared for us to be there.

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