The batteries I just bought for my tape recorder were cheap. Until my recent visit to Mexico I didn’t realize the reason for this, but after my homecoming I’ve come to understand that the price paid was merely a small part of the actual cost. It seems multinational companies are exploiting cheap labor, lack of environmental control and poor worker conditions just south of the US-Mexican border in order to minimize prices of consumer products. This comes with a huge cost for the people assembling the products in terms of slave like worker conditions and unions caring more about the employers than the employees. I talked to several people involved on both sides of the conflict and my journey left me with a pretty clear impression that everyone is more or less forced to abide rules beyond their influence. The owners of the factories are submitted to the tight concept of supply and demand in witch only the ones able to deliver the cheapest product will be chosen for a given task. On the other side the workers will only be hired if they work hard without complaining. This often means no breaks, no social benefits and a very low salary. Once these parameters are out of bound the factory will be closed and the workers will be fired –no questions asked. Worker unions are usually founded to prevent this kind of exploitation but in this part of the world corruption seems to have pacified their ability to protect. The unions often stall the process when it comes to financial compensation for an unjust or sudden termination.

The factory owner I interviewed just before the end of my journey is flat out denying these accusations. His name is Leandro Guzman, an executive with a degree in economics. Like many leaders of maquiladoras he has received training in the US and worked his way into office through hands-on experience. He seemed sad about the fact that his factory was about to close but nevertheless the consequences for him will be bearable compared to his employees. Even if he’d agreed with me on certain issues like problems with pollution and corrupt unions, the problem will not be solved before the consumers realize what they’re supporting by buying commodities produced in such factories.