In relation to monitoring the participants thought if there was a trade union in the factory they should carry it out or a representative workers commission. They highlighted the importance of workers being aware of their labour rights and codes of conduct. Women maquila workers who participated in the workshops organised by Factor X in Tijuana, Mexico. They also provide training in human rights and labour legislation. The export processing industry is the main source of employment and the second largest source of foreign currency for the Dominican Republic.
Codes of conduct is an area which is quite new.
The first point to make is that the majority of workers are not aware of whether their factory has a code or not. The companies have the codes stuck to the walls in English and although workers have requested copies of the codes there has been much resistance by the companies to provide these. Working conditions are generally better in the factories that have codes than in those that do not. However, verbal abuse remains at similar levels in both. However, the workers do not associate their relative good conditions with the existence of the code, probably because they are unaware of the fact that the company has one.