And 30 of those rehired in 1997 were fired again recently, not because they were strikers but because the company said they were not productive enough. But I'm not much in agreement with the rules of the game. Gap says that this project has taught it the limit of its own influence. The solution has to be labor laws that are adequate, respected and enforced. One of the problems in El Salvador is that that was not happening and is not happening.
Managers close the gate precisely on the hour and dock the pay of anyone who is late.
Inside, rows of sewing machines face blackboards on which supervisors have written the daily quotas for shirts and trousers, roughly 2,000 a day for each line of 36 machines. The pace is relentless, but by local standards it is a pleasant place to work. There are lockers, tiled bathrooms, a medical clinic and an outdoor cafeteria. Large fans and high ceilings keep temperatures down. She was among the workers who protested the abusive conditions in 1995.