Between 80 and 90 percent are new workers, women and children who were not previously in the labor force. Applicants for employment are screened carefully. The younger, and therefore less likely to complain, the better. Over 24, rejected. Proof that the woman is not pregnant is demanded.
Pregnancy is in most maquilas a cause for firing.
Some maquilas in Honduras, according to Charles Kernaghan, director of the New York-based National Labor Committee, periodically give shots of the contraceptive Depro Provera, saying it is for tetanus. There is no written contract. Workers can be fired arbitrarily and without notice. Many maquilas fire a worker before she becomes entitled to vacation time or the extra month's salary due in December. There is thus a constant movement from one employer to another.