While most Americans assume that Mexican workers receive lower wages because their living expenses are cheaper, in fact, basic goods such as bread and milk are cheaper over the border in the U.S. Mexican workers are subjected to dangerous and inhumane working conditions such as exposure to toxic chemicals, standing in one position for long hours, and even not being allowed to turn their heads to talk to neighboring workers. With the devaluation of the peso in the 1994 Mexican economic crisis, workers purchasing power was cut in half. The Long, Slow Road to Organizing Women Maquiladora Workers . In the United States, over 400,000 jobs have been lost since 1973 as U. S. corporations like Liz Claiborne and The Gap move operations overseas. Most of the workers in these factories are young women, although in some areas like Bangladesh, children from the ages of 10 and 14 also assemble the clothing we wear.
Workers typically live in crowded dormitories which lack adequate facilities.
While Nike may subsidize some of the workers' meals, they wouldn't have to if they paid a living wage. Union organizing is discouraged in these factories, but as international pressure for living wages increases, corporations turn to illegal sweatshops in the United States to keep wages low. Here subcontractors exploit immigrants who often do not speak English or fear deportation, paying piece rates or below-minimum wages. Workers for Guess subcontractors, for example, do not receive health insurance, sick days, paid vacations, or holidays, and often receive no overtime pay. Because the subcontractors are operating illegally, the workers have no recourse except to expose the practices and risk losing their livelihoods.