May 1, 2001 - Maquiladoras: Economic Development at the Border Spring semester 2001 is almost over. It's time to have summer fun--enjoy whatever you do. Maybe take a trip to Mexico!
As economies around the world ride the waves caused by the current slowdown in the U.S.economy--not all economies are or will experience a downturn because of America's troubles--a quick look at one element in the relationship between the United States and Mexico illustrates some key issues in international organizational behavior.
On the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexican border maquiladoras, or foreign-owned manufacturing facilities, have sprung up since the mid-1960s. One purpose of these factories was to create industrialization in Mexico to reduce widespread, long-term unemployment among Mexican workers. Of course, the maquiladoras also provided a cheap labor force for U. S. based and other foreign companies. The absence of unions, poorly enforced labor laws and few worker safety regulations, reduced operation costs while the location was close to major markets, and, in the case of the U.S., not far from corporate headquarters. Firms such as Alcoa and General Electric built factories in the border towns to capitalize on the favorable conditions provided by this arrangement.
Two recent articles in the New York Times--which can be purchased in their entirety or read for free as abstracts at www. nytimes.com/international--titled "Chasing Mexico's Dream Into Squalor" (February 11, 2001) and "Profits Raise Pressures On U.S.-Owned Factories In Mexican Border Zone" claim that Mexican workers are not treated fairly by U. S. companies. For example, workers in the Alcoa plant are paid $6 a day and their behavior is tightly controlled, often to such an extent as to be de-humanizing, for example, by limiting workers to three pieces of toilet paper.
Web Exercise
Many web sites are devoted to the maquiladoras and can be found using a search engine like www.yahoo.com. Some interesting ones are:
- www.Certron.com/ the website of Certron Corp. a company that provides space for companies to set up manufacturing in Mexico.
- Another interesting site is www.latinsynergy.org/maquiladoras.html. This site provides a variety of perspectives on maquiladoras.
- A final website that links to many others is Internet Resources for Latin America http://lib.nmsu.edu/subject/bord/laguia.
- Are the New York Times articles unfairly critical of U.S. labor practices in Mexico?
- Are there examples of maquiladoras that don't have labor abuses?
- What does the experience of the maquiladoras tell us about international organizational behavior?
- Do any other countries have an industrial relationship on their border similar to that of the U.S. and Mexico?
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