The Women and Girls Behind the Clothing Industry in Guatemala City

map courtesy of Washington D.C. Central Intelegence Agency 2000
copyright 2005 Yahoo!

 

 

above: The shanty town of Alioto, just south of Guatemala City which is a squatter village composed of people who have come in search of work. photo courtesy of Common Threads (http://www.commonthreads.ca/articles.htm)

above: the GEAR for Sports sweatshirt that was purchased at Miiami University.

Introduction

      Many U.S. clothing companies have clothes made in maquilas (maquiladoras), or factories in and around Guatemala City . The clothing is made free from any duties (or taxes) on the articles (Human Rights Watch 54). The industry is predominately composed of young ladina (non-indigenous) and Maya women and girls, who deal with harsh conditions, low pay and long hours (Human Rights Watch 85). Currently, human rights groups are fighting to eradicate the sexual discrimination in the maquilas of women being fired for becoming pregnant or being forced to take pregnancy tests as a condition of working in the maquilas. Several corporations in the United States have been implementing reforms to address this, namely Liz Claiborne and GEAR for Sports who have publicly stated their policies against pregnancy policies and sexual discrimination (Human Rights Watch 87). Significantly however, the statements against sexual discrimination do not ensure permissible working conditions for the women. In the following paper, I will examine the typical lives of the women and girls in the maquilas in Guatemala City where sweatshirts are made for the company GEAR for Sports, including the age range, ethnicity and culture, as well as the social, political, and economic status of the women.

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Context of Guatemala

Geography: The nation of Guatemala is roughly 42,000 square miles in size (comparable to the state of Tennessee ), and is the most populous nation in Central America . The nation shares a western border with Mexico , a northeastern border with Belize , and a southeastern border with Honduras and El Salvador (see figure 1). It has three basic geographic sections. The first is the lowland area in the north, which comprises about half of the territory of Guatemala but is rural and rather sparsely populated. The climate here is tropical and considered to be quasi-rainforest. The second section of land is the highlands, which is mountainous and home to Guatemala City and the industrial sector. Numerous and active volcanoes are dispersed throughout the mountains of the region, the largest mountain range being the Sierra Madre. The maquilas and shantytowns are located in and around Guatemala City in the highlands. This region has the widest range in climate spanning from temperate (tierra templada) to cold (tierra fria) in the areas of higher altitudes. The third section is the Pacific lowlands that borders Mexico and El Salivdor and runs along the southern coast of Guatemala . It is the most productive agricultural region of the nation with rich soil resulting from the volcanic ash. The hot and humid, or tierra caliente climate in the region also contributes to the viability and success of agriculture in the region (Shea 21-25).

Basic Background: The formal name of the nation is The Republic of Guatemala, and it is classified as a constitutional democratic republic. Guatemala has been an independent nation since September 15, 1821 , when independence from Spain was established. The most recent constitution was adopted in 1985, and it provides for a separation of governmental into three branches. The executive consists of a president (Oscar Jose Rafael Berger Perdomo), a vice president (Eduardo Stein Barillas), and a cabinet. The legislature is a unicameral Congress (one house or body), and like the executive the 158 members serve four-year terms. Lastly is the judicial branch, which culminates in the Constitutional Court (CIA World Factbook http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gt.html#Geo).

     The history of Guatemala includes many of the same violent and repressive measures that can be found in the other former colonies of Latin America . The nation has technically had its independence since 1821 from Spain , however problems of authoritarian government and disregard of the peasants by the elites continued even with independence. Change from authoritarian government has been slow, and some significant strides were made during the years of 1944-1954 when Guatemala had two popularly elected presidents. The second of the two, President Arbenz was responsible for initiating some basic socio-economic reforms, but the reform that is the most notable for its lasting consequences is the land reform. The disparity of the distribution of land between the elites and the peasants and the poverty of the rural peasants were targeted with the reform. It basically had the government buy land that was not used from large plantations, which was then sold at lower prices to peasants (Global Exchange www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/Guatemala/history.html).

      The problem with the reform was that corporations, especially the United Fruit Company had been undervaluing the true worth of their land holdings for the purpose of taxation, therefore the compensation would be what the company declared and not what the land was actually worth. The leaders of the United Fruit Company turned to the United States government, saying that the land distribution in Guatemala showed that it was becoming a communist state. The CIA then trained and funded dissidents and sent them back to Guatemala to lead a violent overthrow of the government and President Arbanz. An extremely violent and long civil war resulted, lasting from about 1960 to 1996. A repressive military dictatorship was instituted and was in place until 1985, which attempted to crush all opposition through basically genocidal means against the Maya population. People fled to the jungles in attempt to escape the massive torture and killings, many of whom formed resistance movements (civilian resistance populations) or joined armed resistance movements to the repression such as the U.R.N.G. (Global Exchange www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/Guatemala/history.html). The United States continued to be involved in the civil war through funding, training, and arming the military dictatorship (CARECEN www.icomm.ca/carecen/page36.html).

      The first part of the war was waged in the countryside during the 1960s. In the 1970s another round of fighting occurred in the western highlands, which incorporated some Indigenous communities. The last part of the war spanned from late 1970s to the war's conclusion in 1996, and during this period the once localized war became a full-scale civil war. During the last part of the civil war the Indigenous peoples were actively involved in the guerrilla movements. The civil war in Guatemala was not only one of the longest in Latin America , but one of the deadliest as well. Over 200,000 people were killed or simply “disappeared” during the war, with genocide being an important factor. Of that amount, about 53% killed were Mayan, 11% Ladino, and 33% unspecified. Peace Accords to end the violence were finally signed in 1996 (World Bank Country Study 63-65).

      A lasting impact of the civil war has been the large displacement people, many of whom have flocked to the shanty towns around Guatemala City for work and refuge. The displacement resulted from the scorched earth practices of the state, devastating rural lands and forcing people to rebuild elsewhere (World Bank Country Study 64). Men and women are moving to the cities in an attempt to find work to support themselves and their families. They live in poverty but are trying to find work so that the children will have education and have the opportunity for a better life (Johnson and Low 48-49). For instance, in a survey of 470 mothers in Guatemala City , only about 28% of them were actually born there, the rest having migrated from the countryside (Johnson and Low 61). The massive over-urbanization that now faces the areas in and around Guatemala City will continue to be a challenge to the nation in the future.

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Brand: GEAR for Sports

     The product that I have investigated is a sweatshirt bought at the Miami University bookstore made by the company GEAR for Sports. The company licenses Champion products in bookstores. It also features the Event 1 retail service subsidiary that boasts such clients as “the NCAA and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America team” (GEAR for Sports http://www.gearforsports.com/event1.html ).

     On the website, the global partners listed are GEAR for Sports Canada and GEAR for Sports Southeast Asia, and the contact information for these branches is listed as well (GEAR for Sports http://www.gearforsports.com/global_partners.html).  The company itself is based in the United States , with its headquarters being in Lenexa, Kansas.

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People

      The particular sweatshirt I purchased is navy blue (see figure 3) and was made in Guatemala . The maquila that GEAR for Sports is affiliated with is the Atlantic Modas, S.A. , so I am going to assume that is where the sweatshirt is made since that maquila is in Guatemala (Human Rights Watch, Appendix C, 129). The company would not comment on the exact location of the factory, and for the purposes of research I will assume that it is in the general area of Guatemala City since that is where the maquilas tend to be concentrated in Guatemala . The Atlantic Modas maquila has been charged with requiring job applicants to answer questions about pregnancy status in the past, although they have stated policies that prohibit discrimination and pregnancy testing (Corpwatch http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=1777).

      The maquila sector is relatively new in terms of industry in Guatemala . Export-oriented legislation was not passed until the 1960s, and it took another twenty years (around the mid-1980s) for the maquiladora sector to become well established (Human Rights Watch 54). Before factories developed in the formal economy, women usually only worked in the informal economy in domestic jobs, and working in the domestic industry is still common for women in Guatemala City (Johnson and Low 61). The maquila industry basically assembles already cut pieces of cloth into apparel, packages the finished product, and usually ships it to the United States . This industry has been a big draw for women and girls who had previously had only been able to find work in the domestic industry. The workforce for the maquilas started as mostly ladina women from urban areas, however indigenous women (and men) from rural areas have been increasingly represented as the trend of urbanization continues (Human Rights Watch 53). However, discrimination continues to cause the indigenous to have limited access to non-agricultural jobs, and to face wage discrimination (World Bank Country Study 92).

      For women in Guatemala , working in the maquilas is actually a step above the domestic industry. It is estimated that out of the roughly 80,000 that work in the maquila industry, 80% are women (Human Rights Watch 84). The workers earn a minimum wage of $3.70 per day, which equates to about $170 per month. This amount does not even come close to covering the monthly expenses for an average family which have been calculated to be around $284 per month, even though they earn a significant amount more than women in the domestic industry in which minimum wage laws are not applied (Common Threads http://www.commonthreads.ca/articles.htm#home%20life% 20for%20maquila%20workers). The average age of the women interviewed and studied in the Human Rights Watch investigation was twenty eight, and 55% of the workers had at least one child to support, although the average family size is about 5.38 people (Human Rights Watch 85).

     Eight hour work days are also supposed to apply to this sector as well, however the rules regarding working hours are constantly violated and overtime pay is not well documented on pay stubs. As one woman working in a Korean-owned factory noted: ‘“Work hours are supposed to be from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. , but normally, we don't get out until 7 p.m. ,” she says. “When we say we work extra hours, they say, ‘no, it's voluntary,' but it's really obligatory, because if we don't work, they don't give us our cards back.” Without the cards, akin to time sheets, workers would be docked the entire day's pay.' (Common Threads http://www.commonthreads.ca/articles.htm#home%20life%20for%20 maquila%20workers). One way around clear documentation of overtime pay and pay rate is the use of a complicated system involving the total production of the assembly line and paying each worker a small portion of each piece of the total that they contribute (Human Rights Watch 86). The companies also find ways around giving the workers access to health care by neglecting to register the workers with the national security system. The practice is illegal, but since the factories are able to open the next day under a different name when they are fined or shut down, enforcement of health care laws is not effective (Human Rights Watch 54).

      Unions in Guatemala are particularly weak and compose only 2% of the workforce, given the violent past of the nation and the repression of unionization by the government. Workers can and are routinely fired for taking part in union demonstrations, thus discouraging further action. In addition, the state pays off union leaders to leave the union, which is particularly enticing considering the dire financial state of the workers. This brings about the conclusion that unions are not being used as an effective bargaining tool for the women to negotiate safer and cleaner working conditions. The working conditions of the maquilas are typically dangerous and dirty. Accidents happen and women incur illness that they are not permitted to see a doctor for until the illness is very severe (Common Threads http://www.commonthreads.ca/articles.htm#home%20life%20for%20 maquila%20workers).

Sexual Harassment: This is a topic that has been a major problem for women working in the domestic industry, and continues to be a problem for women in the maquila industry as well. Particularly telling is the description made by a manager of a maquila of the ideal worker:

Eighteen to twenty-four is the ideal age. They should not be married because when   they are married they tend to have added responsibilities.  Before you know it they start to have children, which is a problem. We do not hire a woman is she has     small children because it is likely they will become sick, and she will often need to go to the doctor. If a woman is large, she will likely get sick often and have to go to the doctor as well.  My ideal worker is young, unmarried, healthy, thin and delicate, single, lives close, and does not have previous experience (qtd. in Human Rights Watch 89).

     Women are routinely asked if they are pregnant as a condition for obtaining a job in the maquilas. The company that I bought the sweatshirt from, GEAR for Sports has stated that they do not participate in this practice and that it is against policy to discriminate against women. While this is a step in the right direction that corporations are increasingly taking this stance, the government has no laws or regulations regarding this form of discrimination and therefore does not step in to enforce any such laws (Human Rights Watch 87-88).

     In addition, workers are searched as they enter and leave the factory. Although the women are searched by guards of the same sex, they searches are very invasive and the men working in the factory are present for the searches. Mayan women again face discrimination as they are forced to undo the cortes, or skirts, and are subjected to more suspicion than the ladino women (Human Rights Watch 86).

The Challenges of Globalization: Guatemalan industry faces new challenges from China , who offers lower prices to corporations by paying the workers less than they make in places such as Guatemala (Economist 38). This puts pressure on the Guatemalan government to allow corporations to pay employees less to compete in what has been termed a race to the bottom with labor wages. Clothing manufacture has replaced subsistence farming, and the clothing workshops created are subcontracted to manufacture apparel. Given the competition from China , Guatemala faces the challenge of upgrading to full package or full production orders, which entails making an item from beginning to end instead of just assembling the pieces. This kind of production requires that the factories obtain full assembly contracts and requires that more long-term relationships with the companies are established (Sainz and Andrade-Eekhoff 43-44).

     The inception of CAFTA (the Central American Free Trade Agreement) provides the opportunity to overcome “ China 's 20% cost advantage, derived from cheaper labour and cheap currency” (Economist 38). CAFTA would allow Guatemala (as well as Central America) more options for purchasing raw materials and would make exports duty free, which would help to make the clothing manufacture industry more competitive globally. It also would encourage more trade with companies in the United States . As with trade and globablization in general, CAFTA is controversial in both Central America (Guatemala) and in the United States and even though it has been signed it has not yet been put into effect by the governments involved in the agreement.

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Process

     The process thus far has both challenging and enlightening. I began my search for information with the GEAR for Sports website (www.gearforsports.com). The website is broken up into two sets of links. One set of links goes to divisions of the company connecting you to the different divisions of the main company and contact information for the main headquarters which is located in Kansas , and the other set gives information about the company, including an overall company values statement. The problem arose when I attempted to click on the “Human Rights” link under the heading “About Us”. It was the only link on the website that did work. Thinking that was strange, I emailed the company and informed them that the link was not active so that their IT people could fix it. The company emailed me back a bit later telling me that they indeed had their IT services people look at the problem, and they did not have any problem accessing the link from the office, but would have someone investigate connecting to it from an outside computer in the future. To this day, the “Human Rights” link still does not work .

     The other major obstacle I had was finding the factory associated with the company GEAR for Sports. Reaching a person at the company that could and would actually answer my questions was a challenge. I learned that even when one is doing a class project and states that upfront, certain information such as the name of the factory or its location in Guatemala are not easy to come by. I finally came upon the name of the affiliated factory in a study released by the Human Rights Watch organization concerning the female work force in Guatemala . The exact location of the factory is something that I have been unable to find, and can only speculate about after reading about the maquila sector in Guatemala . For me, this has been an enlightening experience as to how much power and influence a corporation can yield. In this case, the company clearly does not want information to be known about the conditions and circumstances of the factory making its clothing in Guatemala . With the exception of a small reference in the back of a report, information regarding the factory has been virtually impossible for me to find, displaying the power and influence that money has in containing certain unflattering information

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Conclusion

      Elsewhere in Latin America, what is known as the maquila industry in Guatemala is known by the longer name of maquiladora. Despite the difference in name, the challenges facing the workers remain pretty much the same. Women, and some men, flock to the factories in hopes of creating a better life for themselves and their current or future family. What they find are shanty towns, harsh working conditions, long hours, discrimination, and somewhat higher pay than the domestic sector although it is far from being enough to support a family with. Jobs in the industry are considerably unstable due to the ability of the factories to close one day and open the next under a different name, and the ability to fire workers with practically no explanation at all (Human Rights Watch 54-55). The access to health care is still very poor, and sexual harassment and discrimination in this female dominated sector, especially based on reproductive status, continues to be rampant (Human Rights Watch 54). Hopefully in the future, the Government of Guatemala will take a stance against the abuses that occur not only in the maquila sector but in the domestic sector as well. However, given the government's own history of human rights abuses, this does not seem particularly likely to occur any time soon (World Bank Country Study 64).

      The project has certainly made me realize the conditions that my blue sweatshirt was made in. It makes me sad that people do work in such conditions so that I can have another sweatshirt while the people that made the sweatshirt do not have adequate living conditions let alone adequate clothing. It also makes me discouraged that the sweatshirt was bought at a university that has a stated policy against sweatshops. My only concern when I was shopping for clothing previously was if it fit well or not, but now I know that it is not enough. Many people have had to work in inhumane conditions for me to buy it and wear it even once.

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Internet References Cited

CIA World Factbook. 10 February 2005. Guatemala. Electronic Document http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gt.html accessed 15 February 2005 

It is a CIA website and provides general information about the nation of Guatemala to the public.

Corpwatch. 14 February 2005. Women and Girls Exploited on the Job. http:// www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=1777 accessed 15 February 2005.

The link is to the article on the Corpwatch website, which is an organization that investigates corporations, and then exposes wrongdoing with the goal of holding them accountable for their actions.

Commonthreads. 25 July 2003. Working Conditions in the Maquilas of Guatemala. http://www.commonthreads.ca/articles.html  accessed 15 February 2005

The website is sponsored by the Government of Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency, and is interested in the protection of labor rights specifically in the clothing manufacture industry.

GEAR for Sports. http:// www.gearforsports.com  accessed 10 February through 25 April 2005.

It is the main public website for the GEAR for Sports company and provide information about the company and link to its subsidiaries.

Global Exchange. 1 December 2004. Guatemala : A Brief History. http:// www.globalexhange.org/campaigns/Guatemala/history.html accessed 16 February through 29 March 2005.

It is an article about the history and efforts of the Global Exchange organization in Guatemala , and the organization itself is dedicated to the promotion of environmental, political, and social justice.

CARECEN. 4 April 2004. UN Truth Commission Finds U.S. Involvement in Guatemalan Atrocities. www.icomm.ca/carecen/page36.html accessed 15 March through 29 March 2005.

It is an article reporting the findings of the UN Truth Commission in Guatemala, and CARECEN (the Central American Refugee Center) is a non-profit, immigration and human rights organization.                                                                   

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Peer-Reviewed References Cited

Economist

5/29/2004 Five get anxious. Vol. 371 Issue 8377, p38

 

Human Rights Watch

2002 From the Household to the Factory: Sex Discrimination in the Guatemala Work Force. Human Rights Watch. New York.

Johnson, Francis E. and Setha M. Low

1995 Children of the Urban Poor: The Sociocultural  Environment of Growth, Development, and Malnutrition in Guatemala City . Westview Press. Boulder.

Sainz, Juan Pablo Perez and Katharine Andrade-Eekhoff

Nov/Dec 2003 Local Development in the Global Economy. NACLA Report on the Americas . Vol. 37 Issue 3, p 40

Shea, Maureen E.

2001 Culture and Customs of Guatemala . Greenwood Press.Westport , CT.

World Bank Country Study

2004 Poverty in Guatemala . World Bank. Washington , D.C.

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