and ain't I a woman: US companies exploit women in Guatemala
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report — "From the household to the factory: sex discrimination in the Guatemalan labor force" — which exposes the widespread abuse of women workers in Guatemalan clothing factories with ties to US companies.
There are some 80,000 workers employed at more than 250 apparel factories (maquilas) in Guatemala. Eighty per cent of these workers are women, and according to a study conducted by the Central American Network of Women in Solidarity with Maquila Workers, nearly 12% are under 16 years of age.
Numerous US clothing companies sub-contract production to maquilas in Guatemala, including Target Corporation, Liz Claiborne, Gap, Lee Jeans and Wal-Mart. US companies are not legally obligated to disclose their outsourcing partners, which means maquila workers are unable to trace which labels they are producing.
A key finding of the HRW report is that "Maquiladora line operators, sewing in the global assembly line, are discriminated against on the basis of their reproductive status". Women seeking employment at a maquila often have to indicate whether or not they are pregnant before being considered for a job.
In some cases, women are to undergo a medical examination to prove they are not pregnant. Women have also been asked about their frequency of sexual relations, the number and ages of their children, and their intentions to have further children.
The report cites the case of 27-year-old Miriam de Rosario, who was fired in May 2000 from her job at Modas One Korea because she was pregnant. The director of personnel said she was sacked because she would not be able to work extra hours, stand for long periods and could not work as hard as other employees.
Women who become pregnant after they begin working at a maquila are often denied rights to maternity benefits accorded by Guatemalan law. Companies are required to register employees with the national social security systems' health scheme but frequently fail to do so. Even when the workers are registered, they are routinely denied access to health care.
Maquilas contracted by Target Corporation have reportedly compelled applicants to answer questions about pregnancy tests, denied or limited workers' maternity leave and breast-feeding rights and denied pregnant workers access to reproductive heath care. When HRW contacted Target Corporation for a response, they refused to give their fax number and failed to respond to a mailed letter.
Women's participation in the paid work force in Guatemala has significantly increased during the last decade, but is highly concentrated in the least stable and secure areas. Women represent 55% of workers in the informal sector, 75% in services and 98% in domestic work. They constitute only 17% of industrial workers and 8% of agricultural workers.
According to United Nations Development Program reports, 57% of Guatemalans live in poverty, with 27% in extreme poverty. Of Indigenous Guatemalans (Mayans), 74% live in poverty, 39% of those in extreme poverty. Guatemala also has the second lowest female literacy rate in Latin America, after Haiti. Only 48% of Mayan women are literate in Spanish.
The HRW report also details the situation faced by women domestic workers in Guatemala. Domestic workers are excluded from basic labour rights by the labour laws, including the right to the minimum wage and the eight-hour day. They are accorded only limited holidays and weekends and are mostly denied access to the national social security system's health scheme. Most domestic workers are women who migrate from rural areas to urban areas for work, which increases their isolation and vulnerability. Entrenched racism against Indigenous Guatemalans means that Mayan women experience even greater discrimination at work.
Guatemala still has no anti-sexual harassment legislation. While the Guatemalan government has signed a range of international human rights treaties including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Guatemalan constitution states that women and men shall have equal opportunities, the reality for most women workers is that these provisions remain on paper.
In Guatemala City, there are three women's organisations that provide medical and legal assistance to maquila workers, but there is only one union organising in the sector. Attempts to form new unions have been met with extreme resistance from the apparel industry. Mass dismissals, intimidation, retaliation and plant closures have been common responses. There is no union in Guatemala that specifically organises domestic workers, and no other unions address the rights of domestic workers.
The full HRW report can be found at .
BY KERRYN WILLIAMS
[The author is Canberra secretary of the Democratic Socialist Party.]
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, March 13, 2002.
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