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Border Awareness Week

USC Gould School of Law • February 8, 2008
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Spotlight on labor rights, public health and environment near U.S.-Mexico border

Stirred by a recent public service trip to Tijuana, Mexico, near the United States border, Legal Aid Alternative Breaks and the Office of Public Service are sponsoring Border Awareness Week Feb. 11 to 15.

U.S.-Mexico border
 The U.S.-Mexico border
Throughout the week, the groups will display a gallery of photos from their two-day trip last month, during which 17 students, along with two law school faculty and two staff members, toured maquiladoras, foreign factories, a workers’ settlement and a nearby toxic site. The photos may be viewed in the East Lobby of the law school, near the Ackerman Courtroom.

On Tuesday, Feb. 12, LAAB and OPS are hosting a lunch panel in Room 3 with Professors Niels Fenzen and Seth Stodder to examine immigration issues, and on Wednesday, Feb. 13, the groups are hosting a viewing of the movie “Maquilapolis” ("City of Factories") from 6 to 8 p.m. in Room 130.

Malissa Barnwell-Scott, OPS student programs advisor, one of the staff members who attended the Tijuana trip, provided the following account:

“This was LAAB’s first trip to the region. We hoped to learn about social issues that transcend country: labor rights, public health and environmental justice.

Crosses on the border remember migrants who died in crossing
Crosses on the border
remember migrants who
died in crossing
“We parked our cars on the U.S. side and walked across the border to expedite our return. Our walk across went smoothly; there didn’t seem to be an issue with us entering Mexico. We knew it could be different when we returned.

“The stark transition from one country to another became clearer with each step.

“Members of the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) from San Diego met us. Shortly after we arrived, we headed to a section of town where many foreign companies had factories, the maquiladoras. We saw first-hand the impact the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) had in this age of a global economy. We learned Tijuana was the largest manufacturer of televisions in the world. Additional products made in the factories include medical supplies, furniture and electronics. NAFTA has produced an increase in poverty, environmental pollution and labor injustice.     

“Factory workers who do not earn a living wage and cannot afford rent live on the banks of a polluted river in homes made of scrap wood, often purchased from their employer, and metal. They do not have running water, heat, electricity, or any other comforts of basic living in the U.S. A truck full of water for sale comes through the area. The water is for bathing and washing clothes, as it’s not clean enough to drink. 

The group visited a toxic site
The group visited a toxic site
“EHC helped cultivate a group of community organizers, some former factory workers who led a successful 10-year campaign to have a toxic waste site cleaned up. The waste was a product of an American company who declared bankruptcy and left the country.  Under the NAFTA agreement, a number of U.S. business regulations became ‘recommendations.’ Finally, after 10 years, the Mexican government has begun to clean up the mess left by the American company.”

 

Labor rights issues seen in Tijuana

• High stress levels and low wages

• Assembly workers have lighted signals indicating how long a task should take. If they take even seconds longer, workers could be in danger of losing their jobs.

• Breaks beyond lunch are discouraged, including going to the restroom

• Sexual harassment is prevalent in the factories, from supervisors and other co-workers. Most harassment is aimed at women; however men can be targeted as well.

• A group of workers are fighting to receive severance pay from an American furniture company who left the region. The company funded a “union” to help their unsuspecting employees. The union made concessions not in the best interest of the workers and delayed progress, possibly reaching the statutes of limitations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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