Tamara Milsztajn

Salvadoran Women Struggle for Social and Economic Rights

"I do not have potable water at my work and my supervisor controls how many times I use the bathroom," said Reina, a Salvadoran sweatshop worker. Ten women were sitting in a circle, all sharing similar stories of abuse in their work environment. They were giving strength to each other while learning how to denounce and fight these violations.

I heard voices like these frequently at Organizacion de Mujeres Salvadorenas por la Paz (ORMUSA), a women's human-rights NGO where I worked as an AJWS World Partners Fellow. Every weekend, sweatshop workers come to ORMUSA to learn about their rights and how to advocate for them. Listening to their stories of abuses, I learned about gross labor violations taking place around the country. The words "made in El Salvador" would never again be just a label on a T-shirt for me. 

Voices from the sweatshops
By talking with several workers in El Salvador's maquilas (textile factories that produce clothes sold by U.S. brands), I found out that they frequently earn less than the minimum wage and work overtime without payment. When workers are laid off, they rarely receive compensation. Sick and pregnant women are constantly fired, and one factory even conducted illegal pregnancy tests before hiring. Women are frequently victims of sexual harassment, and subject to unsafe working conditions.

Part of what maintains this unjust status quo is that workers are denied the right to organize. Those who join the union are fired and blacklisted.

One woman I spoke to, Isabel, told me that she had to work with chemical products without wearing a mask. She started to suffer from respiratory problems and was fired without receiving compensation. These and other abuses are frequently swept under the rug.

Women are most affected by these violations, since they constitute 84 percent of the maquila workforce. Many are forced into these low-skill labor positions because they lack formal education. The maquilas also target women because they are more tolerant of verbal abuse and are willing to work for lower wages.

Governments turn a blind eye to labor abuses
The situation in the maquilas reflects a deep-seated pattern of discrimination that is reinforced by the Salvadoran government. The Ministry of Labor does occasionally inspect factories, but the owners are usually warned of the visits in advance and hide violations. The Salvadoran government does not have the capacity or will to comply with international labor standards. Human rights abuses are justified by the rhetoric that the maquilas are creating jobs and advancing the Salvadoran economy.

Labor violations happen not only in El Salvador, but in many other developing countries that have cheap labor as their main comparative advantage. Global capitalism has created a "race to the bottom" between poor countries, in which they are willing to look the other way from labor regulations to reduce prices and attract foreign investment.

In this context, social and economic rights violations are seen as an inevitable consequence of capitalism. Free trade supporters argue that trade agreements usually enhance respect for workers' rights, but this is not the case with the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The treaty does not require signatories to comply with the International Labor Organization's (ILO) standards; they must only meet lax domestic laws.

Working to change the status quo for workers' rights
Since the early nineties, when maquilas started to establish themselves in El Salvador, it has been a long struggle to ensure that these factories respect international labor standards. Women's NGOs in El Salvador, including ORMUSA, are working tirelessly for this goal.

ORMUSA monitors violations in the factories and publically denounces these abuses by writing reports and distributing them through the Internet and the media. They have been pressuring the Salvadoran government to inspect the factories and punish those that do not comply with labor standards. In cooperation with other NGOs, ORMUSA filed a petition at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate Salvadoran government's inaction in face of these abuses.

The organization also trains workers to advocate for their rights and provides legal assistance. With AJWS's funding, ORMUSA established a hotline through which anyone can anonymously denounce violations and receive legal advice.

Salvadoran women are in a vulnerable position, as they desperately need these jobs to make a living. Yet their social and economic wellbeing must be treated as fundamental human rights.

It will certainly be a long process before compliance with labor laws in El Salvador is achieved. But women's NGOs are bringing about change from the bottom-top by raising awareness of labor violations and educating Salvadoran workers about their rights. Workers are standing up to their supervisors and making use of the legal system to ensure the protection of their rights.

As Reina, a Salvadoran sweatshop worker told me: "My supervisor used to verbally abuse me. Now, she does not scream at me anymore. I know that I have to be respected, even if I am poor."

 

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