Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was put into action eight years ago, Mexico has won a degree of economic stability not found in other Latin American countries. The benefits of the partnership with the United States and Canada have been huge. Last year, the $254 billion in trade with the U.S. accounted for about 78 percent of Mexico's total. Billions of foreign investment dollars have poured into Mexico as foreign-owned factories cash in on low-cost labor and easy access to the U.S. market.

But workers at the maquiladora assembly plants that line Mexico's border with the U.S are receiving the short end of the NAFTA bargain. Unfair working conditions, especially sex-based discriminatory employment practices are common and unchecked in many maquiladoras. In recent years, for instance, hundreds of women have been either systematically denied jobs or fired because they were pregnant, according to Human Rights Watch. Hundreds more have been let go for demanding better pay and benefits. Most of them work in harsh conditions in some of the most unforgiving sweatshops on the globe.

Most maquiladora workers are women, young women, and their work is becoming more necessary and dangerous. More necessary because factory work found along the border cities tends to offer (slightly) better wages than those found in Mexico's countryside. More dangerous because workers are increasingly attacked when they draw attention to callous working situations. (Many workers are still routinely turned away at many factories if they are as little as three minutes late, leaving them to return home alone, often in the dark).

Despite the inevitable threats to their jobs and life, some brave women workers continue to protest against the unjust labor environment. But the pay-off is often little, as governments rarely penalize the perpetrators of discriminatory and punishing working practices.

Far more workers remain quiet, torn between practical and moral choices. Should they test their employers with demands for healthcare or union membership? If they do, they risk their paycheck, which, for many, represents their first taste of economic independence. And if enough workers protest it could convince some companies to ditch Mexico for other parts of the world (i.e. Central America, Asia) where labor is even cheaper. Rebellious employees bear the potential risk of putting their own co-workers out on the street. But inaction can leave conditions unchanged.

NAFTA's economic triumphs have been built on the backs of maquiladora workers. They deserve to be supported and protected by those who have benefited most from NAFTA: local politicians, company bosses and foreign investors. But the challenge is a big one. NAFTA, an economically successful free trade pact, must be made morally sound. Problem is, guaranteeing fair working conditions can be costly. This can clash with a company's bottom line. And politicians — from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico — lack the teeth to test multinationals that have invested heavily in NAFTA.

A rethink is crucial. NAFTA's framework must be changed in order to ensure fair and safe working conditions. It is still fixable, and with work could provide a valuable precedent for our globalized world. If NAFTA and the inhumane labor conditions that it allows remains as is, future trade accords will be of as little help to workers in other countries as it has been to those in Mexico.

Monica Campbell is a New York-based journalist who writes often about Latin America.
 

____________________________________________________________________________