RED- Intro

Paul Olsen is a sociologist and anthropologist who specializes in the affect of sweatshops in Latin America. I asked him to discuss the daily life of a sweatshop worker, the impact of sweatshops on current gender structures of the nations they inhabit and the impact of Free/Fair trade agreements like NAFTA. In the garment industry almost all employees are women. These women are subjected to 12 hour days 6 days a week where they must meet extreme quotas to continue to work. They are expected to deal with sexual harassment or even perform sexual favors for the all male management. These women are given just enough to survive “down to the calorie” as Olsen puts it. The women are forced to be on birth control and are fired if they become pregnant. Both food and restrooms are made available but the women aren’t given time to use the restroom and the company food is too expensive for the women to afford. Olsen irritably states, “There is a dehumanization of women that goes on.” But when I ask him what affect it has on the preexisting gender structures he tells me about interviews that he’s done in Mexico with women workers. In these interviews the women expressed a sense of empowerment that this job has given them. Before these women were subjected to the patrone, the patriarchy. They were expected to be submissive and were under the control of their fathers or husbands because they were supported by them but with the sweatshops they can earn their own living, albeit in absolute poverty. Though the women express feeling freedom from the patrone the management of the sweatshop often takes a similar role, reinforcing male dominance. Olsen and I spoke about what role the original gender structure played in these sweatshops’ decisions to employ women. The subservient role of women in the family is key to their submissive behavior in the factory. Women are less likely to challenge the power structure because they have been powerless in their society.

This change in the family structure has measurable impact. The divorce rate in Latin America has been increasing at an alarming pace. The divorce rates were low almost non-existent in Latin America but when sweatshops started coming into the countries families began to split. Olsen sites his personal experience saying, “15 years ago I only knew 2 divorced couples (in Latin America)… I knew people who would live in the same house and never speak to each other but they stayed married.” The sweatshops have changed this. Sweatshops have also had an impact on life expectancy. The life expectancy of a sweatshop worker earning minimum wage is 44 years old compared to a worker making a living wage who lives an average of 77 years. In some countries there is no attempt to keep the worker alive. Olsen spoke about the 12/12/12 rule. This occurs in Pakistan workers are sold for $12.00, work twelve hours a day and live about twelve years.

Free trade agreements often have provisions about worker rights. In NAFTA workers have the right to organize. But Olsen believes, “Free trade agreements, in my mind, are probably the biggest illusionary guilt reduction mechanisms that corporate America or transnational corporations have put into play.” He says that these documents make promises to enforce worker laws but there is NO ENFORCING AGENCY. To put my own relational spin on it, it’s like parking in a tow risk area just off campus; you might get caught but chances are no one is paying attention. Except in this scenario there are billions of dollars saying, “We’d much rather you didn’t see that car in the parking lot.” There is another issue with these agreements Olsen brings up. Corporations have massive buying power and they can make or break a country’s economy. So, countries will underbid their work force to gain the business, striping costs for the corporations where ever they can. The minimum wage gets so low when it’s divided by the workers expenses they have nothing, a nothing that is beyond comprehension for most Americans. In name, the workers can organize to improve their situations but the people in power have great pull, “It’s … a power elite issue. As long as you have someone controlling other people and not letting them have input in their life the individual does not have human rights!…how do you make steps forward until you get power? Until people organize [it can’t happen]. There’s only power in numbers.” He goes on to say, “They don’t want these companies. They didn’t ask for them. They were driven off their land. They don’t have options.”

Paul Olsen leaves us with this problem: What can we do about this? We live in America, land of corporate greed. Everything we have comes from the blood, sweat and tears of these workers. Every dollar we earn and then spend feeds this machine of pre-mature death, forced sterilization, sexual abuse and male domination. Those hours we waste busting our backs inevitably ensure these facts. So, what do we do to make our hours of work count for something more then other people's misery? BUY ONLY WHAT YOU NEED. Re-evaluate what need is. In America, we think we need more then one or two pairs of jeans or that we need more then two T-shirts but really, we all know, we only need clothes to cover our backs. So make a commitment because you know no one else will. This revolution lies on the back of the individual. You do it. You make the decision.