Nafta and mexican workers mini q answer

NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

Today you will write your second argument essay using documents in this class.

DIRECTIONS: Answer the question in the box below based on your current knowledge and information from the documents provided to you by your teacher, As you read closely and analyze the documents, take Into account both the source of each document ond the author's point of vtew, Be sure to do all of the following before you attempt to answer the question and write your essay.

1. Read the question below and think about what you may already know about the topic. 2. Analyze each document provided to you carefully, underlining key phrases and

words, as well as, taking notes that might help answer the question below. QIOTE: You may write on each document and tqke notes of important information.)

3. Determine the main idea of each document and think about how it might contain information that relates to the question in the box below.

4, Based on your own knowledge and the information in the documents, develop a claim (thesis) statement that directly answers the question.

5. Gather any relevant information from the documents as evidence to support your claim [thesis) statement. Organize your thoughts into a graphic organizer.

6. Write a well-organized essay supporting your clairn (thesisJ statement. Be sure to write your essay in a logical sequence that will ma[

7. Include informaticln obtained from the documents, as well as, your own knowledge, Be sure to cite each docurnent that you use in your essay. (Doc. A, Doc, B, etc.)

Question - Has NAFTA kept its promises to Mexican Workers?

Curriculum and lnstruction May 4,201,7 Office of Social Studies

Background Essay NAFTA and l'rlexican V'io#ers Mini'o

Globalization at the Border: Has NAFTA Kept lts Promises to Dlexican Workers?

Ou January 1, 1994, NAFTA was bonr. K-nown hoped io earn more money lhan they could have in oflicially as the Norlh Amcrican I'ree Trade Mexico. Howwer, for many, the Bracero Program Agrcement, NAITIA was a treaty siS,ned by Nlexico, did not ljve up to its promise' Workers endured harsh Canada, and the United States, It had many goals: to working conditions and lower-than-expected wages' help corporations, (o increase workplace efficiency, Amerioan employers oftcn took out payments for aDd to inlprove ttre lives ofworkeN. However, its food, housing and other expenses' main purfose was to encourage fite trade. When the Bmcero Program ended in 1964' the

HistoLically, many couutries have limked free rrumber of unemployed workers in Mcxico grew' In trade by irnposing tariffs, or taxes on imported response, the Mexican govemment made a serious goods. Tarilfs increase the price of imports. Since e{Iort to encourage foreign investrnent in the country' most people don't want to pay hiSI prices, these This led to the crcation offoreign'owned assembly taxes give an advantage to national iudustries plants, cal'led zra4uilodoms.lheaame comes from a and the wolkers crnployed Spa:rish word tlrat means "to by thern. In other words, The Maquiladora system tnake fot another-

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tali [Is provide protestion

from foloign competition, The problern witll tariffs is tlrat, because dtey decrease competitioq they allow badly run businesses to survive.

'Illose who support free

trade believe everyone benefits

when tariffs aro eliminaled. The idea is that because goods witlrout tariffs are less

expensive, consumem can

better afford them. More affordable goods result in

increased sales. [l] turn, morc sales mean higher profits

and rnore jobs.

The free trade brought about by NAFIA is an example of globalization, or international counectedness. By flre 1990s, the worldwide

exchange of goods was becoming easier and less

expeusive, As countries agreed to let their industries

compete across intemational borders, each country

began xo specialize in producing the goods artd services tley wero best at providing.

NAFTA has shaped US-Mexico economic oooperation since 1994, but the two counlries have boen closely connected economically for much longer'. In I942, the United States and Mexico created the Bracero Program. Since many Anrericans weie overseas flgbtirrg in World War II at the tirne, this program allofued American farm owners to temporarily hire Mexican workers to pick their tomaloes, oranges, and olher crops. Mofe tlun 4.5 million Mexicans participated. Mexicar workers had

Foreign manu facturers

benefited from the tax incentives Meico offered, but low labor costs were an even bigger draw Sirice Mexico has a much lorver minimum rvage and high rates ofruml poverfy, Msxican workers cost employers less. This helped keep production costs dov'n, rvhich helped maru facturers

eam grcater profits. Mexican workers beneflted because more jobs became available.

NAFTA encouraged flre grolvth ofeven more industry in Mexico. Shce the treaty made it more profitable for companies to employ }vlexican workers to assemble auto parts and refrigemtors, multinational cornpauies built more maquiladoras. Ivlany ofthese Mexican-made goods were increasingly delivered to the Urited States.

By 1996, maquiladoras were lhe second largest enrployeL in Mexico. Attracted by the promise ofa better life, worke,s fiom the nral south flocked to jobs in these new factories at the florthern bordcr. But did lhey lind what they rvere lookilg for?

This Mini-Q conlains six docurneots about naquiladora workers today, more thBn 20 years aller NAFIA took ellect. Your task is to examine lhe evidence and decide for yourself:. Globalization at lhe border: Has NAFTA kepl its pt'o ises to Mexican workers?

Stains and seals lrom the United States

Lumber from

lndonesia

Hardwars from

China

MAOUILADORA Mexican workers build tables

Finished tables are shipped to lhe United States for sale

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Document A

Source: *Proambla," Norlh American Free Trade Agreement, 1gg4.

Nolo: A preamble is an introduction, usually to a lormal document.

NAFIA and Moxican Workers Mini-e

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North Arncricirn Free Trado Agr.eemcut NAflA) PREAMBLE

The Govermieut of Cauada, the Goverr:nrent of the United Mexican States, and the Governrnent of the United States of America, resolved to:

STRENGTHEN the special bonds of fi'iendsbip and cooperation among their nations; CONTRIBUTE to the hannonious development and expansion of world trade and provide a

catalyst to broader international cooperation; CREATE an exparrded and secure ntatket for the goods and services produced in their

tcrritories; REDUCE distortions to trade; ESTABLISH clear and mutually advantageous lules governing theit trade; . . . ENHANCE the competitiveness of their firms in global markets; . . . CREATE new enrployment opporlunities and inrprove wor*ing oonditions and living standards

in their respective tenitortesl LII{DERTAKE each of the preceding in a nranner consistent with environmental protection and

conservation; , . . PROMOTE sustainable development; STRENGTHEN the development and enforcernent of environmental laws and regulations; and PROTECT, enhance, and enforce basic workers'rights; . . .

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NAFTA and Mexican Workers Mini-Q

Document B

Sourco: Based on data from lhe Foderal Fleserve Bank ol Dallas, the Economic Policy lnslitute, and Chad Broughton'

-- t;;;*:i;;;|, ixodus: The Rust Be1, the Maquiras, and a Tate ot Two cities,2015.

Note: The Maquiladora Program began in 1965, NAFTA took eflecl in 1994.

Em ment in uiladoras bY Border CitY'2014

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170,000 Tijuana

204,300 Judrez

94,300

48,400Rarnos

t 70,000 Monterey

.Gulf oJ

.A4exlco .

20141975 1980

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NAFTA and Mexrcan Workers Mini-Q

Document C

Source: ,.Emproyecs Work the production Line at a Factory in ciudad Acuna" coahuila State, Moxico," Mcc,atchy-Tribuno

tnformation Servicos, June 17, 2012.

Note: Salety signs and instructions are ofien written ln Engllsh, a languags mo$ maquiladora workgrs do not read or speak.

source: Photo by John Gibbins. San Aego Union'Trhune, 2006,

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NAFTA and Moxican Workers Mini'O

Document D

Source: Clrad Brought on, Boom, Bust, Exodus: I/te Rust 8e lt, the Maquilas, and a Tate ol Two Citles,2015'

Noto: Laura Flora workod ln a maquiladora in the border town ol Beynosa, Mexlco. The lactory, which opened f ?991

and ctosed in 2008, asse,nUfsd-l;iigerafors fuifr4aytag, an Amerlcan co*puny. Today, she worl€ ln a maquiladora

owned by the American hardware company Slanley Black & Decker, lnc'

Flora fclt deureaned by the low wages Maytag paid aud found the work tedious and the

factory culture oppressive and delnoralizirlg. Yet she stayed.

As a silgle mother, Flora lived on thc razor's cdge of survival, but she had something her

friends back in [Velacruz, MexicoJ did not: steady work. . , .With overtitne Flora could cross

the poverty tlreshold to move into the nollpoor half [of the population]

The border was also where Flora . . .tlrought she could be a better patetrt. . . .[Here] in

nrodeurizing Reynosa, her dauglrters-if not hersclf--had a much better chance at getting ahead

than t6ey naa naa in Veracruz. "The education is better herc, a lot betteq" Flora leflected' ' ' ' Her

boyfiierid, Ar.tu.o Mireles Guzruan, agreed. Tire girls needed a technical profession, in his view' ' ' '

"so they can be the bosses." . . .

Flora,s gamble was about more than erlucation. Coming north nreant escaping clushirrg

gender limitations in all aspects of life inVeracruz. . . , Despite the ceaseless and honilic

heatllines about drug-related violence, much of it directed at young wolnen, there was a sense

of fieedorn and possibility at the border: There were concrete freedoms too-access to more

occgpational fields, cOnttaception, women's health care, and divorce.

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NAFTA and Moxicsn Workors Minl.e

Document E

Source; Tim Johnson,'Mexico's'Maquiladora'Labor Systom Keeps Workers ln Povorty,', McClalchy Nowspaporc, June r7, 2012.

NotE: ln the border town of Beynosa, Mexico, children's shoos cost up to $25. Alr-condltloning units cost $260 oach. A two-liter botlle of soda costs $1,35.

By day' Sergio Martinez labors in a rnodetn air-conditioned factory a few miles lrom the Texasborder....

At rright, he comes home to a dirt-floor shack with a bare light bulb and no indoor plumbing. Mosquitoes buzz incessantly. . , .

His salary of $7.50 a day is enough to provide for the famity dinner table, tlre cost of bootleg water and electricity, and an occasional article of discarded clottring for his wife or two girls, but rarely anything else. . . .

For nine years, Martinez has been a constant presence on a fnst-moving assembly line, He unspools and tapes electrical wiring systems for Ford pickups, I{arley-Davidson motorcycles, Volvo and Scania trucks and other vehicles,

He and his wife, Elba, are from a ruml area of Veracruz state on the Gulf ofMexico, part ofa large community from that state thafs moved to Mexico's northem border. Once a nrunicipal policeman, Martinez heard of gcrod-paying jobs so he migrated, later bringing his wife and starting a farnily.

They live in what Mexicans call a'Jacal," a homemade shanty of scrap wood and tarpaper, Boulders keep the corrugated tin roofing on in casc of high wind. An outhouse is a few fcet away. . . . A broken stove also lies outside, hollowed out and jelry-rigged to serve as a barbecue. A makeshift electrical line brings power fi'om a neighbor's house. A homemade pipe brings water ftom a different direction,

After nearly a decade at his job, Martinez isn't optimistic.

"We don't have hopcs for a better life here for our kids," he said.

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NAfjIA nnd Moxican Workore Mini-O

Docurnenl F

Sourco: Alsna tiemuoh, "Uphoavol ln tho Factorloo ol Judroz," Ttlo Allanila, January 21' 2016'

Noto: Maquitadora worksrs ln Ju6roz 66rn an avorngo ol $42.2 por month, Tho avorago aalary o'l Moxlcan workors le $!5BZ per monlh,

Wgrrrcn olrd meu, nrore tharr 70 o('thcnr, wcrc Iircd cln I)t:ccnrhor 9th [2015] firxn the fuatary em

thg Mr:xiogu sitle o1'lhc Mcxico-Jbxas [rorder wlrerc they nuclc pdtr[ot't for tlro Arnct'ioan conlpany

Lcxnrarl<, 'l)roy say lhoy wclo tclnrinatcd bcruusc thcy wcro trying to firnn an indoponclent unittn. . . . '' "We ure hutrgry, Our chitrJron arr": hungty,o' Illanoa IJstollu M

Irr tlrc Lexnrark n:aqrrila(10ru, or firtoly, M

day, IIer shifts wcre niuc-ancl-a-hall'lrours long . , , .'lhat's about 39 cettts an ltour, . , .

f}e Lcxuark worJcers tlecicled to try ancl fonn a union because thcy warrted batlct working concliti<;ns, Blanca llstolla Moya, for exanrplo, wns responsible firr putting rnctal parts in a plastio

ctutrirlge, a job lhal macle hcr wrists s

with constuntly brokc, she says, arrcl supcrvisolrr wolc un.synrpathctic, cxpcoting hcr to contitrtte

to produce 1,700 parts a day, even with a brokcn maclrine. The worlccrs callccl one managcr "Thc

Dog" because ol'his record of sexual harusstnent. , , .

[fherc] ale [ulso] signs that ilre goven:rrrent and thc lactories urc colluding to punish agitators. 'fhe narnes

tfuey subnritted the petilion, 90 u,orlccrs werc firccl, 75 of whonr had signed the petition, . , ,

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