Keeping Pace with U.S.
People who are considered undocumented workers come to America, only because America has forced Mexico's hand. They have entered a rigged game. NAFTA has enslaved Mexico with a tragic situation.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was created to increase free trade between Mexico, Canada, and the United States. It started January 1st, 1994 and has not contributed to any of the three countries economies or environments. Putting NAFTA into simpler terms, the United States created an agreement that brought down trade boundaries and restriction through Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.
Mexico was not expecting severe economic collapse because of this agreement. They entered NAFTA in hopes of making their economy better. Big American companies are coming to Mexico because of easy, cheap labor and they are ripping off the people who are working for them.
From what I see, Mexico's government has bent to American companies desires, trying to get more of them to build factories in Mexico. The government made their environmental laws and workers' rights weakly enforced, not knowing that this would destroy the people hearts.
An unnamed woman who has an inner ear infection from the harsh conditions said, "People are never given severance pay when fired. We have no safety whatsoever. The law states we should get a compensation for work-related illnesses, but hospitals will never admit we get sick because of our work” (Heredia).
This woman and thousands of others like her are being forced to stand at work for eight hours in harsh conditions (muggy, dirty, crowded, etc.) with chemicals that have been banned in the United States. In 2000 there were 1,493,736 registered women in private manufacturing (Atkin, 3). They are constantly being fired for illness, pregnancies, injuries, and engaging in unions.
The people fear that their government is neglecting and ignoring them. They claim the government is too focused on exports to care about the people in the country. They aren't getting paid enough to make a living for themselves(Heredia).
Mexico’s minimum wage is $5.10 per day and within the first two years of NAFTA 2 million jobs were lost. America’s minimum wage is $7.25 per hour (Harrup). Illegal immigration has gone from 3 million to 12 million in numbers since 1993. NAFTA was signed January 1st, 1994. NAFTA has made it so that regulations for workers’ rights are extremely bad. This makes people leave Mexico to find better paying jobs.The workers who are still working for U.S. companies have no other choice. The minimum wage is barely enough to keep them alive, along with their families.
On a video created by Steve Fisher, a man named Frank from El Salvador said, "Here we are on this route passing through Mexico, trying to get to get to the United States. We know it's illegal, but we're doing it to help our families." He was illegally jumping on a freight train to cross the order to get to the United States (Fisher).
It’s not just the workers who are barely surviving, it’s also the banks. The banks are in debt because, since NAFTA people have been taking out huge loans to pay off their mortgages and cars. However, these people have not yet paid back their loans so the banks cannot pay off their debts because they don’t have any money (Heredia).
Environmental damages are just as bad as economic. American oil companies (that moved to Mexico for their weak regulations on environment protection) have been responsible for 4 oil spills in Mexico alone. Animals are going extinct and plants are dying.
The National Wildlife Federation said, "More than 8,000 birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals were found injured or dead in the six months after the spill" (National). This shocking statistic was found after the BP oil spill in 2010. BP is the biggest oil company in the world and has caused the biggest oil spill by the Americas in the 2000s (Infoplease).
Animals that are being caught for food have oil in their system and people are eating the fish. This makes for an unhealthy people and environment.
Mexico can’t keep up with the pace that the United States is going unless they continue to neglect their workers and ignore the rest of their country. America is trying so hard to advance when we need to slow down to let the rest of the world catch up. Realizing, as an entire country, that we have become entirely too advanced for the developing world will perhaps let us slow down and make people who are working for us.
NAFTA is part of globalization, the spread of American culture through the world, which is not beneficial to Mexico by any means. Perhaps the people and environment in Mexico would be stable if we took them off the balancing beam and put them on the ground.
Word Count: 813
Work Cited
Atkin, David. "Working for the Future: Female Factory Work and Child Health in Mexico."Yale. N.p., Apr. 2009. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.econ.yale.edu/~da334/Women%20in%20Manufacturing_old.pdf>.
Harrup, Anthony. "Mexico Raises Minimum Wage by 3.9% for 2013." MarketWatch. Wallstreet Journal, 18 Dec. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mexico-raises-minimum-wage-by-39-for-2013-2012-12-18-184851559>.
Heredia, Carlos A. Downward Mobility Mexican Workers After NAFTA. Rep. 3rd ed. Vol. 30. N.p.: NACLA, 1996. Print.
"How Does the BP Oil Spill Impact Wildlife and Habitat?" National Wildlife Federation. National Wildlife Federation, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <https://www.nwf.org/What-We-Do/Protect-Habitat/Gulf-Restoration/Oil-Spill/Effects-on-Wildlife.aspx>.
Fisher, Steve "Immigration: Central American Migrants En Route to Arizona." YouTube. YouTube, 06 May 2010. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOBCw-VkHKY>.
"Ten Largest Oil Spills in the U.S." Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <http://www.infoplease.com/science/environment/largest-oil-spills-united-states.html>.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was created to increase free trade between Mexico, Canada, and the United States. It started January 1st, 1994 and has not contributed to any of the three countries economies or environments. Putting NAFTA into simpler terms, the United States created an agreement that brought down trade boundaries and restriction through Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.
Mexico was not expecting severe economic collapse because of this agreement. They entered NAFTA in hopes of making their economy better. Big American companies are coming to Mexico because of easy, cheap labor and they are ripping off the people who are working for them.
From what I see, Mexico's government has bent to American companies desires, trying to get more of them to build factories in Mexico. The government made their environmental laws and workers' rights weakly enforced, not knowing that this would destroy the people hearts.
An unnamed woman who has an inner ear infection from the harsh conditions said, "People are never given severance pay when fired. We have no safety whatsoever. The law states we should get a compensation for work-related illnesses, but hospitals will never admit we get sick because of our work” (Heredia).
This woman and thousands of others like her are being forced to stand at work for eight hours in harsh conditions (muggy, dirty, crowded, etc.) with chemicals that have been banned in the United States. In 2000 there were 1,493,736 registered women in private manufacturing (Atkin, 3). They are constantly being fired for illness, pregnancies, injuries, and engaging in unions.
The people fear that their government is neglecting and ignoring them. They claim the government is too focused on exports to care about the people in the country. They aren't getting paid enough to make a living for themselves(Heredia).
Mexico’s minimum wage is $5.10 per day and within the first two years of NAFTA 2 million jobs were lost. America’s minimum wage is $7.25 per hour (Harrup). Illegal immigration has gone from 3 million to 12 million in numbers since 1993. NAFTA was signed January 1st, 1994. NAFTA has made it so that regulations for workers’ rights are extremely bad. This makes people leave Mexico to find better paying jobs.The workers who are still working for U.S. companies have no other choice. The minimum wage is barely enough to keep them alive, along with their families.
On a video created by Steve Fisher, a man named Frank from El Salvador said, "Here we are on this route passing through Mexico, trying to get to get to the United States. We know it's illegal, but we're doing it to help our families." He was illegally jumping on a freight train to cross the order to get to the United States (Fisher).
It’s not just the workers who are barely surviving, it’s also the banks. The banks are in debt because, since NAFTA people have been taking out huge loans to pay off their mortgages and cars. However, these people have not yet paid back their loans so the banks cannot pay off their debts because they don’t have any money (Heredia).
Environmental damages are just as bad as economic. American oil companies (that moved to Mexico for their weak regulations on environment protection) have been responsible for 4 oil spills in Mexico alone. Animals are going extinct and plants are dying.
The National Wildlife Federation said, "More than 8,000 birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals were found injured or dead in the six months after the spill" (National). This shocking statistic was found after the BP oil spill in 2010. BP is the biggest oil company in the world and has caused the biggest oil spill by the Americas in the 2000s (Infoplease).
Animals that are being caught for food have oil in their system and people are eating the fish. This makes for an unhealthy people and environment.
Mexico can’t keep up with the pace that the United States is going unless they continue to neglect their workers and ignore the rest of their country. America is trying so hard to advance when we need to slow down to let the rest of the world catch up. Realizing, as an entire country, that we have become entirely too advanced for the developing world will perhaps let us slow down and make people who are working for us.
NAFTA is part of globalization, the spread of American culture through the world, which is not beneficial to Mexico by any means. Perhaps the people and environment in Mexico would be stable if we took them off the balancing beam and put them on the ground.
Word Count: 813
Work Cited
Atkin, David. "Working for the Future: Female Factory Work and Child Health in Mexico."Yale. N.p., Apr. 2009. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.econ.yale.edu/~da334/Women%20in%20Manufacturing_old.pdf>.
Harrup, Anthony. "Mexico Raises Minimum Wage by 3.9% for 2013." MarketWatch. Wallstreet Journal, 18 Dec. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mexico-raises-minimum-wage-by-39-for-2013-2012-12-18-184851559>.
Heredia, Carlos A. Downward Mobility Mexican Workers After NAFTA. Rep. 3rd ed. Vol. 30. N.p.: NACLA, 1996. Print.
"How Does the BP Oil Spill Impact Wildlife and Habitat?" National Wildlife Federation. National Wildlife Federation, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <https://www.nwf.org/What-We-Do/Protect-Habitat/Gulf-Restoration/Oil-Spill/Effects-on-Wildlife.aspx>.
Fisher, Steve "Immigration: Central American Migrants En Route to Arizona." YouTube. YouTube, 06 May 2010. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOBCw-VkHKY>.
"Ten Largest Oil Spills in the U.S." Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. <http://www.infoplease.com/science/environment/largest-oil-spills-united-states.html>.