Contact: Lorena Andrade Cell. 915-588-2760
Women workers intensify their fight for economic development resources to break free from the cycle of poverty and welfare programs.
La Mujer Obrera protests at the
Ysleta Zaragosa NAFTA Bridge,
El Paso-Cd. Juarez Border,
Friday August 17th.
Women workers are protesting the lack of any real development for Border Communities as the result of NAFTA.
The El Paso-Ciudad Juarez area represents the largest international borderplex in the world according to City sources. However, despite this global significance little to nothing has been done to break the cycle of poverty and welfare.
NAFTA moved tens of thousands of factory jobs to countries with lower wages, with no plan for the Mexican immigrant women who had served as the base for those companies' workforce and the border's economy for nearly a century.
As a result, El Paso now has a poverty rate of 30% (El Paso Times). And women, with or without children, make up 57.3 percent of that population.
Since the enactment of NAFTA in 1994, Mexican immigrant women workers, are considered disposable, not worth investing in, not worthy of development resources. Most of the NAFTA benefits have gone to Multinational Corporations. The NAFTA worker assistance programs have failed to better conditions for workers, and in some cases have helped to push workers into poverty.
Women workers are asking President Bush to reconsider NAFTA during the Free Trade Summit next week with Canada and Mexico in order to include substantial economic resources for displaced workers.
Economic development for displaced workers, especially for women has never been provided on the same scale as assistance to rich multinational corporations. In El Paso, the millions of dollars used to build up the Military and Homeland Security do not address the increased problems of displaced workers and increased poverty.
In the recent review by the Free Trade Commission, the only changes made to the agreement were to develop better programs for the Multinational Corporations and Homeland Security, as they continue to be prioritized by NAFTA helping only one segment of the Community. The review neglects to mention border poverty problems, women workers, or economic development for the communities.
As La Mujer Obrera, we have developed a plan to break the cycle of poverty,for women workers which the Multinational corporations as well as all levels of government that supported NAFTA should support. With many years of experience combating the discrimination and poverty endured by our community, we have developed Plan Mayachen. Based in Mexican cultural heritage as an economic motor in the US, Plan Mayachen is a development model for, by and in defense of women immigrant workers, their rights and their families.
It is past due time that immigrant women workers receive equal access to development resources to help end the cycle of poverty that engulfs our community.
Contact: Lorena Andrade (915) 588-2760 lorena@mujerobrera.com
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a bit counter-productive. one sector of the working class making it impossible for another sector of the working class to work.
fede2 1 year ago