Resolving Internal Contradictions in the Maquilas
EL SALVADOR, December 22— The communist collective of garment workers recently discussed the constant labor abuses and psychological pressure suffered by workers. The political ideas expressed are useful for the work of the International Communist Workers’ Party worldwide.
The discussion included the situation in the garment factory, its relationship with the advance of the international crisis, and the internal contradictions of the capitalist system.
“The main problem is the fear of employer attacks, by union leaders. They want to make workers believe that they don’t have to defend themselves collectively. That does not prevent ICWP from raising our voices. We organize to defend each other when they yell at a coworker and when they kidnap workers for the boardroom forcing them to sign their resignations,” said a maquila worker.
“There are more of us, and we must take care of each other. It does not matter whether or not a worker is organized in a union. We are communists, we fight for the entire working class. We must overcome our internal contradictions and save ourselves,” he concluded.
Another mentioned that “governments want to change our vision of reality to make us believe that we are fine.”
The problem is caused by the bosses and their lackey union leaders. They pressure workers to increase production in the maquila modules. That’s hundreds of dozens of garments a day for a miserable salary and less than $2.00 USD (₹180 or R34) per extra hour.
The selling price of each garment ranges from $40 to $60 USD (₹3600-5400 or R680-1020). The grand theft from workers occurs at the point of production within the factory and ends in stores.
The objective of increasing production is to maximize employer profits (surplus value) at the expense of exploited labor. Workdays of more than twelve hours, unpaid overtime, digestive and lung diseases, musculoskeletal diseases including chronic and acute low back pain, serious spinal injuries, and psychological disorders are some results.
The fall in the purchasing power of wages worldwide is due to the competition of capitalists from different continents. Greater production is sought at the lowest cost. And what workers earn in every fortnight is barely enough to eat.
The imposition of fascist policies due to the capitalist economic crisis and the confrontation of imperialist governments such as the US, Russia, India, and China is another result.
The bosses enslave us with money, our wages. Unions, whether or not run by employers, lie to workers. They tell them that they “help the company,” that the bosses “don’t have money.” But for every extra hour worked, each module of workers produces thousands of dollars of product, more than $60,000 per hour of overtime.
“For a month now, the number of colleagues who go out in wheelchairs due to health complications after marathon days producing clothes in the maquila has increased,” denounced a worker.
Let’s Break the Chains of Slavery! Let’s organize the working class globally!
The way to defeat the capitalists is with workers’ unity, with communist class consciousness, building more ICWP collectives. Workers organized in ICWP give light and support to their comrades in the factories.
“Each of our comrades in the factories has reached political maturity thanks to the collective work in the ICWP. It allows us to act with strength and in a timely manner in every struggle we carry out inside the factory,” said a comrade, a worker leader.
“We understand that long hours and poorly paid overtime have the objective that the worker does not have time to organize,” he said during the discussion.
Only the working class saves the working class. We call as a collective on all readers to encourage political discussion within each communist cell, family, friends, and worksite to promote class consciousness.
Workers’ organization, political and armed struggle, is fundamental to winning communism globally. This is achieved by building more communist cells and distributing and discussing our Red Flag newspaper. Join our party! Fight for and build Communism!