Maquila Workers, ZIP Choloma, Honduras 1995

Maquilas or maquiladoras are foreign-owned, low cost factories which import raw materials which are assembled by low paid workers into consumer products that are then exported, usually to the USA. They benefit from being largely duty and tariff free and provide significant foreign-exchange earnings for the country. In 1995 the largest maquilas in Honduras were located at ZIP Choloma, Villanueva and ZIP Continental. ZIP stands for Zone Improvement Plan. These photographs were taken at the ZIP Choloma industrial park north of San Pedro Sula.

Maquilas employ tens of thousands workers, over 70% are young women, their preferred age is between 16-26 yrs most of whom are unskilled and have migrated from rural communities. By giving them access to employment, these factories help them make the leap from unskilled to skilled workers. They provide work to generally impoverished communities which therefore helps to generate the wider economy. They effectively help to industrialise regions that would otherwise be blighted by high unemployment.

The demographic changes and consequences of huge numbers of mainly young women recruited from mostly rural areas to live in often inadequate dormitory or shanty town accommodation has yet to be evaluated. However this migration and the financial empowerment of large numbers of young women who are now often the principle wage earner will have significant implications with the existing social and economic structures.

Despite the benefits maquilas provide they have been criticised because of the way they exploit their labour force. Most factories are not unionised, workers experience health risks and unsafe working conditions as they are often required to work up to 70 hrs per week without overtime pay. Despite providing relatively competitive wages for Honduras, the pay is still low.

I spoke to several female workers who declined to be photographed outside of their workplace who worked for the garment manufacturer GAP Inc. They said that GAP often send female representatives from the US to speak to the ‘line workers’ about their working conditions, but they do not get a truthful opinion as their managers are watching them and are fearful of reprisals if they say anything bad. They just say “everything is OK”. They said they should speak to fired workers or workers outside the work place, to get a fair idea of what is going on.

They say the main problem is compulsory overtime, often up to 16 hrs a day, meaning there is no freedom other than work, some said they would like go to night school to improve their work prospects or time to socialise in order meet potential marriage partners. Some workers have told their managers they have children to feed at 7pm, but are told they have to work until 11pm, if they leave they will be fired.

It was also reported that although Honduran law prohibits children working under the age of 14 yrs, girls aged 12-13 yrs commonly work in the maquilas to the knowledge of factory managers. They also complained of coercive and predatory behaviour by some male managers and supervisors towards female workers for the purpose of forming sexual relationships was common place.

This work was facilitated by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and supported by The World Health Organisation and Panos Pictures.

All images are Strictly Copyright © Bill Stephenson All Rights Reserved