PRODUCTION VS. REPRODUCTION
(Multinational Monitor - October 1996)
In the United States, "choice" in the reproductive rights arena is generally understood as referring to a woman's right to choose whether or not to carry her pregnancy to term. In the Mexican maquiladoras, the factories assembling for export to the United States, however, choice has a different meaning. There women factory workers face the unusual choice between their jobs and their reproductive rights.
For women workers in the maquiladoras, being pregnant or expressing an intention to become pregnant is tantamount to declaring themselves unemployable, according to an August Human Rights Watch report, "Sex Discrimination in Mexico's Maquiladora Sector".
The maquiladora sector relies heavily on Mexico's female labor force, who employers believe work harder for less money, are more docile and less likely to unionize and are physically more qualified for factory work.
But pregnancy can raise the cost of women workers. Mexican law requires employers to provide women with 12 weeks of paid maternity leave (6 weeks before birth and six after) and an option for an additional 60 days at 50 percent salary. Employers are also legally required to protect pregnant women from performing tasks that would endanger their health or that of their fetus.
As a result, the Human Rights Watch report finds, maquiladora employers attempt to weed out "pregnant female employees, or women who might become pregnant (women of childbearing age, sexually active women, women who use contraceptives) from the applicant pool or soon after beginning work".
Human Rights Watch found that pregnancy-based discrimination is a widespread practice by subsidiaries of U.S. - and Japanese - owned corporations including Zenith, General Electric, Sanyo, Carlisle Plastics and electronics company American Zettler.
"Every corporation in the maquiladoras screens for pregnancy, even those who claim they're not aware of it," Zenith spokesperson John Simley told Multinational Monitor.
Simley says he regrets the practice, but blames the social structure in Mexico for it.
"The Mexican government implicitly encourages companies to discourage pregnancy, I think as a form of population control; population is a problem there, you know." Simley also claims that many women not eligible for government social security seek employment in the maquiladoras as a way to obtain insurance when they are pregnant.
The Mexican government, according to Simley, should discourage pregnancy screening "by providing full coverage for all women." Meanwhile, he contends, "pre-employment examinations including pregnancy screening is vital for maquiladora employers to avert financial liability for any pre-existing medical condition including pregnancy" when hiring a new employee.
American Zettler Vice President of Operations Rainier Moegling says he is not aware of any pregnancy testing. There are no medical facilities or doctors on the firm's Mexican premises, he says, and the company does not pay any bills for pregnancy testing. Moegling did not respond to direct questions as to whether prospective employees might have to submit their own certified pregnancy test results to be considered for employment, however.
Other companies mentioned in the Human Rights Watch report did not respond to requests for comment from Multinational Monitor. But in a letter to Human Rights Watch, Carlisle CEO Clifford Deupree denied that pre-employment physical examinations required by the company of prospective maquiladora applicants were solely to determine pregnancy status. "No female employee has ever been fired for becoming pregnant", he added. In response to the Human Rights Watch report, Deupree wrote that Carlisle's Plastico Bajacal subsidiary would cease asking about pregnancy status in its application form and committed that "any knowledge of a pregnancy that is revealed during the medical examination will be used only to determine the applicant's physical ability to perform the job".
Corporate denials notwithstanding, women applicants in the maquiladora sector are often asked intrusive questions to determine their pregnancy status, according to the Human Rights Watch report. Questions about women applicants' menstrual schedule, whether they are sexually active or what type of birth control they use are routine parts of job eligibility screening. The report also points to several instances where maquiladora employers require women to submit to pregnancy tests as a condition of employ ment. Women discovered to be pregnant are routinely denied work.
Even after being hired, says the report, women continue to be monitored for their pregnancy status. Some maquiladora managers attempt to reas sign pregnant women to more physically difficult work, with the result that pregnant women workers are forced to resign their positions.
"Women workers are very reluctant to challenge pregnancy-based discrimination because of their own 'economic desperation' ", the report notes. Out side the maquiladoras, the only employment option for urbanized Mexican women is low-paid domestic work.
Human Rights Watch sharply criticizes the Mexican government's complicity with pregnancy-based discrimination, saying it is a violation of recognized standards specifically delineated in various human rights instruments.
The report calls on the Mexican government to take its obligation to Mexican women more seriously by enforeing laws to protect the rights of women from pregnancy-based discrimination and other forms of abuse.
The report also urges U.S. and Japanese corporations to act more responsibly toward women by prohibit ing pregnancy screening and other discriminatory practices unique to women.
(by Cece Madupé Fadopé)
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