|
NEWS
RELEASE YOUTH SPEND WINTER VACATION LEARNING ABOUT POVERTY ON MEXICAN BORDER ALBANY, NY, February 20, 2004— Six Capital Region youth with others from around the state will hold a news conference describing their experience on a New York State Labor-Religion Coalition International Delegation on Friday, February 20, 2004 at 6:00 p.m.at Albany International Airport in the baggage claim area (near the video wall). Their unusual winter break was spent along the border of Mexico and Texas examining the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on communities there. Last month marked the tenth anniversary of NAFTA, and this is an opportune time to study its effects. Evaluation of the consequences of NAFTA is especially significant as the United States seeks to negotiate similar trade agreements with other countries in the Western Hemisphere. Instead of relaxing in sun or snow, Labor-Religion delegates visited homes of workers in the maquiladoras (factories for export) on the border. Often these homes are made of cardboard and shipping pallets and lack indoor plumbing and electricity. The young people heard about conditions in factories making thousands of consumer items for the US market. These include unsafe working environments, sexual harassment, exposure to toxic chemicals and lack of sanitary facilities as well as very low pay. The group met with Mexican teenagers who cannot afford to go to middle school or high school and so go to work in the factories to help support their families. Since NAFTA's beginning in 1994, the United States has lost 750,000 manufacturing jobs to the Mexican border. At the same time, poverty has increased in Mexico. Millions of people have moved from the interior of Mexico as the farming economy has collapsed, largely as a direct result of NAFTA, to seek jobs in the maquiladoras. Once on the border, hundreds of miles from their home communities, workers learn that the average wage of 450 pesos (approximately $45) per week will not feed their families. Labor-Religion Coalition delegation members confirm this reality during a visit to a grocery store commonly used by workers. This month's delegation is the fourteenth organized
by the Labor-Religion Coalition. It is the Coalition's fourth "youth"
delegation. There are twenty-three people traveling with the group, including
a total of thirteen teen-agers. They were hosted on the border by communities
and workers' organizations committed to improving the lives of working people
and to stopping any expansion of NAFTA-like trade agreements. The delegation left
Albany on Sunday, February 15 and will return on Friday, February 20. Group members,
especially the youth, will be available for press interviews. For more information, please contact Martha Schultz at 518-213-6000, ext. 6294 or marthas@labor-religion.org. -30-
Last Updated: 02/20/2004 |