Background: We begin 7 minutes into this video. In those early minutes, there is a brief history of the worldwide creation of export processing zones (sometimes also referred to as offshore manufacturing). These are zones in the world's poorer countries where raw materials and partially manufactured products can be imported and finished products exported without the owners having to pay taxes. This Emmy-award winning movie (which dates from the mid-1980's) focuses particularly on export processing zones in the Philippines and Mexico.
1. What are maquilladora factories?
2. Why did the maquilladora program begin?
3. How are assembly workers in the Silicon Valley affected by the spread of export processing zones?
4. Why do factories in the export processing zones so often employ young women?
5. What made Manilla particularly attractive to multi-national corporations during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos?
1. For the mostly female employees that work in export processing zones around the world, what are the advantages of their work? What are the disadvantages?
2. What are the forces that tend to keep wages low and working conditions poor in these industries?
3. Why isn't there more unionization of the workforce in these export processing zones? What are the barriers to union solidarity across national lines (for example, between the U.S. and Mexico)?
4. In the years since this video, the Clinton administration negotiated an extensive reduction in trade barriers around the world (NAFTA is only the best know example). In the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush and Gore were in complete agreement about these policies and the importance of further reductions. Why do you think both major political parties in the United States are in such complete agreement on this issue?