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WHO WE ARE
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The "Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network" is a volunteer network of 400 occupational health and safety professionals who have placed their names on a resource list to provide information, technical assistance and on-site instruction regarding workplace hazards in the 3,000 "maquiladora" (foreign-owned assembly) plants along the U.S.-Mexico border. Network members, including industrial hygienists, toxicologists, epidemiologists, occupational physicians and nurses, and health educators among others, are donating their time and expertise to create safer and healthier working conditions for the one million maquiladora workers employed by primarily U.S.-owned transnational corporations along Mexico's northern border from Matamoros to Tijuana.
Since 2000, the Network has expanded its work to include projects in Indonesia, China and Central America. Our goal has always been to build the capacity of workers and their organizations to understand occupational health and safety issues and to be able to speak and act in their own name to protect their health and to exercise their rights. Our activities have included providing information and trainings to workers, plant-wide health and safety committees, and to community, human rights and professional associations; technical assistance to workers filing complaints under international trade agreements; and technical information for grassroots organizations monitoring the performance of transnational corporations and government health and safety agencies in the global economy.
The Support Network is not designed to generate, nor is it intended to create, business opportunities for private consultants or other for-profit enterprises. On the contrary, Network participants will be donating their time and knowledge pro bono to workers, community organizations and professional associations.
The Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network was launched in October 1993 at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA). It includes occupational health specialists primarily from Canada, Mexico and the United States who are active in the APHA, American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), National Safety Council (NSC) and the 20-plus local grassroots Committees for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) groups in the U.S. and Canada.
The Support Network is continuously seeking more health and safety professionals and activists to join the network, as well as looking for more worker and community organizations who can make use of the information and technical assistance offered. Please join us!
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NEW POSTINGS
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NETWORK RESOURCES
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Current Network Newsletter (PDF) August 2010 |
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Archive of Previous Electronic Newsletters |
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Subscribe to the Electronic Newsletter |
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Network's Reading & Resource Lists |
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Key Journal Articles From the Network |
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“Mexico’s daycare fire: not even babies are protected,” Garrett Brown at “The Pump Handle” blog, July 23, 2009 |
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“Corporate Social Responsibility: The moment of truth arrives,” article by Garrett Brown in the May 2009 Industrial Safety and Hygiene News (also available as a PDF) |
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“Corporate Social Responsibility: The moment of truth arrives,” article by Garrett Brown in the May 2009 Industrial Safety and Hygiene News (also available as a PDF) |
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“Perils of a schizoid business model " article by Garrett Brown, in Industrial Safety & Hygiene News, September 2, 2008 |
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“The Two faces of Cal/OSHA" article in the October issue of Industrial Safety and Hygiene News, October 1, 2007 |
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“Corporate Social Responsibility Brings Limited Progress on Workplace Safety in Global Supply Chains" (by Garrett Brown, Occupational Hazards, August 1, 2007) |
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“Taking a closer look" (by Garrett Brown, Occupational Hazards, May, 1 2007) |
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“Why Immigrant Workers Are Coming to the U.S., and How We Can and Need to Work Together" (speech by Garrett Brown to the Immigrant Workers in Construction Conference, Center to Protect Workers Rights, Sacramento, CA, on April 12, 2007) |
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“Immigrant Workers Are Our Allies, Not Our Enemies" (speech by Garrett Brown to the Center to Protect Worker Rights conference in Tijuana, Mexico, on August 15, 2005) |
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"Speak Out: Portrait of a Failure, NAFTA and Workplace Health and Safety" (by Garrett Brown, The Synergist, August 2004) |
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"Vulnerable Workers in the Global Economy" (by Garrett Brown, Occupational Hazards, April 2004) |
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CHEMICAL HAZARDS
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MEXICO HEALTH & SAFETY PROJECTS |
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MEXICO-RELATED LAW AND GOVERNMENT RESOURCES |
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CANANEA COPPER MINE PROJECT |
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HEALTH & SAFETY COMPLAINTS FILED UNDER NAFTA |
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Website of the U.S. National Administrative Office (NAO) with information of the complaint procedures, texts of submissions, reports of the U.S. NAO, agreements from Ministerial Consultations, and status reports. http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/nao/main.htm
Analysis of the complaint process by Human Rights Watch: 'Trading Away Rights: The Unfilled Promises of the NAFTA Labor Side Agreement (April 2001) www.hrw.org/reports/2001/nafta
Complaint by workers at the Autotrim plant in Matamoros and Customtrim/Breed Mexicana plant in Valle Hermoso (June 2000) |
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Text of Submission 2000-01 |
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Text of Network testimony at the U.S. NAO hearing in San Antonio, TX, (December 12, 2000)
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NIOSH Report on visits to Autotrim and Customtrim plants (March 7, 2001) (PDF)
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Text of the U.S. NAO report (April 6, 2001)
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July 6, 2001 letter to the U.S. NAO with proposed remedies
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November 20, 2001 letter to the U.S. NAO protesting lack of action
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December 12, 2001 letter to U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao proposing the creation of an "Evaluation Committee of Experts" |
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March 20, 2002 letter to U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao protesting her refusal to convoke an "Evaluation Committee of Experts" |
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CJM Fact Sheet on Customtrim/Autotrim Complaint |
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35 Members of Congress Write Labor Secretary Chao Demanding Action on Autotrim/Customtrim (May 7, 2002) |
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US-Mexico "Joint Declaration" to close the Autotrim/Customtrim case (June 11, 2002) |
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CJM Statement on the June 11th US-Mexico Joint Declaration (June 19, 2002) |
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UE President Hovis letter to Secretary Chao (July 24, 2002) |
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Senators Kennedy and Wellstone letter to Secretary Chao (August 23, 2002) |
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CJM Letter to Labor Secretaries Chao and Abascal (September 6, 2002) |
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AT/CT Submitters Letter to the 3 NAFTA Labor Secretaries (October 7, 2003) |
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US Department of Labor response to October 2003 letter (December 15, 2003) (PDF) |
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Canada's Labour Ministry response to October 2003 letter (December 18, 2003) (PDF) |
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March 15, 2004 letter to Canada's Labour Minister and US Labor Department |
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Complaint by workers at the Han Young plant in Tijuana (February 1998) |
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ACTIVITIES IN CENTRAL AMERICA
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ASIA HEALTH & SAFETY PROJECT
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| In January 2000, Network Coordinator Garrett Brown and Professor Dara O'Rourke of MIT received a two-year grant from the MacArthur Foundation to conduct capacity-building trainings on occupational safety and health topics with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Asia.
The first training occurred in Jakarta, Indonesia, in June 2000 with 32 representatives of 12 NGOs and six trade unions. A follow-up training with these participants and others occurred in February 2002.
The second training occured in August 2001 in Dongguan City, China, at a 30,000-worker sports shoe factory. The training involved participants from NGOs in Hong Kong and China, Hong Kong trade unions, labor practices staff of adidas, Reebok and Nike, and production workers and supervisors/managers of three plants in Guangdong Province.
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| China |
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“Lean Manufacturing Comes to China" (PDF) article in the July-September 2007 issue of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health |
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“ISHN Global Watch: China proposes worker protection law” (by Garrett Brown, Industrial Safety & Hygiene News, May 24, 2007) |
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Memorandum of Understanding for July 2001 training of NGO staff, Hong Kong union staff, international brand staff, plant supervisors and workers in Dongguan City, China |
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China: March 2002 Evaluation Visits to Three Giant Footwear Plants |
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Final Report of the Coordinating Committee of the "China Capacity Building Project—Occupational Health and Safety" May 29, 2002 |
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International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Volume 9, Number 4, October/December 2003 (Special Issue: Occupational Health and Safety in China) |
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GLOBALIZATION ISSUES
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| The growth of the maquiladora plants on the U.S.-Mexico border, and increasingly throughout Mexico, is part of the economic "globalization" process which has affected all corners of the world. The issues of workplace and safety in the maquilas is closely linked to the issues of labor practices in the "export processing zones" and "sweatshops" in both developing and developed economies.
The following information is offered to help understand the context and challenges facing occupational health professionals in the Mexican maquilas and similar facilities throughout the world. The following references are only a small portion of the websites, organizations and publications that exist on this issue.
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Codes of Conduct and Monitoring Systems
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International Organization Codes of Conduct
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| Information Sources |
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PCIH 2008 Resource Flyer (Genuine Worker Participation in Plant OHS Programs — Selected Resources) |
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“Genuine Worker Participation – An Indispensable Key to Effective Global OHS" a presentation by Garrett Brown, Professional Conference in Industrial Hygiene, AIHA Academy of Industrial Hygiene, November 10, 2008 (PDF) |
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“ISO's Social Responsibility guidelines: A small step forward — maybe" (column by Garrett Brown, Industrial Safety and Hygiene News, September 2005) |
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“Protecting Workers’ Health and Safety in the Globalizing Economy through International Trade Treaties” (by Garrett Brown, International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, April–June 2005) (PDF) |
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Why NAFTA Failed and What’s Needed to Protect Workers’ Health and Safety in International Trade Treaties (by Garrett Brown, December 2004) (PDF) |
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"The Global Threats to Workers' Health and Safety on the Job" by Garrett Brown, Social Justice, Vol. 29, No.3 |
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Business & Human Rights: A Resource Website (online library of key documents) |
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Ethical Performance (British newsletter on corporate responsibility worldwide) |
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Globalization, Labor—What’s in the News (newsletter of the New Economy Information Service) |
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International Forum on Globalization (San Francisco, CA-based policy center)
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Memo: Codes Update (newsletter of Canada’s Maquila Solidarity Network) |
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Public Citizen Global Trade Watch (website of Ralph Nader-founded citizens’ group) |
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NEWS AND ANALYSIS
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| Mexico News |
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| Global News |
[END OF HOMEPAGE]
This site was last revised August 2010
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