In January 2005, the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice sponsored three law students, Parisa Fatehi, Fabiola Flores, and Elizabeth Wagoner, on a delegation to Piedras Negras, Mexico, to learn about the human rights situation in border factories. The purpose of the trip, organized by Austin Tan Cerca de la Frontera, a project of the American Friends Service Committee, was to listen to the stories of the women and men working in maquiladoras along the Texas-Mexico border, learn about the dangers of the factory work they perform, and discuss ways in which the Austin community might support the efforts of workers struggling for access to justice on the job in this region.
Particularly instructive was the work of an organization called the Comite Fronterizo de Obreras (CFO), or Border Committee of Women Workers, which hosted the delegation. The CFO comprises current and former factory workers, who educate and organize local workers around issues of human rights and access to labor law in the factories. The Committee's goal is to empower individual workers with skills and education to protect themselves on the job.
Recently, the group has focused on teaching workers about the Mexican Labor Code. Since the project began in 2000, the CFO has reported success in using Labor Code provisions to demand a 33% pay increase in a factory in Ciudad Acuña, unpaid wages in a variety of contexts for a number of workers, and an end to pre-employment pregnancy tests in some factories. The CFO is currently seeking to expand the Labor Code project, has just acquired funding to open a "Dignity and Justice Maquiladora" (which the delegates visited), and continues to expand its membership in its communities.
Traveling with CFO members, the delegation was able to meet with maquiladora workers in their homes. On one of these visits, the group spoke with a new CFO member, who expressed frustration with the fact that her son's employer, a truck-engine manufacturer, refused to allow him to wear a safety belt for the heavy lifting he performed during his 12-hour shift each day. Others talked of employers who denied workers the right to take bathroom breaks, breathe clean air, or receive adequate medical treatment when injured.
With the Rapoport Center's support, these students were able to observe the conditions of the workers' communities, hear personal stories from the workers, and learn from their experiences in standing up for their legal rights. As one of the students noted, personal experiences such as this are invaluable to law students who plan to devote their careers to human rights law.