the plan was to meet gregg in antigua at 6:30 pm this past thursday and head to guatemala city from there. gregg , a former clothing vendor of my mom’s, routinely travels to guatemala for business and i had planned to take the first the 4 hour shuttle bus to antigua to meet him. only the 4 hour ride turned into a 6 hour adventure cramming 17 people in a 15 passenger van, stopping at the mechanic along the way for new brakes and tires (wonder why), and stopping on the side of the road because one passenger was sick from the constant switchbacks of these mountain roads (those of you have been to lake atitlan you know what i’m talking about as you are constantly praying you’ll make it alive around another blind curve). upon arriving in central park i saw my friend from the park, guiermo (kidding). it was just gregg and carlos, gregg’s business partner in guatemala. as the three of us drove back to the city, gregg told me the deep sea fishing trip we were scheduled to go on wasn’t going to happen. instead, in the morning we’d visit a few apparel factories. and in case you didn’t know, for me, this is a dream come true.
the first factory we visited gregg was just checking out for future business. the factory was owned by a korean man employing a guatemalan work force (interesting). the factory was small, but still produced 25,000 pieces per week for stores such maurices, kohl’s, target, dress barn (this is actually rather common--to have one factory producing for multiple stores—very rarely do companies own factories outright). as we were led upstairs to a conference room for gregg and carlos to investigate this factory some more, i wondered off and did a little investigating of my own. the conference room overlooked the final inspection line for the clothing (picture), and there i found two guys cutting fabric who i started chatting with. employing the skills of my two-week old spanish, i asked them how many hours a day they worked. one guy replied, “ocho” (8 hours). i then asked if working there was a good job and he replied that it was. i told him not to worry, that i wasn’t going to talk to his boss, and i was just interested in the labor conditions of the factory. he said he understood and just smiled.
after my little investigation and gregg and carlos’ meeting, we were led to the main factory production line. on the walk i found myself talking with a female factory manager, intentionally playing stupid, and asking really vague questions about working conditions. i know often workers don’t tell the truth for fear of being fired (or worse) and management often doesn’t tell the truth because they’re trying to cover their asses. but this woman didn’t seem bothered by my prying question which is at least a good sign. she told me that the workers there are in good working conditions, and that companies like the gap (oh gosh) come visit the factories and that if the working conditions aren’t good for the workers, they pull their orders (lets hope). i will say, though i am no factory monitoring or evaluation specialist, i do give this factory props for just letting people walk in. okay, it’s not so much walk in as you have to enter through a gate guarded with men with machine guns and sign in. but, point being, at least they let you in. some don’t.
factory number two wasn’t so easy to get in. as we proceeded past locked gates with multiple armed guards, we arrived at a relatively discrete looking building. only, the guards wouldn’t let us in. carlos said recently the factory had had some “problems.” of course, i had to ask exactly what type of “problems” we’re talking about here. apparently the kind when the owner of the factory was kidnapped by a gang and held for ransom. okay, legit “problem.” we visited the factory on friday, pay day, and, as it would be, the bank was upstairs with cash for two weeks pay for 2500 workers. we (meaning gregg and carlos) somehow arranged for us to get into the factory by agreeing to remain only on the factory floor. as you can see (picture), you would likely have no idea from the outside of this building that it housed 2500 workers inside. this factory (also owned by a korean man), primarily produces uniforms. gregg already works with this factory and had to check on an order for fire-resistant uniforms for halliburton (of course, when i found this out i immediately wondered if a *special* one could be made for dick cheney? J).
factory number two varied substantially from factory number one, and not just in the sheer number of the labor force. it definitely looked more factory-esque (i probably shouldn’t use the word sweatshop without knowing more about the factory, but it didn’t look great). workers worked on top of each another, foul odors (perhaps even toxic) permeated some parts of the factory, and everyone worked at about 100 times the speed i saw in the first factory. target goal signs were posted throughout the whole factory regarding how many items had been produced that day and how many were left (and based on the time of day and the numbers on the board, i have no idea how it was humanly possible to meet those production goals). the vibe in the factory was so tense you could feel it (perhaps because it was payday, perhaps because of the working conditions). so, the combination of recent problems, posted armed guards, and the overall vibe of the factory, i decided it probably wasn’t a good idea for this “gringette” (what gregg termed me—a female gringo?) to take pictures inside. gregg checked on what he needed to and we were out of there in 15 minutes max.
i often say (and perhaps you have heard me say it), i don’t think the main problem with our generation is ignorance, it’s disempowerment. many of us know about the conditions our clothes are produced in, our food is made in, and yet, it just all seems too overwhelming to do anything about. honestly, it is overwhelming. but, i’m an optimist and believe things can change. historically, things have changed—but only when people believed they could, should, and must change. i know i said the other week i would keep the “preachy” stuff to a minimum (i’m trying, how is it working? J--next post about other random fun adventures and less serious stuff), but like anything (fill in the blank here for some issue you’re passionate about), when you meet the people it changes you and makes you even more committed to a particular “cause.” and i guess for me that just happens to be labor rights.
