And while these workers were making peanuts compared to what I made north of the border, they still made MORE than the typical wages along the border. The plant managers had to constatnly turn away prospective workers that applied for ANY job in the plant. There was the semi-static 'shuffle' of workers between maquiladoras in Tecate (and I'm sure in Tijuana), but it was such a small 'blip' on the radar screen that there wasn't any worry about having enough people to get product out the door.

In case you're wondering, my company made thermistors (heat sensitive resistors) for biomedical, manufacturing, and industrial applications. My job as a Design Engineer was to develop prototype temperature probes for prospective customers.

Anyway....I left the company in 2000 for various reasons, one of which was the company was attempting to 'consolidate' its resources. It has acquired another thermistor company up in Orange County and management was trying to reduce overlap between the two companies. I was laid off due to being:

1. Young,
   
2. not having a degree, and
   
3. apparently not kissing the boss' ass enough

About a year later I stopped by to say hello to some of the people that I worked closely with and found that the company had closed down part of the Tecate plant and sub-contracted some Chinese firm to make all the biomedical devices; the biomedical product line was about 35% of the company's 'meat-n-potatoes' revenue. And while there wasn't any indication of worker strife at the plant (none that was told to me), management had just determined that there was too much hassle in trying to reduce rejection rates of the biomedical product line - the desired rate was about ±5% and the actual rejecion rate was double that; they found a way to do it cheaper in a couple of ways and because of it, there were about 40 people laid off from the Tecate plant.

Such is the way of business. Some people just don't seem to understand the concept that companies are NOT in the business to create jobs - they are in the business to turn a profit for their owners and/or shareholders. Especially the lemmings at San Diego Indy Media as you'll read my responses to portions of their whiny-ass post.

I'm 'reposting' my responses since the folks at SDIMC seem to be quite afraid of my comments - they'll delete them as they spot them. And it's okay I guess; it just means that I'm hitting 'home' with my words and they cannot tolerate being made to look....well, like morons.

"As the workers said, Alaris sold them without asking their permission. "

Are they/were they stockholders? It's been my experience that unless you have stock (significant holdings that is) that you don't get to say squat about how a company maneuvers in the business climate.

"...but, in Tijuana they are promoting health by paying starvation wages and then destroying the lives of their workers."

Well now they're free to get a 'decent' job and not be repressed with these nasty conditions, huh? There is always a need for people to sell blankets or plaster-of-paris Bart Simpson statues.....

"María is an employee bringing suit against the company. [Her name has been changed to protect her identity and to prevent her from being blacklisted from all of the other maquiladoras in Tijuana.]"

'Prevent her from being blacklisted'?? I thought that the maquiladoras were B-A-D....? What a hypocritical statement.

"At Alaris, they work 50 hours a week for a salary of about $90 [USD]. This includes the base pay and the bonuses for “perfect” attendance and punctuality, and for “certification”."

You dimwits...that why they're called BONUSES - it's an added incentive!

"Alaris claims to provide a great benefits plan for its employees. According to Alaris, it is “a benefit program that allows you to select plans that best suit your lifestyle and provides you the protection you want”."

Ummm, that would be the AMERICAN employees here in the United States - you know: the ones that are American Citizens.

"These maquiladoras operate as foreign companies did back in the days of President Porfirio Diaz in the nineteenth century. They come to exploit. They don’t respect constitutional laws here and they force the workers to work 10 or 12 hours a day or more without paying overtime."

Well, there's a way to deal with that: watch as all the companies operating maquiladoras in Tijuana and Tecate close up their facilities and move them off-shore, most likely China. For all the trouble that people like you piss and moan about, you'll get little satisfaction as they move to China or Indonesia where there are more appreciative workers that would (almost) kill for the chance to work and earn money instead of eating tree bark.

In conclusion, what you numbskulls do NOT realize is this: companies are in the business of BUSINESS and of making money. They make money for their SHAREHOLDERS. If a company cannot make a profit, then shareholders will bail on them and as such, their operating revenue diminishes. When they have reduced operating revenues, they tend to 'tighten the belt' and that means that the workers must:

(1) Bust their humps faster to make the company money, or
(2) The company reduces its work force i.e., people get let go.

In either case, it's not conducive to a 'nice' work environment and people start to eat tree bark to supplement their food dollar/peso.

People realize that there's a need for 'workers' to be represented and protected, but that was in the early 20 century.

You would do well to realize that while you THINK you're helping these workers that in fact you're CONDEMNING THEM to more and more poverty.