Is Free Trade good for workers?
No unions, no taxes and cheap infrastructure” are the brash promises of the government of El Salvador in a flyer distributed to company executives. The business managers are potential investors in Salvador s export processing zones (EPZ). EPZs, like those in El Salvador, have many factories employing large numbers of workers, mostly women, to assemble electronics or sew garments using imported materials. Their products are then exported duty free to the large consumer markets of North America and Europe. By keeping unions out, the young women are forced to work 10 to 12 hour days on assembly lines for as little as 50 cents an hour They are also kept in the dark about local labour laws and what their rights are. When they try to organize, they often lose their jobs. If the costs are too high in El Salvador, investors can move to Guatemala, Colombia or Brazil where governments offer even cheaper labour and poorer working conditions. Through free trade and investment agreements the cards
