A thread cutting workshop in Tehuacan

One thread at a time

Four women are at work in a thread cutting workshop, at their feet, two little girls who play and pass the time. The inner courtyard of their house is turned into a jeans storage. The roof is in tin, as for the house. The toys lay on the ground. 

The job is to cut off the threads of jeans. All day, cut threads. Cut threads that go beyond seams made in another workshop. A workshop higher up in the informal scale of the production line. A workshop with sewing machines. Here there is no equipment, there are no sewing machines. Here we are at the bottom of the chain and it shows. Here we are at the ground zero of the work in the garment industry in Mexico. 

Yet the workers look happy. When asked, they say they prefer to work here as compared to the factory. They prefer their autonomy, being able to stay at home with the children. They worked previously in factories and they no longer supported the pressure for production. However, working at home means less pay and increased responsibilities in terms of health and safety at work. They are paid by the pieces, 0.80 pesos per jeans (5$ Canadian).

The workshop is intergenerational. It is in these kinds of workshops that there is the persistence of child labour. In this case, they serve as couriers between the workshops. 

Through the piles of jeans, the conversation continues. Laughter, jokes, the atmosphere is relaxed. Despite the difficult working conditions created by this subcontracting, they seem visibly more happy than factory workers. A reflection begins to emerge about this breakdown of the division of labour. A reflection that will continue throughout the other workshop visited.

In the meantime, the eldest son arrives from school. He will wait patiently for the end of his mother’s day of work. For us it is the end of the visit. 

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