Exercise 2 Documentary: “The global assembly line” (TS 178.4, G 56, 1986)

According to the film, why did the U. S. workers lose their jobs? Factories move to the countries where labor is cheaper.

Who took over the jobs from the U. S.? EPZs in the developing countries. Most offshore production of Western enterprises set up in EPZs

What motivated Western enterprises to set up factories in EPZs? ample labor supply--better work for lesser pay

Who were hired in the EPZs? Women Especially young women from countryside

Why kind of labor was recruited in the EPZs? “good workers” peaceful, docile workers—easy to manipulate dexterity

Why did they want to take a factory job? Different people may have different reasons. Some motivations are: Work to be independent To support the family To earn money to continue education To learn the skills of modern industry

How was the working condition over there? How was the pay? How about job security? Working condition: “no time to eat”, pressure for making “forced quotas”, environment is not good Pay: compared with the pay in the parent company plant, the pay in EPZs is pretty low Job security: May be fired several years after working in the factory The parent company may relocate the firms in EPZs to somewhere else where labor is cheaper (such as from the Philippines to Cambodia, from Taiwan to mainland China, etc.)

Did most workers in the EPZs unionize? Why? Low level of unionization Unionized labor is not welcomed by EPZs Most EPZs are exempt from labor regulation