Trabajando en maquilas-viajando al 'otro lado'

PART 2 OF INTERVIEW WITH ROSARIO CEPEDA

--entonces, me dijo la vez pasada que la entrevistaron?

--sí, they called us to interview us. So it was a group of girls and we all went to get I guess get hired for sure.

--how did they make their decisions--what did they ask?

--First they asked me if I had experience. I told them yes, but that I thought the last few days of working there was more than enough experience. They laughed, I guess, then they asked me when I could work where I had gone to school, those kinds of things.

--did you lie to them?

--no. Why would I lie? I told them. if it is about the education-is that why you're asking? no, I don't think they really cared all that much. I told them I went to secundaria, the kind of work I was used to doing.

--and did they decide to hire you right there?

--well, yes, they did. But they said something that made me angry...well, I am more angry now that i think back on it, but then I guess I just accepted it because of--

--what did they tell you that made you angry?

--I was not angry then. I am not really that angry now, to be honest, but then I was more worried about--

--what was it that they said?

--oh yes. They said that because I did not have experience working in another factory that they would not pay me for the four days I was working before. They said that since it was training, and the training served me better so that I could make a good product, I would not be paid for those days.

--really? they told you that?

--see? it makes me mad when I think about it (laughs) but back then I guess I thought it was a bad deal, but I was glad that I would start working there, so it was like a ...bittersweet victory I guess.

--and you went back the next day?

--yes, I started working every day at the maquila and there were a lot of women working there too. mostly women.

--how were the working conditions?

--(pause). I think that if it were not for my compañeras, I would not have stayed there for as long as i did. The bosses were also yelling. Two of them yelled all the time, things like "pick that up" "no, not you again!" y'know, and then a lot of insults. And for those girls who cried when they were insulted, they were told to go home. They were not told that they were fired, and many thought that they were so they did not come back. But the bosses would let some of them come back if we needed to meet the quotas.

--how did you get back and forth from the maquila?

--on a pesera. Luckily, the maquila was not off in some desert like you hear about in Juárez and Reynosa, it was more or less within the city, so there were lights every now and then. So long as the ladies walked together to the stop we felt okay. The bad times were when we had too many girls working on the floor and some were sent home. That was bad because they could be sent home at any time and usually they would be alone. But that did not happen very much at night anyway.

--so it was not dangerous for women to work there?

--mmmm, dangerous? yes, it was always dangerous for us to work there! wires without protective covering, scissors, needles and so on. And when we left for home, sometimes the bosses would start hitting on the pretty girls and some of them would get pregnant. It was very sad. It was a very sad situation for so many of us there who really needed to work....I thank God that he made me heavy, dark and ugly! (laughs--then does the sign of the cross).

--how long did you work there?

--mmm, about one year. we got laid off. but then, since I had experience I went and applied at another factory, this time it was one that made those little green flat boards with the metal dots on them--y'know what i'm talking about? it was for stereos.

--was that job different from the previous one?

--mmm, no not really. I really think that a lot of the maquilas are about the same, really. The biggest difference of this one was that there were a lot more men. I think maybe half the workers were men and the other half were women.

--did that make the women feel less safe?

--mmm, that's a hard question. I think it was a lot less safe because there I began hearing about more girls getting pregnant and then fired, other girls started dating men that were abusive. But at the same time there were men who were nice--what i did not like was that they usually got either promoted quickly or they moved to other departments where they have to be specially trained. I think there were only three or four women I had ever seen that did that while I was there.

--how long were you there?

--until I became pregnant, when i was twenty-three. I was seeing my husband then.

--did you want to keep working?

--(pause)mmm yes and no. Yes, because I needed the money and I thought I did my job well. but no because I knew how hard it would be to hide the pregnancy. There were times every now and then, maybe two or three times a year when the management would start demanding that we prove we were not pregnant. It was so stupid and humiliating, and i did not feel like ever having to go through that, so I just quit. (pause)Life is so hard in México (pause, weeping).

--when...when did you, uh, decide to cross over? (pause)

--my husband, it was his idea. He left first with a coyote and crossed somewhere between Juarez and Laredo, I don't really remember where. And he went off to Houston and started working there in construction.

--how long were you away from each other?

--almost two years. He was not present when our baby was born.

--did he plan for you to come over?

--yes, before he left he said he wanted to save money so that I could cross the same way he did, but I told him there was no way, because if I had Andres with me, there was no way for me to carry him, too. I told him I would apply for a day-Visa or something. That is probably what took so long, I had to apply and get a visitation Visa, otherwise, there was just no way I was going to walk through a desert with a baby.

--is that how you made it across, with a Visa?

--Yes, thank God! I could not have survived in the desert, there are the worst stories (pause). After I had Andres, I received my Visa, it was for...six months, I think, so that i could travel back and forth between México and the United States. I used it to cross, then I bought a bus ticket to Houston.

END OF PART 2