9 The Movement of Work and Workers '171

iucomes, and diversified development htrve radically increased (Wallerstein,

2014; Maskin, 20t4). While the rich are getting richer within the world
cconomy, so are the poor becoming poorer. According to Wallerstein (20Ia),
The Movement of Work and Workers the world economy has entered a period of systemic crisis because it is
hecoming a bifurcated system of high and low-income countries. Bi-polar
rvorld-systems are inherently trnstable. In order to maintain access to privi-
Icges and wealth, those on the top will find new ways to exploit those on the
hottom while those on the bottom will more clearly be in a position to struggle
Ior social justice, equality, and democracy.
Learning Objectives According to world-systerns theory, the exploitation of cheap labour in
thc world economy will take new forms (e.g., Export Processing Zones) because
. Toassesstheuseoftheworld-systemsglobal commoditychain(ws6cc)
tounderstandthe
exploitation of cheap labour in low'wage countries
llrrnsnational corporations are experiencing increasing difficulty in hnding new
. and the impact of ricographical areas of cheap unskilled labour. In the past, capitalists could search
To recognize the differences between offshoring and outsourcing
reshoring on Canadian jobs
()uI new sources ofcheap labour from rural economies located in the periphery of
. To understand why international organizations and governments
view child labour as tlrc world economy. this solution is proving more difficult simply because there
to children's ability to achieve their full potential ,rrc so few new frontiers to incorporate. As Wallerstein (2014: 17) notes, corporate
destructive
. To examine why transnational corporations set up manufacturing
operations, otherwise r lccisions to flee to ever more remote areas are related to the search for rural labour,

known as export processing zones, in low-income countries .r lesource that is becoming exhausted due to the "de-ruralization of the world-
. To be aware of the cycle of exploitation experienced by "second
generation" temporary ',\'stem today."
migrant workers in Canada The exploitation of cheap labour, whether in high, or low-income countries,
r( rnains an integral component in the expansion of capitalisnt. Today, globaliza-
ti,n and neoliberalism through international institutions such as the IMF and
tlrc World Bank continue to break down the remaining impediments in national,
l,rr'al, or community labour markets. Therefore, in a neoliberal world of com,
lntroduction l,, tition where labour markets are deregulated, labour must also compete. This
, ()r)rpetition is conceptualized and regulated as individual workers rather than
affinity for
coffee is canadians' number one beverage of choice. But how does our
chains? .r.; the collective power of protected labour markets (Kalleberg and Hewison,
aromatic brew connect US to one of the most important global cr:mmodity
the present configurn' 'rtt.t:277).
this chapter we examlne the movement of work and workers IN
commodity
tion of the world economy through global commodity chains. The coffee
chain 1S the second most important and lucrative global commodity 1n the world artrl Global Commodity Chains and the Global
provides US with an example of how workers ate exploitecl at the bottom of the chain.
lnterconnection of Work and Workers
examining agrictrl
N ext, we examme child labour 1n the cocoa commodity chain. By
I riscussions of the impact of globalization on economic restructuring within high-
tural commodity chains, this chapter explores how the cleregulation of commodity
impacts peoplc rr( ()me or advanced capitalist countries and of the effect of market liberalization
prices brought about by globalization and neoliberal policies negatively
of Iabour within agt I .rrrtl tleregulation on developing nations have moved from national or sectoral
living 1n low-income countries. We move from the exploitation
export processl Irg ,rrr.rlysis to commodity-specific dynamics of transformation, exchange, and
cultural commodity chains to manufacturing industries located 1n
, r)nsurnption. Recent scholarship has concentrated on global commodity chains as
zones ln low-income countries. We bring the moYement of work and
workers homc lrt
migrant workcrs. Ir r, I'chical and spatially distinct structures. The work of Immanuel Wallerstein and
r'rt
Canada by examining the cycle of exploitation of secono generation'
lr r .lle ilgues centres on the world-systems global commodity chains (wsccc) and
t
"
r,, tlistinct I'rom thc gl.hal cornn.rodity chains (t;CC) research of Gary Gereifi
Globalization and the Transnational Corporation .,rr,l Migttcl Korzcrrir'',vitz (19(),1).'lhc lattcr approach to econornic rlevelopmcnt
r, ,r r') sttrtlics sl)c( ili( ( onrlr,(lilit'sr hy covcrirrg irll, ol rrrost,
Globalization, facilitateil by tlatrsrtrltional corporatiotts, ilrlilrtnatiott
rttltl Proecsscs iurtl trarrs
has ttt' r, ll{)llslt0lttItillt.tt) l)to,r",.iltli llrrr)n:;Unll)liott.t;t t t(':i('ill'(lrtotrsislstll :r1t;tli1.1l
ctltlltltutricittiotrs tcchllrllogics' ttttttlrliitltt st;rtt's' ittrtl tlt'olitrt'r'itlistrt' ,,r |olit),orit'tttt'tl',lu(lr{',,,11'1,,1',rl,lr.rirr:,;tntlottlr:ion.rlll,irrtlrrrlrit.sllr.rltross
. .^,1,,.,-,. rrrrrr l,l irrr.rrr.rlrlv itr r,,orltl iolrs, sl,llrlt' ,rrrtl sCttllf
 9 The Movement of Work and Workers 173
172 Crises in Canadian Work

The Coffee Commodity Chain

twoorthreeinternationalboundaries'Globalcommoditycl.rain(ccc)analysis
Introduction
hasbecometheacceptedanalyticalframeworkincreasinglyusedbyinternational
financialinstitutions,includingtheWorldTradeOrganizationandtheWorldBank Let us look at the commodity chain that ends in the consumption of your favourite
(Neilsen, 2014; Gereffi , 2014)'2 beverage fiom the local Starbucks made by a barista, or bought at the Tim Horton's
provides the required critical tools to
However, the world-sy"t*' 'pptouch tlrive-through. Coflee bar chains have spread dramatically, selling ambiance and
examinecommoditychainswithinth.*o,ldeconomicsystem.Theoriginalworld- social positioning along with coffee. In short, the global coffee commodity chain
systems-inspirecl tradition of
"commodity chain' research dates from a ground-
has gone through what Dicum and Luttinger (2006) call a "latte revolution" where
breakingarticlewhereHopkinsandWallerstetn(1977:128)outlinetheirvisionol. ( onsumers can choose from and r,r,ill pal hugely inflated prices for hundreds of
worl<l-systems program. A.consumable
the research agenda that should orient the ..prior trans. t'ombinations of coffee varieties, origins, brewing and grinding methods, flavour-
may be stu<lied by tracing back its roots including
item, they suggest, ing, packaging and, ofcourse, social "content" or atmosphere.
mechanisms, the labor input into
formations, the raw materials, the transportation It is estimated that the number of Americans drinking specialty coffees,
each of the material processes, and the
food inputs into the labor'" Studying the
r,lhich include mochas, Iattes, espressos, cappuccinos, and frozen/iced coffee
chain, for ,*u*ptt, would map out the
teginnings from the cotton fields'
clothing lreverages, grew to 30 million daily in 2015, up from only 7 million in 1997.
toclothmanufacturi,g,".,atotheproductionofothermaterials(thread,buttons, in Ily 2015, specialty coffee sales increased by 20 per cent per year and account
the "reproduction of labor involved
zippers, synthetics, etJ) and would include Ior nearly 8 per cent of the $18 billion US coffee market (E-importz.com,2015).
these productive activities" (1977 : 128)' t .anadians drink 2.1 billion servings of coffee in specialty cofFee chains. The data
chains is embedded
Hopkins ard W"llerstein's c'ncept of commodity ,'rrggest Canadians aged 18 to 35 consume one of everythree servings of hot spe-
wlthincapitalismasaworlclhistoricalsystemcharacterizedbythe..wide- , irrlty coffee, and women consume 65 per cent of all servings. Boomers remain
production' distribution'
spread commo<lification of processes"-exchange' tlrc biggest consumers of hot brewed coffee at 37 per cent, while those aged 18 to
1983: 15), World-systems theory
and investment processes,, (Wallerstein, t5 increased their consumption by 6 per cent in 2014 (Cardwell, 2015). Drinking
distinguishesbetweenthecoreancltheperiphery,Thisdistinctionspecifiesthc , ,rflee is a highly profitable global business in Canada and the US.
unequalallocationofrewardswithintheactivitiesconstitutingacommodity
the lower the process is located
chain (Arrighi and Drangel, i986: 16)' Simply' 'fhe "Starbucks Factor"3
inside the commodity ch"ain' the cheaper
iht l"bo"' We will examine coffec
chains and how labour is cheapenetl
and cocoa as two .*u-plt' of commoJity llrc evolution of specialty collee cannot be appreciated without making a refer-
as a result of neoli beral policies ( ncc to the "Starbucks factor," Starbucks was founded in l97L in Seattle and spent
rs how the n eq u aI returns to thc
The world syste ms approach conside rrrost of the 1980s building a loyal customer base and informing consumers on the
ation of a pa rtic ular goo d crea te S
rl
crea tion, developmen t, and tr ansp or ,;rralities of their coffees. What made Starbucks a corporate success was the creation
explicitl v transnational, this school
stratified world system. As well AS being ,,1 a caf6 atmosphere where customers could hang out in a place that was neither
pati al d vnamlcs of uneven develoPment.
of thought focuses attention on the emerges frottt
lrorne nor work. This happened at the same time that other consumer food prod-
-peripherY relationshiP
From world- systems perspective, the core ctll u( ts were being recast as more authentic, flavourful, and healthy-micro-brewed
a series of linked "economic acti vities
structure d ln commoditY chains that
stiott l,( ('l', specialty breads, and organic vegetables,
for instance. By cornbining ambiance
Drangel, 1 9 6t 11) The pivotal que
across state b oundaries" ( Arrighi and rv it h coffee consumption and providing consumers the choice of type, origin, roast,

asked 1S, "rf one thinks of the entire

chain AS having a total amou nt of surpltts
,rrrtl grind, Starbucks managed to sell coffee "pre-packaged with lifestyle signifiers"
1S the division of this surplus
value am()llE
value that has been appropr iated, what I I )i( um and Luttinger, 2005: 153).
Wallerstein, 1 9 8 6t 4e). That 1S to say, thc sc
the boxes of the chain? (Hopkins and Stirrbucks is among the leaders in the creation of a single, global institu-
geographic sPace but rather t clrrl
activities are not distributed randomly across lr.rrrll 5ysfsrn through which production and trade of coffee is organized. The
high wages positiorre tl
to cluster. Some activities-those commanding -are , ('nll)ilr)y's coffee comnroclity chain controls the production and subsequent
and are normallY located 1n high -income core coU II
1n protected labour markets lr.rrrsportation ol'tht' "llrccn col'lt'e bcans ltrom Lirtin America, Africa, ancl
ch aln are lnorc glob ally dispcrse,l,
tries Other boxes' or nodes 1n a commoditY \ rllr)ilrn, to thc Urritcrl Slrrlt's rrrrtl IirrroPc in occlrn containcrs. Once in the tlS,
a trtl rl(' sou ICC lirr chcap
lalr,,t t
r

characterized by higher clegrec s of comPctiti()ll' ',l,rrlrueksltltssix((nlt(',tvlt,t, llrt lrt'lurslucroltstt'tl lrrrtl Pltcl<1ggtl initIrritt.tttcr
or low income cotttrtrics'
 9 The Movement of Work and Workers 175
174 Crises in Canadian Work

the UK France maintains close relations with C6te d'Ivoire and other Francophone
similar to the manufacture of standardized products by fast food chains likc
( ountries. Dutch trading links with Indonesia remain important as well (Dicum
McDonalds (Supplychainquarterly.com, 2010).
;rnd Luttinger,2006).
AII products used in each Starbucks store are supplied by a central distribtr-
distribution centres in the United States, seven in tlrc But in 1989 the US withdrew from the agreement. The market soon became
tion centre. Starbucks uses 33
nregulated. The World Bank encouraged Vietnam to move into coffee production
Asia/Pacific region, five in Canada, and three in Europe, As a result of controlling
r r

ilespite the already large supply of coffee on the world market. By 2011, Vietnam
their co{Iee commodity chain, Starbucks has become the largest coffeehouse conr
,rccounted for approximately t4 per cent of global colfee production, ranking it as
pany in the world. Starbucks employs approximately 182,000 people across mofc
tlrc world's second largest coffee producer (Choudhary et al., 2011). The glut on the
than 19,700 company-operated and licensed stores in 62 countries and is a majol'
global transnational corporation with revenues topping $15 billion in 2014
rlirrket caused prices to plummet below the cost of production.
(SupplychainquarterlY, 2010). International prices for the raw product (either Arabica or Robusta) have
r.'mained low, hovering around $1.60 per pound for the past decade (Interna-
tional Coflee Organization [ICO], 2014: 23). The low price of coffee is good for
The Coffee CommoditY Chain thc transnational corporations that control the commodity chain since they can
rt'alize high profits at other stages in the chain. However, coffee is a yital source
Coffee is the world's second rnost valuable traded commodity, behind only petrtr
, rl' cxport for many of the developing countries that grow it. Today, small-scale
leum. Globally there are approximately 25 million farmers and coffee workers irr
lrrrnrers produce over 75 per cent of the world's coffee. Market liberalization and
over 50 countries involved in producing coffee. An estimated 11 million hectarcs
,lcregulation in producing countries have decreased their capability of control-
of the world's farmland are dedicated to collee cultivation. Worldwide, the annual
billion pounds. Coffee is the largesl footl ling exports and building up stocks, therefbre weakening their market power.
consumption of coffee has expanded to 12
fifth among the world's to| lrr irddition, coffee farmers in low-income countries are facing increased costs
import of th. Urrit.d States and in 2014, Canada placed
l0 irnporting countries (Indexmundi.com, 2016). The global commodity chain is lol replanting and other high costs for fertilizer and diesel fuel (Fitter and
l(.rplinksy, 2001).
a hierarchical structure beginning with farmers/workers, moving up to middlc
Coffee price decline and volatility have had negative economic impacts on
men, exporters, importers, roasters, and retailers befbre reaching the consumcl
(Globalexchange.org, n.cl.). Figure 9.i highlights the substantial inequalitybetwecr)
,lcveloping countries. One result has been declining export revenues, reclucing the
.rlrility of the state to invest in rural development, which, in turn, leads to increased
what is paid to the farmers/workers and what the consumer pays' Each box in tlrc
.off.. .o-*odity chain appropriates part of the surplus but leaves the lion's shalc l)()verty in coffee producing areas, declining labour standards, and unsustainable
l.rrrrl use (faffee, 20L4;Lyon,2010). "Ihe surplus generated by the coffee commodity
to the transnational corporations based in high-income countries.
, lnin comes largely at the expense of those at the bottom. As a result of globaliza-
Today, most of the world's coffee is grown in Colombia, Vietnam, and Brazil.
tion, the institutional frameworks have moved away from a formal and relatively
Across the globe, various processes, technologies, and forms of human labour arc
',trrble system where producers had an established voice toward today's more
employed in the cofee chain before reaching the consumer. coming into forcc
r lirrmal and buyer dominated system.
on 1 )uly 1963,37 countries representing coffee exporters and coffee consutnitrg
r r

nations entered into the International Coffee Agreement, which fixed prices at
In the coffee producing countries, the farmers through their cooperatives
Irrrd it difficult to compete with local subsidiaries of international trading
$4.40 to $5.30 per kilogram. Each colIee-producing country had an agreed-uporr
"fair" allotment of the market. This had been set uP to counter the rise ol lilrns. As trade liberalization and deregulation force governments to retreat
lrorn the regulation of domestic coffee markets, farmers' organizations lose
communism in Asia and South America. In addition, historic colonial trading
.r l,olitical forum of negotiation. The weakness and inherent instability of the
routes continue to remain important in shaping the colIee commodity chaitl'
A sizeable proportion of East African coffee finds its way to Germany antl rrrstitutional framework falls straight on the shoulders of coffee f'armers in
,lt vcloping countries. In the process, a "substantial proportion of total income
Paid Paid Consumer rit rrcrated in the coffee chain has been transferred from farmers to consuming
Farmer Paid ExPorter Paid !mporter Paid Roaster Cal6
, ountr| operators" (Ponte, 2002: 1116). We should ask ourselves, what differ-
.5o/kg $2/kg $1 o/kg $30/ks $300/ks
r'nr(' (locs it mahc to ir strrallholilcr if a consulner can buy tr double tall decaf
(100 servings @ $3)
l.rllt' lirr $4, or il sl)t't illty ht'rurs rrrc soltl lt $ltl pcr pouncl in the United Statcs
Figure 9.t conventional coffee commodity chain (Approximate Prices Paid per Kilogram) ,,r (.;rnrrtlrr, il-tlrc l,rrrnlr 1',r'ls lt'ss llrarr 50 rcnls lirr Ihc satttc pottntl <ll'col li'c
Source: Adapted Irom Ox{arn and Baskervillc, Prler /01') 'liIiilr,rrltrrinr; lhc rollot supply rhain' lrlllr //r'rlrrr'11o(olfeo qtlorn t I illt'r'ittrtl h,tlrlirr',1!\', .'()()l )"
.(on1/tl0irrdrlinir)q 1he tttllcc \tll)J)ly (h,rirr
'176 Crises in Canadian Work
Offshoring: The Movement of Work
and lmpacts on Community
The terms outsourcing and offshoring are often used interchangeably in much
of the popular literature today. However, there is a dilference. When a company
outsources, it buys from a different company a part or service it uses to product'
either within the country or abroad. For instance, General Motors can outsourcc
production of an auto part to a different company in the United States or any
where in the world. However, if a company offshores, it moves its service provisiorr
clr production process to a different country. For example, if GM opens a factory
in China and shifts production to its factory there from the US, it is offshoring,
no, outsourcing because it is still running the factory from its US headquarters,
Offshoring allows a company to make the product or offer the service at a much
lower price because it is able to take advantage ofcheaper labour costs, lax govern
ment regulations on working conditions and the environment, restrictions on tratle
unions, and attractive tax incentives (Fifarek,2007). Therefore, many early offshort'
practices involved the movement of low-skilled, labour-intensive manufacturing
positions to other countries, especially in the developing world.
Advances in telecommunications and information technology have led t0
olfshoring service positions such as remote operations of call centres. Anothcl
example is the offshoring of knowledge work such as research and developmerrl
including software maintenance and development (Farrell and Fenwick' 2007),
Intel increased its engineering workforce 150 per cent by adding 600 engineers
to its research a1d development operations in Russia (Foremski, 2004; Mangunr'
2012). Otrshoring services or technological developments allow global corporatiotts
to produce around the clock, and this results in lower costs.
Writing in The Economist,Tamzin Booth (2013) refers to the phenomenon 0l
"bringing work home" or reshoring work that was once done offshore. Among tlre
companies Booth narnes as engaging in reshoring are Google, General Electric,
Caterpillar, and Ford Motor Company. With regard to the loss of manufhcttrr
ing jobs in Canada, a large portion of employment in Canada's manufacturirrg
base came from foreign, primarily US-based transnational corporations such its
GM, Ford, cr, |ohn Deere, Nabisco, Kellogg's, and Kraft. An example of a LJS
based transnational closing shop and moving jobs to the US is provided by lrn
ergizer, a transnational corporation manufacturing batteries and personal cillc
products with headquarters in fbwn and country, Missouri. The company is wcll
known for its Energizer and Eveready batteries; Schick, wilkinson sword, arrtl
Edge shaving products; Playtex feminine hygiene products; and Hawaiian'l'ropir
and Banana Boat sunscreen products. The company announced its feminine cirlc
facility in Montreal would close by 2017 with the loss of 450 jobs. As an exirtrrplc
of reshoring, the closing of the Montreal factory is part of a restrttctu ring progrl nl
that will see procluction consolitlirtcd irt llncrgizcr's l)clirwitrc lircility (13tlsincss
Ncws Nctworl<,20l,l).
9 The Movement 0f Work and Workers 177
Child Labour: From Apple to Chocolate
What Is Child Labour?
llrc lnternational Labour Organization (tt.o) separates negative child labour that
,lrould be elirninated from positive child labour that may contribute to a child's
rvcll-being. For example, children or adolescents' participation in work that does
rrot affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling
,s generally regarded as positive. This includes activities such as earning money
,,rrtside school hours and during school holidays. Often these jobs provide children
rlrth skills and experience to prepare them to be productive members of society
, lrr ring their adult life.
The ILO refers to negative child labour when children aged five to 17 years
rr,ork in conditions that are physically or mentally harmful, socially or morally
, ll ngerous, interfering with schooling, or requiring children to attempt to combine
.. lrool attendance with excessively long and heavy work. Although the nurnber of
, lrilclren exposed to negative child labour has declined fron246 million in 2000 to
l()S million in2012, the number of children involved in these destructive practices
r.; llarming (tLO, 2015b).
In 2013, the largest percentage of children exposed to negative child labour
l,ructices was in agriculture (58.6 per cent), followed by services other than domestic
rvork (25.4 per cent), industry (7,2 per cent), and domestic work (6.9 per cent). Child
l,rlrourers who work on farms produce cash crops such as cocoa, coffee, cotton, and
r rrbber. Another 20 million are employed in factories that make garments, carpets,
t,ys, matches, and hand-rolled cigarettes (lto, 2015b).
While statistics on the wages which children receive for the work they do varies
lry r;orrrr,., and industry, the consensus among international organizations is that
, lrildren are paid pennies an hour. For example, a young child named Soe Min
Ln,in brings home $35 a month after working in a factory in Yangon, Myanmar.
With this money he can buy a sack of rice for $20 to feed his mother, stepfather,
t\v() younger brothers, and grandmother for one month (Saberi, 2015).
Ilrand Name Companies Exposed
I rr 2013, an internal audit at Apple uncovered several cases ofnegative child labour
rrr its commodity supply chain, including one Chinese company that employed
I chilclren under the age of 16. In total, the audit uncovered 106 cases ofunderage
l.rlrorrr employed at tl factories involved in making its products in20L2. The Apple
r ('l)ort came on the heels of a series of worker suicides over working conditions at
Iroxc<lnn, the Taiwtrnese company that assembles the iPad and iPhone and operates
,, rrrrurbcr of oft.shorc pllnts in China (Garside,2013).
()uc (lhincst' (()nrl);ury irr llrc Applc cotrrnrodity chain callecl Guangdong l{eirl
I ,ritlr l)irrgzlrorr Iilct lroni('. rr,rl\(:i t ilt tlit lroitrrls. Accortling to Applc, 74 children
urrtlt'r'tlrt'irgc ol ltr lr.r,l l,, , rr l..tr,rrlrtr1'.11' rt't luitcrl to tvot'li ott i(s Ptotlttt'tiotr litrt's lr1,
 l7t] (-riscs in ( arradi,rrr Work
9 TheMovementofWorkandWorkers llg
one of the region's l:rrgest labour agcncies, Shcnz.lrcn (ltrirrrshrrn I lunran l{esorrlct.s, l.r cxa.rrrlc, irr .l()10, Ivori.n government authorities
detained three newspaper
Apple's investigators found that the agency conspirccl with fhrnilics to lirr,ge ,"rrr,:rlists alicr thcy published an articre exposing government
corruption in the
identification documents. Apple has since cut its relationship with the Chirresr I ( r( oa sector (Voice oJ'America,
16luly 2010). With low levels of education, fhmilies
circuit board supplier (Garside, 2013). rrr lhe cocoa sector are caught in a
vicious cycle ofpoverty. cocoa producers have
cocoa, an important global commodity, is critical to the livelihoorl .r lrttle bargaining power against the few large
transnational companies that
thousands of rural farmers especially in West Africa. Western African countrics,
' .rrtrol the supply chain and ultimatery deteimine the livelihoods of
mostly Ghana and the Ivory coast, supply almost 70 per cent of the worlcl's cocorl farming
l'rrrrilies (Internationar Labor Rights Forum,
(world cocoa Foundation, 2015). The main transnational corporate players in the
n.d.).while the ILRF continues its
"lr rggle to eliminate child labour from cocoa plantations by shaming corporate
chocolate trade are Archer Daniels Midlands, cadbury, Hershey, Kraft Foods, arr,l rirrr'rts such as Hershey, negative child labour remains
an integral part of the cocoa
Nestl6. In well-publicized reports in 2010, over 1.8 million chilclren were fburrtl
' "rrrmodity chain. In much the same way that coffee p.i.., u".. t<ept
low to ensure
to be working under exploitative conditions in cocoa related activities in Cdtr l.rse profits for transnational corporations,
low prices for cocoa and other com_
d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Ghana, and Nigeria (Payson center for lnternational Devekrp rrr.dities consumed in high-income countries
have similar arTects at the bottom
ment and rechnology Transfbr, Tulane University, 2011). The International l,abor
"l lhe commodity chain-namery fewer resources for the state and impoverished
Rights Forum (rlnE) stated that while almost 70 per cent of the world's supply .l l,rrrrilies who grow and cultivate the staple
commodity.
cocoa comes from c6te d'Ivoire and Ghana, farmers who produce cocoa and wor,k
on the plantations are paid below-poverty wages. Low prices in the cocoa industry
have Ieft smallholder farmers with impoverished incomes and with no choice bul to
Work in Export processing Zones (EpZs)
pull their children from school and have them help on the plantation. t ilrbalization has resulted
in the proliferation of re-export platforrns locatecl
Low prices and low wages combine to perpetuate child trafficking and the worst rrr.stly in low-income countries of the worlcl
economy. Export pr.cessing zones
forms of child labour that characterize the industry. Children are exposed to chenr (l l'zs) are special manufacturing
enclaves that are normally, though ,ot alwirys,
icals and long working hours, and are denied a decent education. The governmcrrt ,rhe
^.lirted from the rest of the national economy. International r,,rtr.u, ()rgari-
of c6te d'Ivoire has hampered the reporting of the worst of child labour practiccs, (ILO) states that EpZs take many forms,
"'rtion including fiee tracrc z.rcs, special
, ( ()nomic zones, export
processing factories, bonded wur.ho.r."., free porls,
anrl
rrr'rtluiladoras or maquilas in Mexico.
The ILo has defined EpZs as "industrial zones
rlrth special incentives set up to attract foreign investors,
in which importecl
rrrrr(erials undergo some degree of processing
before being re-exported,, (tr.o,
'ol5a)' Epzs have become the rargest manufacturing
centres orglobarization a,d a
1 'r i rne example of why industrialized countries have shed *"rry"of ,h.ir
unionized,
l)ieh-paying manufacturing jobs and moved
them there.
Mexico's early experiments with EpZs, known
as maquiladoras, or maquilas,
r rr iginated with the Mexico-us Border Industrialization program
in rg66whereby
rr:r.ufacturing plants were located in the border
towns of northern Mexico.
I lrc ,raquiladoras are a group of manufacturing
prants that use cheap labour and
I t'rx incentives to import and assemble duty-free
components for export. They
I l,((.lne a means of providing employment and
significant foreig,-exchange
I , .r rn ings for Mexico's developing economy (Hansen,
2003).
li,rployment in maquiradoras i'creased from approximatery
200,000 in the
I rrr irl- 1980s to more than r,000,000
by the turn of the .".rtury. uatrre, globalization,
I(, 'rrrtl l.w-cost offshore assembly in china, Asia, and Latin
America dramatically
'rllcctecl Mexico's nrarluirarloras. Iror example, approximately
529 maquilacloras
"lrrl rl.w'a.cl i.vcstrrcrrt irr rrsscrrrbly plants decreasccl by g.2 per ce,t i,2002
A cocoa farmer uses a machete to open a pod of raw cocoa for inspection on a cocoa plantation in Kumnrl,
Ghana. Cocoa is an important global commodity, critical to thc livllilrorrrl ol rhousands of rural farrncrt
This raw product becomes the chocolate made in Swilzr,rl,rrrrl ,rrrrl ollrr,r r orrlr,r liorr prorlucing nations belorfl tl'ltot l is, 2006) l)csPilt' llrt tlt't lirrt', howcvcr,
ovcr -r,(xx) rrrirtlrrilurl.r.as still c.,risr
export around the world. ,rl,ttg 1111',1,000 rrrilr. l,rr;,i .,lrr.tr lr.l llrr.tIrrilt.tl Slrrlr,s
,\4cxit.. lr.rtlt.r.,llr.y,11ryi111.
 9 TheMovementofWorkandWorkers l8l
180 Crires in Canadian Work

than one of the eight ItPZs and the largest in Bangladesh, employing l88,76g workers
million workers ancl exports of more
employment for slightly more than who were mostly women and teenagers as of April 2015. The 453-acre chittagong
-2.
$196billion(TheEcono'mist,2[l3;Villalobos'2004)'However'verylowwagesand I;acility holds 137 factories and in 2014-2015 exported over $21.3 uSD billion
treacherousworkingconditionscharacterizemuchofthework.Forexample,Rosa called worth of manufactured goods. It claims to have the cheapest labour in the world.
from 10 p'm' to 7 a'm' ala factory
Moreno is one of many women working eYery night' six
'liansnational corporations manufacturing goods in chittagong
only pay workers
200-toi hydraulic stamping press
HD Electronics. Rosa op.*' a loses 300 pesos rrl average of $48 a month or about $1.50 a day (ntlze, zOts).
a week' If she misses a shift'
she
days a week, for 1,300 pt'o' * $100
from her weeklY wage (Bosque' 2013)'
Thelatestdatafromtt'erloestimatesthat'in2006'66millionpeoplewere were women
employed in over 3,500 EPZs in 130
countries' the majority of whom
a significant increase from
ILo estimates ffiqlx S" I ffiv*ry$ay W*r'k ffixpenimmc*s
(Boyenge, 2007). These numbers represent Corporate Responsibility and The Human Cost
inlggTwhen22,SmillionemployeeswerecountedinS45EPZslocatedin93coun-
the rapid growth in EPZs: transnational of Cheap Clothing
tries (ll-tl, 1998). The main 'e"son driving non-unionized'
easy access to large numbers of
companies (TNCs) wishing to gain
(Dunaway' 2014)' This functions to keep
low-wage *ort."-t'ftiuni*o*tn
and service activities in the cort'
ma"t'facturing
high-paying, t,o*f"ag*-i'ie'lsit"
low-wage' labour-intensive fragments
countries, while .utsJu"tt'g ot olTshoring (Fernandez-Kelly'2007t
of low-income countries
of commodity chains to theitpzs
and Matthews' 2009)'
C"itugtl.. and Zarsky, 2007; Sargent
has been an expansion of manufacturing
Over the past three ctecadei' there
including clesignated areas tll
enclaves in many South ancl East Asian countries,
China.Thesezonesareindustrialareasspeciallysetupbygovernmentstoattract
employment.lncentives to transnationrrl
foreign direct investment and to create ol
io ont'*t within such zones include duty-free imports
companies choosing
rawmaterials.Most,o,,..u,.exemptfromthenationallabourlawswhilehtrst
governmentsprovidetransnationalcorporationswithgenerous,andinsomecascs.
long term, tax concessions'
Bangladeshi government' for examplc'
When it comes to trade unions' the ttt
the fact thaieven after the 2014 amendments
actively promotes its in" Uy tn*g
theEPZAcf,traditionaltracleunionactivitiescontinuetobeforbiddenbylawarrtl
strikesremainillegal(Mirdha,2014).Whileworkersarepermittedtoformworl<ct Expttt l
from Human Rights in Bangladesh's
welfare associations (wwe)' reports compalliur'
processing Zones in<licate thatlhese councils are not in place in most

Thelackofunionsdoesnotmeantheabsenceofindustrialconflict,Asimportitttl
forestablishi,,gindu,t.iulpeace,EPZShavetheirownsecurityforces,or..irrclttrr
order' In 2010' thousands of workcr
r
trial police," specific"lly trained to maintain
clashedwithpoliceatthesouthKoreanYoungonefacilityintheChittagonlil|7 |ttttt
where it houses 13 garment factories
located in southeastern Bangla6esh, and Bttsitterq
(see more at Human Rights
were killed and hun<1reds ioundedn
l)laza
I und
CountrY Guide, 2014)'
to Sarn lVaher ind rh
WheredoesNikemakeitstrainers,orWrangleritsjeans?Intlreslmclllrt.t. llt,tt evcryo|("', \A/,r{lr, \/r,r{, ',il rl,rntn low to start with lt's not compensation
corPttratiotrs lil<c wirlnrirrt' Mothct'crttr" r', rn
Raleigh make its bikes antl transnatiot.tnl l.rlc
lr't'r'" l'ltrlrtttitt'ctttiertls to llshing
l'esco ([IK)' lrntl I{ccl-rol< Inakc evcrything c Lutlittttryl
'llre ( )lrittrrg'orrl" t'xl)()l t l)l()( t"''itll" t ottt' (lrl'7) irr llitlllillrtlt'slr
ls
rrtltl llrrst'lrirll eirps'
 9 The Movement of Work and Workers I83
182 Crises in Canadian Work

other oECD countries, Canada ranks sixth in terms of the share of immigrants in its
ropulation with the foreign-born accounting for 20 per cent of the total population.
replace income that was lost" (Hoskins, 2015)
Even
the true sense; it,s purely to l

moredtsconcerting,withtheexceptionofCanada,sJoeFreshandPrimark,wasthe Immigrants are well educated. For example, in 2012, 42 per cent of permanent
disaster. For example, walmart'
slowness of companies to respond financially to the rt'sidents between the ages of 25 and 64 years had completed some post-secondary eciu-
of over $480 billion (2015) donated an esti-
the world,s Iargest retaiIer with net sales , .rtion (OECD, 2014b: 242). The foreign-born population is on average more educated

mated$lmillion.AccordingtoKalponaAkter,executivedirectoroftheBangladesh llrirn across OECD countries with 52 per cent reporting some post-secondary education
(scws): "We believe it could have been sorted out by
Center for Worker Solidariiy r ornpared to 31 per cent across OECD countries. Thirty-eight per cent of immigrants
phone calls. They have money, but they
these companies in a few minutes with a few to (lanada come from an OECD high-income country and 46 per cent come to Canada
responsible people' who
don't want to take responsibility. Ultimately they are the
in a very bad shape emotionally I rrrm a country with the same oflicial languages of either English or French (OECD, 2012).
made these children orphans.nd p,t these families
On average, over a third of immigrants to Canada since 2010 have completed
and financiallY" (Hoskins, 2015)'
ltWaSnotuntiltheGTmeetinginGermanyinJune20l5andundertheleader- ';oure post-secondary education. Since 2000-2001, immigrants have represented
I I per cent ofthe increase in the highly educated labour force in Canada, but only
shipofGermany,sDrAnjaTrebes,who,,calleduponthebusinesscommunitytoclose
against the backdrop that reSpon-
the funding gap of $2,4 million as Soon as possible 'l per cent in the United States and 14 per cent in Europe (Dumont and Liebig,
the highlighted by the German presidency of
sible supply chains are one of issues l{)14). In addition, immigrant students are becoming one of the main sources
reach $30 million was made
the G7" (Hoskins, 2O'1 5). The frnal donation needed to ,,1 highly skilled foreign labour in all or,cp countries. There is ample evidence
anonymously.TheRanaPlazaDonorsTrustFundreaCheditsgoalof$30millionover rlrat fbreign education from non-oECD countries is largely discounted in the host
However, the workers at
two years after the largest industrial disaster in the world
later' , ountry's labour market. Therefore, after graduation from university, many inter-
Bhopal are still waiting for their money 30 years
ForanoverviewofbrandsthatWerelinkedtotheRanabuilding,aSWellas rrrtional students decide to remain in Canada or other OECD countries. Employers
visit wrnw cieanclothes'or9 , lsily recognize their domestic credentials so that there is little uncertainty regard-
brands that have a sourcing relationship with Bangladesh,
/resources/rana.plaza-actual-and.potential-donors-listed-by-gT.countrylvieW. rrrs the actual "value" of the degree (Dumont, 2014).
Among skilled immigrants who entered Canada in the 1990s, there was a
,lisproportionately high concentration ofoccupations in the IT sector, specifically
, rrgineering and computer-related occupations. As a result, their average earnings
lmmigrant Workers, Migrant Workers, rlt'r.e also disproportionately impacted by the collapse of that sector at the begin-
and the Quest for Social Justice rring of this decade (Government of Canada,2012).
severitl As noted above, Canada consistently has one of the highest rates of
As we saw in chapter 5, canada's immigration policies have undergone
admission and by single cat rrrrn-rigration among OECD countries. Moreover, as Table 9.1 shows, even after the
changes. Today, canada sets annual targets for total
r((cssion of 2008-2009, there is near equality in employment rates between the
egoriesofimmigrants'Thetargetsrangefrom240'0001o265'000andrepresctrl
According to t'r
.Iughly 0.8 per cent of the totai population of about 35 million.
i*l-,,lg,atio, target levels throughout the recession, atttl
oECD, Canada maintainecl Iable
evenovershotthetargetto2Sl,000in2010,theflfthhighestintheoECnaftertlre / 000
the past several dectrdcr'
United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain' Over Employment/Population Ratio 2000
federal government policy his relied on immigration
to swell the ranks of aviril 2012

resulted in negative poptt N,itive-born men 77.4 75,0

able employees as the size of canadian-born families Irrreign-born men 77.0 76.1
lationgrowth,By2012,foreign.bornresidentsinCanadacomprise6.3millirrrr N,rtive-born women 66.0 70.6
experiences hitvc
people (as cited in Drache et al', 2014: 30)' Their employment loreign-born women 59.6 64.5
been decidedlY mixed.
t.lnemployment Rate
ThethreeleadingcountriesprovidingemigrantstoCanadasince2010arctltc
living in the Prailiilr N,rtive-born men
Philippines, China, urd trrdiu' Regionally, in 20lfimmigrants
5.7 7.6
loreic;n-born men 6.1 8"3
andBritishColumbiaaccountecl.formorethanhalfthcemploymcntgrowthlrrt N,rtive'born women
20134)' whilc' thcsc itnurigratttr 6.2 6.4
canada,s landed immigrants (Statistics ciurada, Iort iqlr born wotlen 8,7
per cent of canada's inlnrigrllnt worl< lirrcc, lltt'y at.t
otttttcd lirr 5'l l)e f I ('rrl 8.6
made up 31
totttl'rtrctl l(| ,,,rltr)rL), lrtlt'ttt,rltrrtt,rl Mtrlt,rlt,,trorllrrrl ,.,0l4,(.rrr,rrl,r,pr1 /4] l)Ol l01/lil/rtrirll r)ulllr)[,20]4 11{,rl
ol in-rmigrant cnrPloyrtrcllt growllr hetwt't'tt .l0l() 'rrrtl 'l0ll Wherr
 9 The Movement of Work and Workers 185
184 Crises in Canadian Work

64 per cent of women were classified as econornic imrnigrants. From 2010 until
Canadian-bornandimmigrant-bornpopulations.Intermsoflabourforcepartici.
females 2013, the percentages for both men and women declined to approxirnately 60 and
i" tutlt between banadian-born and immiSral;forn
pation, the disparity 54 per cent for both sexes.
isthelowestamonguEcl,.ou,,t.iesandthedifferenceamongmalesremains
rate of immigrant The two major categories within econornic immigrants include skilled workers
between the unemployment
negligible. However, ti" aiffttt"te per cent in and business immigrants, Business immigrants include investors, entrepreneurs,
from 7 per cent in 2000 ro 9'2
men and native-born men increased the disparity and self-employed individuals. Entrepreneurs are defined as immigrants who have
to native-born women'
2012. For immigrant women compared business experience of at least five years prior to their application, have a legally
2000 to 34 per cerrt2012'
decreased from 40 per cent in clefined net worth of at least $300,000 and can create at least one full-time job for a
Recentdatashowthatearningsclisparitiesbetweenrecentimmigrantsantl Cnnadian citizen or permanent resident (Canada, 2015). However, while nonstan-
Canadian-bornworkerscontinuedtoincreaseintothefirstdecadeofthe2000s.l}y
85 cents dard employment has been woven around gender and age as we discussed in Chap-
contrast, in 1980, *'grant men with employment income earned tcr 6, it has also intersected with immigration and years of residence in Canada.
"ttt" had dropped to *tt'' ny 2000' the ratio
for each dollar received by Canadian-born Hira-Friesen's (2014) examination of Canadian Labour Force Survey data from
67cents,in2005to6:centsbutreboundedtoT0centsin2008.Thecorrespondins
in 2000 and 2006 to 2012 in terms of precarious employment (involuntary part-time work,
were 85 cents in 1980' 65 cents
ratios for recent immigrant women lcmporary contracts, or multiple job holding) amongst recent and established
56centsin2005'Howt"t'thesamereportnotedthatlow-incomeratesforimmi irnmigrants reyeals alarming and growing inequities. Recent male and female
grantswhohavebeeninCanadaforlongerperiodsoftimearesignifi.cantlylowcr irrrmigrants (who arrived in the past five years or less) are much rn ore likely (three
(Gor..rr*.t t of Canada, 2012)'
tirnes for males and 2.5 times for females) in comparison to their Canadian-born
Table 9'2 provides evidence for
the increasing importance of economic
r()ntemporaries to hold involuntary part-time positions (20i4: 108). Not only are
immigrants into Canada since 1990'
In 1990' 45'7 per cent of permanent immi-
immigrants' lhey over-represented in involuntary part-time work but the trend is increasing
44'8 Per cent as female economic
grants were classified as male and (2014: 48). Similarly, recent female immigrants holding multiple jobs have steeply
Thatpercentagecontinuecltoincreaseuntil2010when6g.3Percentofmenatrtl irrcreased since 2006. Further, recent immigrant women are almost twice as likely
,rs Canadian-born women to be temporary workers. As a result, recent immigrants

Category, 1990-2013 .rre often underemployed (relative to their educational credentials) and earn-
Table 9.2 Permanent Residents by Cender and
2005 2010 2011 2012 2013 irrg lower wages than more established immigrants and Canadian-born workers.
CategorY 1990 1995 2000 2009
lrr 2009-10, close to 40 per cent of foreign-born immigrants were overqualified
Males Ior their jobs and 60 per cent of new immigrants find themselves in low-skilled
25,049 26,,g7g 24,946 23'762 21 ,54 1 33,73t1
Family class 33,634 32,256 23,790
|a/o 11.2olo 19' 5% 21.8olo 27"1,, l,rlrs within six months of their arrival (Burleton et a1.,20L4:21). Similarly, a recent
31.7olo 7A.7ok 19.6% 72
30.8%
72,669 80,900 18,711 94,948 80,01 3 82, ,773 75,61 \rrrvey of 450 Toronto immigrants reported, for example, unemployment rates
Economic 49,931 53,720
64.10/o 69.3% 65.7o/o 65.40h 60.6"1, I
,rvcraging 23 percent, high rates of very low income and frequent underemploy-
45.7olo 527olo 64.70/o 63.3%
',l1,545
13,967 11,1) 4
s.436 16,124 18,557 1 1,596 1 2,608 rrrcnt as only 3 per cent were in the professional occupations they occupied before
Refugees 24.027
22.00/o
1

15 1% 14.4ok 14.50h 9.5% 9.25 11.5% 9.1o/o 9.1 "1,

,,rnring to Canada (Bhaskar, 2013; see also Drache et al., 2014). In short, patterns
1 722 477 260 3,256 5,145 4,497 4,037 4,605 3,401
0thers
0.5% O.zok 2'4olo 4.2olo 3.3o/o 3.3% 3,6% 2 . lulu , rl nonstandard employment amongst recent immigrants suggest both discrimina-
1.6% 124,870
121,970 137,002 121, 780 126,469 I ion against this population and economic exploitation of their vulnerability. Im-
Total 95, 817 101,889 112,343 127,763
rrriglants, denied access to "good jobs," may be expected to question the welcome
Females t lrey trre receiving from their adopted country.
37,681 37,469 45,()4{,
45.122 37,373 38,325 38,228 35,278
Familv ' class 41 ,002
30.8% qdT/o 3z.4ok 78.5olo 29.4o/o 24.6ok 25.lok ZB.5o/o 34.l"/, At the same time, there is mounting concern among growing numbers of
3 q
- 967 76,105 78,048
i2"r(rll , rlizcns in most high-income countries about how to limit the numbers of immi-
47,993 52,903 63,613 75,41 75,280
Economic
55.3% s6.1% 57.80/o eq,/" 59.9% 59,4ok 54 1 "/',
rir.rnts entering the country, or how best to manage their stay. Under the banner
44.8olo 47 Tolo
13,967 17,217 11 ,254 12,089 13,906 11, 554 11,()./rr
16,191 12,656 11o/o 8 8% 8.r)'.1, ,,1 sccuring the nation's bordcrs from unwanted immigrants, political parties such
Refugees
15.1% 11.1olo ll.Bolo 8.6ok 8.4%
,r,, trhll, in (irctt llritain, thc Nrrtior.ral Front in Frarnce, l)lil)ll)A in Germany, and
11 .4o/o
200 3, 523 5,440 4,348 4,268 4,355 1,0 lll
0thers 1,868 283
4.70k 3% 3.4ok 3.3ok
l',uty lirr Irrccrlrrtt irr llrt'Nt'llrt'rlirrrrls havc bccn su1'rl.rortctl lry tlrosc lbarlirl of job
1.7olo 03oh O.Zolo l.6ok
125, 968 131,426 134,07,
107, 054 110,964 115,103
1?4,479 130,202 141,686 l,rs iutrl tltt"'t'tosiort ol tt.tliott.rl villlr('s" (scc ulso I(llrrilschnig ct ill.,20llr). It htrs
Total
(,lll,l(l'1, l'l( l\'lll(l I lrllllr"" /0lrr lllllr //www I lr
rlr ,.r/, rri1l lr/tr",lrrrrr"'/'l'rl1'll( /l'rtl"llrI lr
l,r'r'rr tlirltlf t('l)()tl((l llr,rl,'rr t llrr 1r.t"l ltlt,tlttliotls.;t tltttttlrt't ol []S llt'Irtlllit;ttt
\olrr( t' ( lll/olllllil) ,lllll Iillilri(ltdll0ll
.....,,,...,,,r/111,.r,
 9 The Movement of Work and Workers 187
186 Crises in Canadian Work

were considered failures because most of the temporary workers remained in

party members have expressed support for closing the borclers between Mexico
the host country. The "second generation" of temporary foreign workers is more
an<ltheUnitedStut..toill.galimmigrarrts'To<late,Canadahasnotexperienced strictly managed.
the anti-immigration frrro.i. that has plag,ed politics
in the united states, the
countries sucl-r
United Kingdom, and the European Union. However, high-income
as canada address labour shortages not by easing
restrictive immigration systems The Cycle of Exploitation of "Second Generation"
but by adopting the more pop.riu, solution of creating or expanding "managed" Temporary Migrant Workers in Canada
ternp or arY migration Programs'
lhe push for temporary employment in countries such as Canada, the United
Stirtes, and Germany by workers in low-income countries such as Mexico,
"second Generation" Temporary Workers lrrmaica, or Turkey is often met not with resistance but with the voice of
rrccessity. It is not the lure of working in Canada, but rather the push out of their
General of the United
In the post-Colcl War era, Kofi Annan, the Secretary in Mexico and their desire to support their families that motivate
(Annan, 2006)' This 1,oor villages
Nations, announced a "new era of mobility" had emerged rnirny temporary workers. For example, a Mexican temporary rvorker under
neweraischaracterizednotbyfreeandopenmobilitybutratherbyheightened t lanada's seasonal agricultural worker program (SAWp) had this to say.
regulationofthemovementofworkersthroughmanagedtemporaryworkerpro. "My cousin and some of the other men in our town have always gone to Canada.
g*m, ln high-income countries such as Canada' the United States' and Germany'
I tlid not plan to go, but things changed and now I have to. We need the money"'
as the "second generation"
This new era of temporary workers has become known (tltd in Hennebry, 2008: 345).
Today' the dramatic expansion
of migrant labour (Castles, Haas, and Miller, 2013)'
,,selon,l generation,, temporary foreign worker programs in Europe and North What happens to temporary migrant workers once they arrive in Canada?
of lior that matter, what is the process bywhich they are recruited in their home
trends in recenl
America accor<ling to the cxcn, is "one of the most significant , ountries? To answer these questions, we must realize that a "migrant indus-
years" (oilclD ,2oo4), tr y" that includes recruiters, lawyers, agents, smugglers, and other go-betweens
as have high'
Low-income countries have not benefitted from globalization ( I Icnnebry, 2008: 345) has developed over the years. First, in Mexico, the gov-
poor in low-income countries are finding it increas-
income nations. Many of the r'nllr)€flt through its appropriate ministries selects workers for the Canadian
inglyclifficulttosuPporttheirownhousehol<lsduetoforcedrelocationtourban
jobs. Migration to high-income coun- l,t()gram. The Canadian government through HRSDC evaluates employer
areas where there is intense competition over
between starvation ancl
r( (prests for workers. In Ontario and Qu6bec, the day-to-day administration
tries for temporary.*ploymerri can mean the difference ,,1 the program is done by the Foreign
outlined the shifting governmelt Agricultural Resources Management
keeping families intact and sustained. chapter 5
Authorization Progratrt r vices (I,ARMS). Federally incorporatedin 1982 ITARMS is a non-profit private
policiel beginning with the Non-Immigrant Employment "(
',( Ltor organization governed by a board of directors appointed by the groups
workers,,, the name given to temporary workers c{uri'g
,,guest
i*roon) oiszzwith t,,rrticipating in the program. Employers pay an administration fee to have their
labour in the 1970s'
what is called the "lirst generation" of migrant temporary r ( (lucsts for workers processed.
and ending with recent changes to the SAWP Programs'
of "guesl Mexican workers travel to and from Canada exclusively through Canadian
During "first generation;' era, Canada learnecl from the experiences ,\1ir icultural Travel Limited (CanAg Travel). This is the Canadian government
worker,,programsintheUSandGermarry'TheUnitedStateswasthefirstcoult ,rrrrl t,r\RMS approved travel agent that manages the air and ground transporta-
temporary low
try with its Bracero program (Lg42*1964) to bring into the US t rorr t)f temporary foreign workers. All the profits of flight sales go to one travel
(Bracero History Archive, 2016)' Frottr
skilled Mexican agriculiural workers .rli('r)cy and Air Canada or Mexicana Airlines. There are no other options
to implement
until 1973, Germany (EnC) was the second developed nation
rt
1955
..guestworker,,(..Gastarbeiter,,)programthroughmultilateralagreementswitlr ,rll,11,cd fbr travel, according to the farmers, although the price may be consid-
, r.rlrly lower through other airlines (Hennebry, 2008:347). One of the work-
Tirrkey, Spain, and Greece's Like the Program in Canada
from 1973 on' most ol
r r.; r'()nr.rDerlted on the travel monopoly held by CanAg: "'One year, one of
fiom less developed, rttrnl
the temporary workers who went to Germany were tlr,'rvorkcr's mothcr passccl away ancl we wanted to send him home and have
regions of their countries of origin and took on lower
skilled jobs in constru(
were thc clriv lrrrri t'onrc back alicr llrc lir neral. [t was kinda fiustrating since the price with
tio'n, mining, and heavy in<lustry' Poverty ancl unemployment | .urAB Iravcl wirs /rylr'r'.rs rrrrrclr irs Air (lanada onlinc.'l hcrc wirs no otl'rer
jobs in (ic'rnrany wclc
ing forces for the move to (iermany whilc thc tctnporrlry ,,;rIi1v11"'(t;ttl irt I lt'tutt l,t t, .)0011: l,l'./).
I)S rtntl (icrtttitt-t Progrillllrt
rneant to help SuPPort {irnrilics bacl< hlrtrrc. l}ollr tlrc
188 Crises in Canadian Work
9 The Movement of Work and Workers 189

Once in Canada, these workers are under complete control of the four mairt Questions for Critical Thought
players: the Mexican and Canadian governments, SAWP management, FARMS'
and employers. These powerful groups have final say over the assignments of tlrc
workers and their timelines within Canada. As such, anything these workers miry
require, such as a remittance-sencling service, is available but at a handsome prolil
to ihe provider. In fact this arrangement makes these migrants a "captive markcl"
2.
for intermediaries and businesses targeting migrants'
With regaril to recruitment, often the intermediary is a family member who
"knows thc 3.
has already worked in cana<la or a private agent who is paid and who
"l
ropes" and can assist others to find work in Canada' As one worker confided: lt'
(a private agent) asked me if I was interested in joining the program to go to canad0
He told me that for 1000 Pesos ($75-$100 CDN), he could help me get in"
(qtd irr
Suggested Further Resources
Hennebry, 2008: 348). Because these workers are temporary, they need special st:r
vices. The growth of international tCTs and services such as international teleph<lrrc l'rrrta, Donatella Della, Massimiliano Andretta, Lorenzo lvlosca, and Herbert Reiter. 2006, Globalization
providers and remittance-sending services take advantage ofthe isolation ofthcs.' fiom Below; Transnational Activists ond Protest Networks.l\,4inneapolis: University of IVlinnesota
Press. When violence broke out at the demonstrations suirounding the 2001 CB summit in Cenoa,
migrant workers. communicating with family members back home is importrlrtl Italy the protests proved to be a critical moment in the global justice movement. Globalizatian from
but it costs the worker to use international telephone cards. Because there are n(l Below analyzes this movement from the viewpoints of the activists, organizers, and demonstrators
provisions for access to telephones at their workplaces, workers typically canll()l themselves. The authors travelled to Cenoa with antr-C8 protesters and collected data from more

receive calls and must Iind telephones offsite to use during free time in order
to
communicate with their families. In addition, workers must send money honlc
for their families' basic needs and/or debt repayment, For this, they rely on banlts
and/or Western Union despite the costs associated with transfers in addition lo
exchange rate fees. As a Mexican worker explained: "'Yes I come here to work
str
I can send money home. It is my life, for my family and to pay my debts, and therc
fore yes, it is difficult, but I have to"' (qtd in Hennebry, 2008: 350)'
clearly, the group of "second generation" migrant labour benefits tlrc
Canadian agricultural sector ancl the growing migration industry associated witlr
it. Yet a succession of private agents profit handsomely throughout the migranl
workers' exploitation cYcle.
than 800 participants. A year later, they surveyed 2,400 activists at the European Social Forum in
Fl ore n ce.
Wallerstein, lmmanuel. 2013. Uncertain Worlds. World-systems Analysis in Chanqinq limes. New York:
Paradigm. This book is the definitive presentation of the evolution of world-systems analysis from
the point ofview of its founder, lmmanuel Wallerstein. The book includes a conversation between lm-
manuel Wallerstein and Charles Lemert about the history ofthe fleld as it has come down to the pres-
enttime, a long essay by Charles Lemert on the uncertainties ofthe modern world.system, as well as a
concluding essay by Immanuel Wallerstein, No other book lends biographical, historical, and personal
nuance to world-systems analysis.
Suggested Websites
rtrrrnlttlllh

Conclusion oxfam
This chapter began with the conceptual framework to understand the movemcttl
of work and workers in the global economy. From there we moved to an examitltt
ks
"t'c
tion of the exploitation of farm labour and child labour in two of the world's tnosl
l)i)Of.

important agricultural commoclities for high-income countries-namely colli'c

and cocoa. Next, we examined how transnational corporations moved productiorr
I lris is the
to export processing zones to take advantage ofcheap labour with little protectiotr 4,4;rrk i. Mi
for workers. The degree of exploitation of workers including children and womctr in
Globalization of Commodity Chains:
export processing zones became symbolizecl in the Rana Plaza collapse, the largcsl Itl tp://sociologytool box.com/q oba izati on-of-com mod ity-cha i ns
I I

industrial clisaster in recent history. Finally, we brought the exploitation of lithortt lrr111 ,,111111 vidco st't1rrrr,rrl,, llr,rl lrr,rlrrwrllt llto creatiorr of thc Ci\40 coil.on seed and the

from low-income countries horlc to (lirrrlrlu with "sccond gcncrirtiott" tclllporillV I rrvt'tlittrl ttl tollott ttt I\It',',r'.', lrlr l',lt{l lrlorrn,rlron;trtrl rottrrlunic;itions tccltnolor;ics rrrr

nrigrant worltcrs.
190 Crises in Canadian Work

automated pickers to collect the cotton with a handful of workers (the US remains the #i
producer of cotton), then video #2 follows the cotton to Colombia, lndonesia, and Bangla-
..
desh where it is made into cotton fabric using automated machines that employ only a small
number of workers. The third video allows yoi, to tu. how women's cotton t-shirts are made
in Bangladesh and men's cotton t-shirts in Colombia, and video #4 shows how the t-shirts are
shipped via containers to the U.5.

Notes
1, Harold tnnis, with his staple theory of economic growth and development, is the acknowledged pro
genitor of the Canadian political economy tradition. A "staple" refers to any resource intensive exporl
or commodity, According to the staples approach, Canada's status as a capitalist nation was inextrica
bly linked to its colonial past. An examination into Canada's patterns of international trade and capr
tal transfers became a significant theoretical and methodological concern for those working withirt
the political economy trrdition until rouqhly the turn of the twenty-first century. The "new" political
economy approach became associated with such terms as "growth through trade, not development"
or Watkins (1967) "inhibiting export mentality." For a more detailed examination and critique of tho
foundational literature ofthis political economy approach see Glenday ('l988; l9B9).
2. While the world-systems global commodity chain (wSCCC) and global commodity chain (cCC) support
ers agree that the commodity chain concept is a useful construct for thinking about the international
division of labour characteristic of capitalist production, there are signifrcant differences between tho
two schools. World-systems theorists understand commodity chains as consisting not only ofthe Stepr
involved in the transformation of raw materials into flnal goods, but also as webs connecting that sol
of productive activities with an equally critical input: namely' the soLiar Ieproductron ol human labrrrrt
power, Additionally, world-systems theorists are interested in how commodity chains structure and
reproduce a stratified and hierarchical worid-system. On the other hand, CCC researchers understand
commodity chains as sets of inter-firm networks which connect manufacturers, suppliers, and subcott
tractors in global industries to each other and to international markets. They are principally concernorl
with the question of how participation in commodity chains can facilitate industrial upgrading lot
developin g country exporters.
3. While Starbucks is a transnational corporation, the main players remain the big four coffee roastert,
Kraft, Nestl6, Procter & Gamble, and Sara Lee.
4. The fact that there are no traditional trade unions in these rpzs does not mean there is induslrial
peace, ln 2010, workers were waiting for the implementation of the first government mandated now
wage increase since 2006 which would raise their minimum wage from $25/month to,$45/month
After several months, garment workers were demanding the implementation of a new minimum warlo
in the Chittagong EPZ. There were similar protests around Dhaka lThe Koreo Times,2OlO).
5. ln 2008, the Turkish population, who were once "guest workers," represented the largest settled rrll
grant population in Germany with 2.5 million people, followed by ltalians,6reeks, and Poles