Abstract

In this article we analyse how workers perceive corporate labour standards and the related work conditions in the agro-export sector of Northern Guanajuato, Central Mexico. We do so by first comparing labour standards on local farms to labour standards at an international fresh vegetable production, harvesting, processing and export company that has explicit corporate labour standards. Second, we present how workers from two rural communities of landless workers employed in the agro-export industry perceive the differences between work at local farms and work at the agro-export company. Our results show that better pay and secondary benefits resulting from corporate labour standards do not necessarily translate to perceptions of better work quality. This relates to the broader work conditions in which these labour standards are inserted. Many workers prefer work with lower labour standards but that has more convenient working hours and enables engagement in family and social activities alongside the job. Based on these results we argue that, from a sociological perspective, work quality is a situated and very context-specific notion. Therefore, higher labour standards and better pay even in contexts of cheap labour and widespread poverty are not necessarily associated by workers with higher work quality.

摘要

在本文中，我们分析了工人如何看待墨西哥中部瓜纳华托北部农产品出口部门的企业劳工标准和相关工作条件。为此，我们首先将当地农场的劳工标准与具有明确企业劳工标准的国际新鲜蔬菜生产、收获、加工和出口公司的劳工标准进行比较。其次，我们展示了来自两个农村社区的工人如何看待受雇于农产品出口行业的无地工人如何看待在当地农场工作与在农产品出口公司工作之间的差异。我们的研究结果表明，企业劳工标准带来的更好的薪酬和次要福利并不一定会转化为对更好工作质量的看法。这与插入这些劳工标准的更广泛的工作条件有关。许多工人更喜欢劳动标准较低的工作，但这样的工作时间更方便，并且可以在工作的同时参与家庭和社会活动。基于这些结果，我们认为，从社会学的角度来看，工作质量是一个情境化且非常具体的概念。因此，即使在廉价劳动力和普遍贫困的情况下，更高的劳动标准和更高的工资也不一定与工作质量更高的工人相关。