Making Ends Meet: Income-Generating Strategies Among Mexican Immigrants (New Americans (LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC).) (New Americans (Lfb Scholarly Publishing Llc).)

The New Americans Recent Immigration and American Society

Edited by Carola Suárez-Orozco and Marcelo Suárez-Orozco

A Series from LFB Scholarly

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Making Ends Meet Income-generating Strategies Among Mexican Immigrants

Socorro Torres Sarmiento

LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC New York 2002

Copyright © 2002 by LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sarmiento, Socorro Torres. Making ends meet : income-generating strategies among Mexican immigrants / Socorro Torres Sarmiento. p. cm. -- (The new Americans) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 1-931202-25-7 (acid-free paper) 1. Mexican Americans--Economic conditions. 2. Mexican Americans--Social conditions. 3. Mexican Americans--Employment. 4.Immigrants--United States--Economic conditions. 5. Immigrants—United States--Social conditions. 6. Globalization-Social aspects—United States. 7. United States--Economic conditions-1981-2001. 8. United States--Social conditions--1980- 9. Tzintzuntzan (Mexico)—Emigration and immigration--Social aspects. 10. United States--Emigration and immigration--Social aspects. I. Title. II. New Americans (LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC) E184.M5 S28 2002 330.973'0929'0896872--dc21 2002003819

ISBN 1-931202-25-7 Printed on acid-free 250-year-life paper. Manufactured in the United States of America.

Dedication

To: María de la Luz Hernández de Torres Jose Luis Torres Martínez Margarita Torres Hernández Infinitamente gracias por la fuerza que siempre me dieron y me siguen dando…

A Salvador, Carolina S., Salvador G. y Luis A Entonces siempre acuerdate de lo que un día yo escribí pensando en tí, pensando en tí, como ahora pienso… J. J. Goytisolo

María de la Luz, Enrique, José Luis, Lupita y Pablo Porque somos mucho más que dos M. Benedetti

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Table of Contents

Dedication........................................................................................ v Table of Contents .......................................................................... vii List of Figures .............................................................................. viii List of Tables.................................................................................. ix Foreword (Translation of Prologo) ............................................... xi Prólogo........................................................................................... xv Acknowledgments........................................................................ xix Introduction ..................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Theoretical Considerations in the Analysis of International Migrant Labor and the Impact on Family Structure ......................................................... 7 Chapter 2: Research Methodology ............................................. 31 Chapter 3: Tzintzuntzan Historic Socio-economic Development and Migration............................................................ 43 Chapter 4: Tzintzuntzeño’s Migratory Experience: First Stage ................................................................................... 71 Chapter 5: Economic Restructuring and the Migrant Labor Market in Southern California.................................. 93 Chapter 6: Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions . 113 Chapter 7: Tzintzuntzeño Women and Income-Generating Strategies................................................................. 145 Chapter 8: El Gasto: Social And Economic Strategies For Survival ................................................................... 165 Chapter 9: Concluding Observations on the Tzintzuntzeños’ Income-Generating Strategies, Settlement and Transnationalism..................................................... 179 Notes ............................................................................................ 207 Bibliography................................................................................ 217 Index ............................................................................................ 233 vii

List of Figures

3.1 Map of Michoacan, Mexico.....................................................45 5.1 Over 18 Year Old Racial/Ethnic Distribution Los Angeles County, 1990 ............................................................98 5.2 Under 18 Year Old Racial/Ethnic Distribution.......................99 5.3 Map of Orange and Surrounding Counties .......................... 100 5.4 Employment Distribution By Major Sectors Los Angeles County, 1991 ......................................................... 103 5.5 Key Industries In Orange County......................................... 104 6.1 Map of Washington, State (Tacoma, Everett)...................... 133 9.1 Map of Dutch Harbor, Alaska .............................................. 193

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List of Tables

3.1 1970 Tzintzuntzan Occupational Structure ............................58 3.2 Tzintzuntzeños’ Occupations Before Their First Trip ...........60 4.1 Husbands’ And Wives’ Occupations Before Their First Trip ...........................................................................72 4.2 Occupation Of Women And Men Before "Legalization" ...................................................................82 4.3 Married Men From Tzintzuntzan Family Structure And Legal Status...............................................................88 4.4 Single Men On Their First Trip To The U.S. Who Later Married ....................................................................89 4.5 Occupation Of Men In The U.S..............................................90 5.1 Employment Distribution By Origin And Sex .................... 105 5.2 Occupations Of Persons Living In Barrios And NonBarrios In Orange County ............................................. 107 5.3 Major Problems Facing Orange County, According To Latinos............................................................................ 109 6.1 Tzintzuntzeños’ First Job Experience on Their First Trip to the U.S. .............................................................. 116 6.2 Tzintzuntzeño Employment In 1992.................................... 118 6.3 Tzintzuntzeño Employment In 1997.................................... 120 6.4 Tzintzuntzeño Employment In Tacoma, Washington......... 134 6.5 Tzintzuntzeño Employment In Tijuana, Baja California ....................................................................... 143 7.1 Tzintzuntzeño Women’s Employment Original Sample............................................................................ 148 7.2 1997 Tzintzuntzeño Women’s Occupations, Original Sample............................................................................ 149 7.3 Tzintzuntzeño Women’s Employment: Tacoma, Washington .................................................................... 151 7.4 1997 Tzintzuntzeño Women’s Occupations........................ 151 7.5 Tzintzuntzeño Women’s Employment: Tijuana, Baja California ....................................................................... 154 7.6 1997 Tzintzuntzeño Women’s Occupations........................ 155 ix

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Foreword (Translation of Prologo)

Writing this introduction has deep personal meaning for me. It gives me the opportunity to express my enormous respect regarding a project with which I am very familiar, by way of my life-long relationship with the author. Therefore, I must disclose that my reflections are based on the perpetual dialog shared by the author and I, which has been the cornerstone of our mutual evolvement in the fields of social science and education. According to Adolfo Sanchez Vázquez, in his book: Philosophy and Circumstances, “the work is irreducible to the individual existence of its creator, due to the presence of society, age, class, tradition,… elements that transcend the individual” and are reflected in her work. Without a doubt, Socorro, the academic brings a particular sensitivity to her work. Making use of participant observation and indepth interviewing she brings to life complex concepts to the basic problems faced by migrant families, who must seek their daily bread in distant places, whether in Mexico or the United States, in order to assure the survival of their families. I have always believed that the intrinsic value of a study lies in the diverse paths a researcher can take in order to explore the subject in depth. In her work: “Making Ends Meet, Income-generating Strategies Among Mexican Immigrants”, Socorro Torres Sarmiento not only invites us to reflect upon and analyze the migrant phenomenon, she then goes beyond the level of abstract, cold, and sometimes dense theory, to immerse us in the “small world”, the human world of feelings and daily challenges faced by immigrant Tzintzuntzeño families. Socorro transforms participant observation and interviews (among other qualitative ethnographic research techniques) into an art form. She applies solid investigative methodology, wherein she manages to combine complex theoretical concepts with purified procedural xi

xii Foreword techniques to guide us through the daily life and survival skills of Mexican immigrants. The following provide an invaluable research base from which to analyze the migrant phenomenon in both diachronic and synchronic analysis: The focus on Tzintzuntzeño families’ employment histories and the impact on their family structure—both in the community of origin and the receiving community in the Unites States. The study assesses the occupational structure of Tzintzuntzeño families from 1990 through 1997. The data on employment patterns of heads of families before and after “legalization” and changes that occurred to family structures after legalization, such as marital status. The data on occupations by gender and place of origin. I believe a fundamental contribution of this work is the dialectic vision of the migratory phenomenon and its basic contradictions in the sense that it demystifies the theory that the United States (as the recipient country) is the benefactor. The immigrant workers are in fact, a subsidy, available at minimal operational cost. The study also highlights the necessary re-evaluation of migrant labor in terms of developments within the framework of internationalization of labor. The book also proposes the vision of a future filled with hope, documenting the capacity of the subjects to create communities in the pursuit of solutions to their material and spiritual needs. The exploitation of their labor, racial discrimination, unfavorable living conditions, in addition to the lack of health, education, and housing services do not destroy their capacity to create support networks, to continue their cultural traditions, and to weave enduring threads within nuclear families, expanding and growing ever stronger while creating and devising strategies to assure their economic and domestic survival. Finally, the work clearly shows an investigative methodology which does not reduce the universal (macro or pure theory) to the individual (data or pure description), but instead, differs from other similar studies in linking methodological logic, two levels of analysis whose juxtaposition sustains and aids in their mutual comprehension. We should contemplate the fundamental analysis offered by the work. The establishment of new social orders and renewal of national cultures and the resulting restructuring of families compel us to observe the complexities of globalization (or the “new world order”) with sensitivity towards the inhabitants of “micro” worlds and of their perspectives, and the effect on their daily lives and their cultures.

Foreword xiii Fortunately for the reader, the sensitivity required of social analysts to illuminate reality by applying theory, as opposed to becoming entangled in theory, is a quality which prevails throughout her work. María de la Luz Torres Hernández In memory of Jose Luis, María de la Luz, and Margarita

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Prólogo

Prologar este trabajo tiene para mi gran significado. Representa la oportunidad de referirme, con cierta cautela y enorme respeto, a un proyecto que conozco por la cercanía que a lo largo de mi vida he tenido con la autora. Por tal motivo resulta necesario decir, de entrada, que las reflexiones expuestas las fundamento en el diálogo permanente, para mi afortunado y enormemente constructivo, que hemos sostenido la autora y yo en nuestras mutuas formaciones dentro de las ciencias sociales y la pedagogía. De acuerdo con Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez, en el texto: Filosofía y Circunstancias: “La obra es irreductible a la existencia de su creador, ya que en ella se hacen presentes la sociedad, la época, la clase, la tradición, elementos todos que trascienden al individuo; aunque este como individuo, como ‘hombre de carne y hueso’ se transparente en ella.” He creído siempre que el valor intrínseco de un trabajo está en los diversos caminos que propone para adentrarnos al tema. Socorro Torres Sarmiento con su trabajo: “Buscando el Gasto, generación de estrategias de ingresos de los inmigrantes Tzintzuntzeños,” no sólo nos invita a la reflexión y análisis del fenómeno migratorio, sino, y fundamentalmente, logra traspasar el nivel, algunas veces pesado, abstracto y frío de la teoría, para adentrarnos en el “mundo pequeño,” el mas humano, el de los sentimientos y las necesidades cotidianas de las familias de los inmigrantes Tzintzuntzeños. Haciendo un arte de la observación participante y la entrevista en profundidad, entre otras técnicas de investigación cualitativa etnográfica, Socorro, pudo aplicar con firmeza una metodología de investigación en cuyas principales cualidades resalta su capacidad para entrelazar conceptos complejos de la teoría con procedimientos técnicos muy depurados, para adentrarnos a la vida y comprensión de los fenómenos que están presentes hoy por hoy en las formas de vida y sobrevivencia cotidiana de la familia Mexicanas que migran hacia los Estados Unidos. xv

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Prólogo La exploración de la vida personal de los migrantes Tzintzuntzeños, con relación a los cambios significativos en sus actividades laborales y el impacto a sus estructuras familiares, tanto en su lugar de origen como en Tijuana, Baja California; el Condado de Orange y Los Angeles en California; Tacoma, Washington y en Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Los análisis sobre la estructura ocupacional de los Tzintzuntzeños estudiados a lo largo de su experiencia migratoria desde 1990 hasta 1997. Los datos sobre los cambios de la estructura familiar con relación al estatus legal; así como los referidos al estado civil, la distribución del empleo por origen y sexo, las ocupaciones de acuerdo a los lugares de residencia. Todo ello representa material invaluable para posteriores estudios y una base para realizar análisis del fenómeno migratorio que debe ser considerada seriamente en estudios diacrónicos y sincrónicos. En la visión dialéctica que propone el trabajo hay algo que me parece un aporte fundamental. Se refiere a la observación del fenómeno migratorio en sus contradicciones básicas. En este sentido se desmitifica el hecho de que el país que recibe migrantes, en este case Estados Unidos, sea considerado como el benefactor, pues se documenta el papel subsidiario de la fuerza de trabajo, constituida como tal sin costo para el país receptor y el costo mínimo de su explotación. Ello apuntaría, entre otras, a una necesaria reconsideración del valor del trabajo migrante en términos de los nuevos acuerdos en el marco de la internacionalización del trabajo. Asimismo la tesis aporta una visión del futuro esperanzadora; esta radica en señalar y documentar la capacidad de los sujetos para crear relaciones humanas solidaria, en la búsqueda por resolver sus necesidades materiales y espirituales. Aquí la superexplotación laboral de las personas que migran hacia los Estados Unidos, la discriminación racial, las condiciones de vida desfavorables, con carencias en servicios de salud, educación, vivienda, entre otras, no resultan suficientes para acabar con su capacidad de reconstruir redes de apoyo mutuo, recuperar sus tradiciones y entretejer hilos infranqueables con familias nucleares que se amplían y fortalecen; hasta crear e innovar estrategias para resolver la base material de su existencia: su economía domestica. Finalmente, el trabajo apunta claramente la metodología de investigación, cuya aportación principal reside en que no reduce lo universal (lo macro or mera teoría), a lo particular (el dato o la mera descripción), sino tiene la cualidad, difícil de encontrar en estudios

Prólogo xvii sobre el tema, de vincular con lógica metodológica, dos niveles de análisis cuya yuxtaposición alimenta su mutua comprensión. En este sentido, vale la pena detenerse en el análisis de fondo que el trabajo propone, resaltando la constitución de nuevos procesos sociales, en donde la renovación constante de las culturas nacionales con su consecuente reformulación de las estructuras familiares, llevan a la necesidad de observar la complejidad de los procesos de globalización, o el “nuevo orden mundial” con ojos críticos, analíticos y muy sensibles al micro mundo de los sujetos, sus sentires y sus propias lógicas vistas “desde abajo,” en los efectos de la vida cotidiana ya la cultura de los pueblos. Afortunadamente para los que leemos la obra, la sensibilidad que requiere todo analista social para no perderse en los vericuetos teóricos y, por lo contrario, usar la teoría valiosamente para alumbrar la realidad, es una cualidad “socorriesca” y se encuentra presente a lo largo del trabajo en cuestión. Para la antropología Mexicana es una fortuna que una mujer nativa de nuestro país se atreva, de forma seria, científica y documentada a tratar un tema todavía doloroso por las circunstancias que viven muchos connacionales en sus experiencias como migrantes, confiamos que trabajos como este permitan despejar caminos para que las condiciones cambien favorablemente. Ma. De la Luz Torres Hernández En recuerdo de José Luis, Ma. De la Luz y Margarita. Septiembre, 2000.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to express my gratitude to the people of Tzintzuntzan whose generosity of time, hospitality, and sharing their family histories over the years, made this work a reality. These experiences allowed me to be open to new questions and have a better understanding of the problems that migrants confront in obtaining their daily income. I also acknowledge Professor Robert Van Kemper, who initiated my involvement with the Tzintzuntzeño community in Santa Ana, and for the information he generously shared with me. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Leo Chavez and Karen Leonard for their invaluable comments, suggestions and support at various stages of the manuscript’s development. To my colleague and dear friend Kathleen Canul whose invaluable moral support contributed to the completion of the finished product. Thanks also to Manuel Garcia y Griego and Michael Kearney for reading the first drafts of this work and for their valuable comments. During the years that this work took to be completed, I received the support of family and friends. I want to acknowledge the love and solidarity of my parents, María de la Luz Hernández de Torres and Jose Luis Torres Martínez, and my sister, Margarita Torres Hernández, whose tireless work and commitment have always been an inspiration. To my husband, Salvador Sarmiento, for his daily support and encouragement. Over the years, he has listened to my ideas, read the manuscript countless times, and provided useful criticisms. He has been part of the process in all its frustrations and rewards. To my daughter, Carolina, and sons, Salvador Gregorio and Luis Alberto, all of whom have injected me with life all these years. They have reinforced my belief that our every day work is an important factor in the transformation of our society. Carolina and Salvador, both University students, have read, commented, and raised important questions in our discussion of the book. To Luis for his invaluable contibution in the formatting of the manuscript. A sincere recognition xix

xx Acknowledgments to Luz, my sister. She continues to be an example of courage and beauty. I also wish to thank the support of many friends, especially, Jeanette and Ramiro Rubio, Macrina Cardenas, Rafael Alarcón, Anna Garcia, Ester Hernández and my friends from the Centro Cultural de México, Laura Pantoja, Rosa Rivera Monroe and Blanca Novelo. I acknowledge U.S. MEXUS and the University of California at Irvine for supporting this study. I also thank Consejo Nacional Para la Cultura y las Artes for the financial support to video tape Tzintzuntzeños in Mexico, Southern California and Tacoma, Washington.

Introduction

By May of 1999, Operation Gatekeeper, initiated in 1995, had claimed the lives of 400 young men and women. Operation Gatekeeper, President `Clinton’s program to stop “illegal” immigration, has made crossing around San Diego almost impossible. The program has closed important crossing points for immigrants, which forces them to look for new routes. Not only are these new routes in extremely difficult geographic areas, they are very hot in the summer (above 110û F) and very cold (below freezing) in the winter. Migrant advocates question what Gatekeeper has accomplished: “It has not stopped illegal immigration and has not reduced it substantially. What it has done is leave a terrible toll of 400 deaths, and counting” (Claudia Smith; California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation). The U.S. General Accounting Office (1999) reports that despite the billions of dollars that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has invested in strategies like Gatekeeper the available data does not indicate that they have been effective in either preventing entries or deterring aliens who have been apprehended from attempting reentry. The number of apprehensions in San Diego and Imperial Counties show that the number of apprehensions has not changed significantly between fiscal years 1994-1998. During that time, the apprehensions fell by less than one percent, from 477, 806 to 474,487 1 (U.S. General Accounting Office, 1999). These tragedies force us to focus our attention on governmental policies aimed at controlling Mexican immigration to the U.S. These “new” policies are aimed at the same old strategies: control of the border, and regulations aimed at denying social services to “illegal” immigrants i.e., the 187 initiative and the 1996 welfare reform law. But these policies and tactics have left aside important factors in the analysis of Mexican immigration to the United States. Economic restructuring in the U.S. has activated changes in the labor market 1

2 Making Ends Meet that have increased the demand for immigrant labor. The position that the immigrant family has in the political economy and the individual migrant’s relationship with his or her family deserves further attention if we are to understand the multi-faceted aspects surrounding immigrant flows to the United States. This work aims to analyze how immigrants use migration as a survival and income-generating strategy. My interest in this problem came from my experiences while working and comparing the incomegenerating strategies employed by migrant families from the town of Tzintzuntzan, Michoacan, Mexico in 1991. For Tzintzuntzeño immigrants, as with all other undocumented migrants, the border crossing has been just another step toward their income generating strategies. This work began as a study of the ways in which the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, hereinafter referred to as IRCA, affected Tzintzuntzeño families residing in Santa Ana, California. By comparing the different types of employment held by immigrant families, in both sending and receiving communities, before and after the passage of IRCA, I was able to analyze the connections between family economic strategies and the constraints imposed by the political-economy on immigrant families. One of the conclusions of that study was that the 1986 immigration law saw undocumented migration as merely a problem of individuals, and neglected other social factors, such as Tzintzuntzeños’ family relationships and the position of the family in the international economy, particularly the U.S. labor market. These factors provided strategies for circumventing the 1986 immigration law’s goals of stopping illegal immigration. Drawing from these results, particularly the migrant’s strategies in obtaining his or her family income and the employment of these families at both sides of the border, I continue developing new research questions. First, this work began as a comparative study between Tzintzuntzeño families in Southern California and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, but it soon became a more complex problem. Tzintzuntzeño migrants in my original sample moved to new locations, particularly, Tacoma, Washington and more recently, for employment purposes, to Dutch Harbor, Alaska. These families used mobility as an income generating strategy. The analysis of these movements is important in the understanding of Tzintzuntzeño migratory processes, family structures and the relationships with their place of origin.

Introduction 3 This work aims to illustrate these processes. These socioeconomic experiences of Tzintzuntzeño families at both sides of the border reflect important social mechanisms by which the interdependence between receiving and sending communities is reproduced. By underlining the characteristics of Tzintzuntzeño employment (before and after their migratory experience) and using Tzintzuntzeño families as the unit of analysis, the role that women play in the income-generating strategies on both sides of the border becomes of utmost importance in the analysis. Tzintzuntzeño women’s work in crafts and as social agents of reproduction before their migratory experience and as salaried workers after they migrated to U.S., illustrate the active role women play and the ways they respond to the family’s economic conditions. In order to understand the dynamics surrounding these processes, the book has been divided into the following chapters. Chapter One presents a review of the theoretical framework that focuses on the analysis of international migrant labor and migration as a survival strategy. The literature review gives special attention to transnational migration as an alternative framework that highlights the role of the families as a unit of analysis. The connection between macro and microstructures and the emphasis given to the social aspect are all considered important factors in understanding Tzintzuntzeño processes of obtaining their family income. Chapter Two provides an overview of the objectives of the investigation and the methodological consideration. This chapter describes the research methodology used in the dissertation and the reasons behind these selections. Chapter Three provides a brief introduction to the Tzintzuntzan region. Historical antecedents are of utmost importance in the comprehension of contemporary Tzintzuntzeño identity. The chapter also reviews how political and economic developments on both sides of the border influence Tzintzuntzeños’ employment patterns and migratory experience. Using family labor histories, Chapter Four points out the first stage of the migratory experience for 30 Tzintzuntzeño families interviewed in 1991 (hereinafter referred to as the “original 30 families”). The chapter focuses on their participation in the labor markets in both Southern California and Tzintzuntzan, and the effects of work on family structure from the period before and immediately after the enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). This chapter underlines the important role women play in their

4 Making Ends Meet families’ economic strategies during this first stage of the Tzintzuntzeño migratory experience. Chapter Five explores economic restructuring and the migrant labor market in Los Angeles and Orange County where most of the original 30 families are residing. The chapter illustrates important regional economic changes and its consequences to the migrant labor market. Chapter Six examines the relationship between the characteristics of Tzintzuntzeño labor force and the conditions of the host regional labor market. Both are important factors in determining the forms in which Tzintzuntzeños are “integrated” in the area. The chapter illustrates Tzintzuntzeños’ working conditions, particularly in permanent and unstable work schedules that are decisive in the form in which Tzintzuntzeños organize their income generating strategies. The chapter examines important characteristics of Tzintzuntzeños’ employment at three sites: Southern California, Tacoma, Washington, and Tijuana, Baja California. Chapter Seven illustrates Tzintzuntzeño women’s economic participation at three sites: the Santa Ana/Los Angeles area, Tacoma, Washington, and Tijuana, Baja California. The chapter examines both women’s work as salaried workers and women as social agents of reproduction. Women’s non-salaried work is analyzed as an important form of subsidizing low wages, flexible and unstable working arrangements. Finally, the chapter discusses how migration policies reproduce these practices through a strong political apparatus. The Bracero Program, Proposition 187, and the Guest Worker program are good examples of these tendencies. Chapter Eight examines the economic strategies parents have to procure the family’s income. It further examines the effects of permanent and flexible employment on the organization of the family’s budget. The chapter discusses how the presence of binational families, the combination of wages from both formal and informal sectors of the economy in the same household and the constant transformation within the family’s internal division of labor, challenge static analysis of the family’s income generating strategies. Chapter Nine explores the effects of migration status and employment patterns on settled and transnational families. I examine how the Tzintzuntzeño case illustrates the flexibility and the dynamic processes of family organization and structure. Using case studies, the chapter analyzes family mobility as a response to new opportunities of employment. Labor histories of these families underline the effects that

Introduction 5 flexible and permanent employment have on the settlement or relocation of these families. This chapter concludes with new questions, particularly the consequence of new forms of Tzintzuntzeño male employment in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. This new employment experience presents Tzintzuntzeños with new forms to relate with their families and place of origin.

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CHAPTER 1

Theoretical Considerations in the Analysis of International Migrant Labor and the Impact on Family Structure

THEORETICAL POSITIONS ON THE MIGRANT LABOR PHENOMENON Theories of international migration have evolved in reaction to recent changes in the world economy. These world changes have impelled a new analysis of migration flows (Basch, Glick-.Schiller, BlancSzanton, 1994). Kearney describes the three main theoretical frameworks used by anthropological studies of migration: modernization, dependency school, and articulationist theories (Kearney, 1986) He suggests that each theoretical approach has its preferred units of analysis. The modernization model focuses on individual decisions. The dependency approach focuses on entire nations defined in terms of core-periphery relationships. And, finally, the articulationist perspective focuses on household and transnational communities (Kearney, 1986:345). Notwithstanding the contributions of these theoretical frameworks, research points out the difficulties that these theories face in integrating micro and macro approaches in explaining the migration process (Pessar, 1986; Portes and Bach, 1985; Kearney, 1986, 1995). The different movements experienced by migrants in obtaining their daily family income, require different levels of analysis that may not be fully captured by one approach. For example, the modernization approach’s exclusion of circular and return 7

8 Making Ends Meet migration is paralleled by the dependency theories’ omission of explaining social aspects of the migration process. While the articulationist approach has made useful contributions to studies concerning circular migration and the social aspects of the migration, the approach itself does not emphasize enough, for the purposes of this study, the importance of settled migrants and the consequences of the migration flow (Chavez, 1994; Alarcón, 1994; Hondagneu, 1994). In this study both the temporary and settlement processes are underlined. Both occur simultaneously. The following section examines the ways in which these theoretical frameworks have analyzed the migration process and its relationship with migrant social and kinship networks. This discussion raises questions about immigrant economic strategies and the means used to obtain family income.

Modernization Theories and Push-Pull Analysis: Sending and Receiving Communities. According to the modernization approach, studies of international migration are contemplated in a dichotomized way. Local systems are isolated from any participation in the global economy. The artificial separation between traditional societies and modern societies prevents us from seeing how local and global economies are interdependent (Portes, 1978; Portes and Bach, 1978; Grasmuck and Pessar, 1991). Bash, Glick Schiller and Szanton Blanc (1994) underline an important premise to better understand these processes. “Bounded social science concepts that conflate physical location, culture and identity can limit the ability of researchers first to perceive and then to analyze the phenomenon of transnationalism” (Bash, Glick Schiller and Szanton Blanc, 1994:22). The Push-pull theory is an example of this approach. It fails to take into account the interdependence of migration between sending and receiving communities. Pessar argues that “emigration and immigration are not independent processes such as ‘pushes’ and ‘pulls’…Rather, international migration is a historical relationship of economic interdependence between core and periphery societies” (Pessar, 1982:342; Wood, 1981; Goldring, 1992a). Studies of international migration emphasize the interdependence of sending and receiving communities in the formation of social networks (Kearney, 1995a, 1996; Rouse, 1992; Goldring, 1992a, 1992b; Smith, 1992). Massey’s research of four migrant Mexican communities, demonstrated that the establishment of "daughter communities" in the

Theoretical Considerations 9 United States is an important step in the development of migrant networks (Massey, 1987: 153-171). He observes: “The settlement of a few families transforms the migration process by directing the streams to work sites in particular U.S. towns and cities. Around these families a socioeconomic organization grew, drawing subsequent migrant in ever-increasing numbers to specific points of destination, a process…”which has been labeled as channelization. (Massey et al, 1987: 153). The Tzintzuntzeño case is a good example to observe how this “channelization” is established. The formation of kinship networks developed enclaves of Tzintzuntzeños in Mexico and the United States (Kemper, 1976, 1994). These relationships are based in a social infrastructure1 linking the daughter communities to the places of origin. This has resulted in its reproduction and therefore growing existence. Massey suggests “that more migrants move to a particular area because that is where the networks lead 2 and where the social structure affords them the greatest opportunity for success. As more migrants arrive, the range of social connections is further extended, making subsequent migration to that place even more likely”(Massey et al, 1987:153). These social connections are grounded by structural processes, which are important to reconsider. As Bash, Glick Schiller, and Szanton Blanc have noted “Technological explanations for the emergence of more transnational pattern of migration prove to be incomplete when divorced from an analysis of the social relations of production. Rather is the current moment of capitalism as a global model of production that has necessitated the maintenance of family ties and political allegiances among persons spread across the globe”(Bash, Glick Schiller, Szanton Blanc, 1994:24) According to my interviews, Tzintzuntzeños’ experiences with the labor market at both sides of the border are very important factor in the decision making process of migrant’s first experiences. The possibility of employment, the lack of it and the characterisitics of migrant labor market are important reasons behind the fluidity of these processes. Social networks give recent arrivals not only a security blanket to stay in the daughter communtity, but also the connections for employment and resources to move to other sites or to return, temporary or permanently to their place of origin. An example of this process is Grasmuck and Pessar’s work, “Between Two Islands.” It evokes a central feature of the experiences of Dominican emigrants and their families on both Manhattan Island and the Island of Hispaniola. These two islands are “bridged by a

10 Making Ends Meet binational market for labor and commodities, by social networks, and by transnational households” (Grasmuck and Pessar, 1991:16). The push-pull approach has difficulties capturing this process. Portes argues that this perspective does not take into account "return" migration. Neither does it consider common patterns in which individuals alternate between permanent, seasonal, internal and international migration (Portes, 1978:6; Portes and Bach, 1985). In the Tzintzuntzeño study, this is important since differences in patterns of migration are going to influence the kind of economic strategies used by immigrant families (Pessar, 1986; Lamphere, 1987, Mummert, 1992a, 1994). Massey’s discussion of strategies of migration explains how household resources can be combined in a variety of ways to solve the requirements of family subsistence: “The behavior of family members in meeting these needs can be conceptualized as a series of dynamic and flexible survival strategies that shift in complex ways as needs and economic conditions change” (Massey et al, 1987: 175). Describing the four international migration communities, the authors emphasize how “international migration has become a key component of household strategies used at particular points in time, in clear and deliberate ways” (1987: 175). In this study, Massey et al (1987: 175184) identify three types of international migration strategies: recurrent, settled, and temporary migration. In the recurrent type of migration, immigrants “travel back and forth between Mexico and the United States. Typically these migrants are married men who leave their families in Mexico”(1987:177). Massey et al, divide recurrent migration in two variants: seasonal migration and cyclical migration. On one hand, seasonal migration is a strategy corresponding to the natural cycles of agricultural work. At the time of the harvest many migrants are employed, but as the works ends migrants return “where living is less costly and they can live with their families” (Massey et al, 1987: 177; Mines, 1981; Mines and Anzaldua, 1982; Stephen, 1991; Mummert, 1988, 1991; Chavez, 1988, 1992). Cyclical migration, on the other hand, is more directed toward certain industries with “regular periods of unemployment. Work in these industries is also highly variable, and for a variety of reasons large segments of the work force are regularly furloughed, or hired only under short-term contract.” Massey et al give some examples: food processing, fisheries, construction, and many manufacturing industries that experience a decline in production and therefore a reduction in labor demands (Massey, 1987: 177-178; Morales, 1983; Portes and Rumbaut, 1992; Chavez, 1988, 1992). Massey defines settled migration “when a

Theoretical Considerations 11 migrant decides to live permanently in the United States. Migrants adopting this strategy are characterized by a relative integration into the economic, social and cultural life of the United States” (Massey, 1987:178; Chavez, 1992, 1996; Portes and Rumbaut, 1992; Alarcón, 1995; Hondagneu-Sotelo, 1994). Finally, in the temporary migration, migrants usually “make one to three trips at different points in their lives, with each trip lasting a year or less” (Massey et al 1978:175). Wayne Cornelius, in his work, also alludes to the relationship between migratory patterns and the strategies of immigrant families. He explains the manner in which some family members use temporary migration to the United States only when there is a severe economic necessity (caused by drought, crop failure or some other temporary condition, which severely reduces the family income). He defines "Target Migrants" as immigrants who seek to earn just enough to support their families until the next harvest, or to pay a debt. (Cornelius, 1976:24, 1992; Chavez, 1992). Portes and Rumbaut also make a distinction in the types of immigrants and their levels of adaptation in the United States. In analyzing immigrant socio-economic characteristics and reasons for emigrating from their place of origin, Portes and Rumbaut have observed that immigrant’s goals tend to be associated with different courses of adaptation once in the United States (Portes and Rumbaut, 1992:15). For immigrants, the most relevant context of reception are defined by the policies of the receiving government, the conditions of the host labor market, and the characteristics of their own ethnic communities. The combination of positive and negative features encountered at each of these levels determines the distinct mode of newcomers’ incorporation (Portes and Rumbaut, 1992:85). This “context of reception” has a great influence in the ways in which immigrant social networks are organized. Different types of migration affect family relations in various manners. Patterns of migration influence the forms in which immigrants are organized within their family unit and the forms in which immigrants organize their economic strategies. The dynamics of different patterns of international migration (i.e., circular migration) and the effects on the immigrant's economic

12 Making Ends Meet strategies are not contemplated by pull-push theories. As Portes points out, “in these theories migration occurs between two distinct and autonomous social units-- one expels labor and the other receives it. The possibility that such flows may actually be internal and part of a broader system to which both units belong is not usually contemplated” (Portes, 1985:6). Also, Castells' study of international migration observes that "marginality," which he notes is a situation of tension between two interrelated social structures, is a false perception of reality (Castells, 1980:48). One essential factor for Castells work is to “break with the ideological schema of a dualistic rural/urban, agricultural/industrial, traditional/modern society…this reality is quite simply the reflection of a single structure, in which the effects at one pole are produced by the particular and determined mode of its articulation with the other pole” (Castells, 1980: 47; 1977, 1983). Research has shown how the interdependence between sending and receiving countries is paralleled by the mutual reliance between the informal and formal sectors of the economy. Smith points out how “the informal sector is subordinate to, and exploited by, the formal sector in ways that may be somewhat analogous to international dependency relationships”(Smith, 1987: 279). Studies on economic restructuring demonstrate how the formal sector expands its boundaries and creates new linkages with the informal economy (Bonacich, 1993; FernandezKelly and Garcia 1989; Sassen-Koob, 1985; Fainstein, Gordon, and Harloe, 1992). Smith (1987) argues that the informal sector is closely integrated with the formal economy found in the core and peripheral capitalist societies. He, cites Portes’ view of the informal sector as playing a basic role in the entire world: The informal sector has implications that go beyond the peripheral countries. Direct subsidies to consumption provided by informal to formal sector within a particular peripheral country are also indirect subsidies to core-nation workers and, hence mean to maintain the rate of profits. Thus, through a series of mechanisms well hidden from public view, the apparently unregulated labor of shantytowns can be registered in the financial houses of New York and London (Portes, 1985:6162). The alliances of the global capital at both sides of the border, the high leves of unemployment, poverty and the role played by the state are factors found in the peripheral, semi-peripheral and also in core

Theoretical Considerations 13 regions. The interrelationship of these factors suggests a wider view of the problem of immigration. Fernandez Kelly and Garcia (1985) stress the idea that “informal economy is not a fixed entity, but rather a fluid process involving particular interactions between investors, workers and state agencies”(Fernandez-Kelly and Garcia, 1985: 65). Important similarities in the informal economy of both countries lead the study to examine how Tzintzuntzeño families in Southern California and Tijuana are affected by this "internationalization of the informal economy.” The participation of women in the informal sectors on each side of the border (Tijuana- Southern California), as we will examine, presents important similarities. Sassen (1988) acknowledged that the "re-creation of Third World labor conditions in large cities in the United States, particularly the availability of cheap and politically controlled labor are factors behind the "Peripheralization at the Core"3 (Sassen-Koob, 1985; Sassen, 1987, 1988).

Dependency Theories/Core and Periphery: What About the Socio-Cultural Factor? Studies of economic restructuring are important in understanding how multinational corporations, subsidiaries, suppliers and subcontractors connect core and peripheral regions. Dependency4 and world economy perspectives dealing with the changes in the economic system caused by global re-structuring and the consideration of migration as a historically determined process advance the study of international migration. But, this perspective does not emphasize enough that these processes are intrinsically social movements where the every day decisions of real, ordinary people are going to be decisive in the final outcome. As Walton suggests: "changes in the economy are socially and politically generated as well as mediated" and "political and social changes are in no sense independent of the economy" (Walton, 1981: 370). Castells emphasizes how important is to include the social aspect of the relationship. He also explains how local responses to global restructuring found in the informal economy, family structure, grassroot organizations and other informal practices of survival, are essencial in the integration of different levels of analysis and in the understanding of actual social problems (Castells, 1983:191). Eventhough world economy analysis of international migration is helpful in understanding the interdependency of these movements and

14 Making Ends Meet the global economy, its concentration on the macro level of analysis leads it to ignore the micro level (Grasmuck and Pessar, 1991; Kearney, 1986; Crummett, 1993; Menjivar, 2000). This lack of analysis of the "web of socio-cultural factors" --social networks among migrants-results in a partial view of immigration (Chavez 1990, 1991; Crummett, 1993; Kearney, 1986). In addition, Portes argues against looking at international labor migration as basically an outcome of individual decisions governed by the law of supply and demand. He describes the phenomenon as socially grounded: "Networks developed by the movement of people back and forth in space are at the core of the microstructure that sustains migration over time" (Portes, 1990:231; Portes and Bach, 1985). The importance of the socio-cultural aspect of immigration is also underlined by Massey et al, (1987). The authors argue that migration is a social process with a strong internal dynamic. For Massey et al, the most important events confronted by migrants and their families during the migrant process; “whether to begin migrating, whether to continue migrating, whether to settle in the United States, and whether to return to Mexico” are decisions taken within the family unit. (Massey et al, 1987:319). For Massey et al these events faced by the migrants and their families are at the center of the analysis of international migration. The view of incorporating the socio-cultural aspects has been supported by studies which underline the importance of considering the social organization of migrants in the analysis of international migration. (Kearney, 1996, 1986; Lomnitz, 1977; Chavez, 1990, 1991, 1992; Pessar, 1982, 1988; Dinerman, 1978, 1982; Portes and Bach, 1985, Goldring, 1991, 1992, Stephen, 1991; Mummert, 1994). Portes points to the importance of social factors in the analysis of international migration. He argues that instead of looking at social entities as inert factors dominated by economic forces, strategies from the base of the social organization should be studied as strong responses which are also capable of shaping structural changes (Portes, 1983). This work examines the mechanism by which social and kinship networks are formed and developed over time and how survival strategies form part of the mechanisms by which social and kinship networks are created. Schmink argues how despite the lack of access to services and to an adequate income, migration is used as a resourceful tool to provide the immigrants sustenance (Schmink, 1984:3; Mummert, 1994; De la Rocha, 1991). To Schmink, patterns of migration are mechanisms that permit the poor to draw on diverse economic sectors for their sustenance. She maintains that in contrast

Theoretical Considerations 15 with other approaches which conceived migrants “as passive, ‘victim’ participants, the concept of survival strategies, by acting and influencing the nature of economic outcomes, highlights the immigrant active, productive role in the final outcome” (Schmink (1984:4). Nevertheless, the author cautions against a mechanical structured analysis of these processes: “Attention to strictly economic elements of domestic units ignores ideological and subjective determinants of behavior, factors particularly important in understanding patterns of women’s behavior” (Schmink, 1984:12). Further, as we will see in the next section, attention to just the economic elements of these relationships is misleading, since the behavior of social actors, like the division of labor within the household, is determined not just by economic factors (Stephen, 1991; Margulis, 1986; De la Torre, 1993). The failure to include factors related to gender dynamics, age, generation and ethnicity within theoretical framework limits the scope of migrant income generating analysis.

Transnationalism—Settlement and Migration as a Social Process As discussed before, modernization approaches of immigration have focused the analysis on one or another side of the border. Dependency analysis focused on the interdependence of economic relations of both areas, but ignores the social aspect of the problem. Because both aspects, the interdependence of sending and receiving communities and the socio-cultural aspect, are important in the understanding of migrant income-generating strategies, this research turns to a concept which takes them into consideration: Transnational migration. Rouse's concept of "transnational migrant circuit,” (Rouse, 1992), Massey's concept of "daughter communities" (Massey et al, 1987) and Kearney’s concept of “migrant networks" (1986, 1991, 1995) among others, qualitatively change the analysis of the migration process in anthropology. Rouse's use of the "transnational migrant circuit” is an important tool in the analysis of binational social networks. This concept describes the connected and uninterrupted circulation of people, money, goods and information on both sides of the border. Rouse suggests that these arrangements are better understood as forming “a single community spread across a variety of sites” (Rouse, 1991: 9, 1992).

16

Making Ends Meet An important aspect of this transnationalist approach is that it highlights the social aspect of migrant networks. Smith points out how "transnationalism" gives particular attention to the evolution of social and kinship networks. He argues that “over time, these transnational social and kinship networks come to constitute a single field of social action with a culture and space distinct from that in the sending or receiving societies” (Smith, 1992:5). For Smith, contemporary migration between the U.S. and Mexico has created transnational communities whose social and political processes transcend national borders (Smith, 1992:2; Kearney, 1991, 1995). Research has shown how the permanent social infrastructure that immigrant social networks provide makes a strategy of permanent and/or recurrent migration possible. (Massey et al, 1987; Rouse, 1991; Kearney, 1986, 1995, 1996; Goldring, 1990, 1997; Smith 1992; Alarcón, 1988, 1995). As Massey et al suggest: “Given the extensive links between the parent and daughter communities and the dynamic nature of the networks, recurrent or settled migrants may spend considerable time abroad without breaking their ties to the home community” (Massey, 1987: 162). This immigrant informal organization is important in the allocation of immigrants in the constant and rapidly changing binational labor market. Massey states, "through the steady growth and elaboration of migrant networks, then, international migration comes to be seen as a reliable resource on which families can regularly rely on adapting to the changing economic circumstances" (Massey et al 1987:171; Lamphere, 1987).

ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING AND MEXICAN MIGRANT LABOR Research on economic restructuring5 emphasizes its close association with an increasing internationalization of both capital and labor (Bonacich, Cheng, Chinchilla, Hamilton, and Ong, 1994; Morales and Bonilla, 1993; Bash, Glick Schiller, and Szanton Blanc, 1994; Fernandez-Kelly, 1997; Fainstein, Gordon, and Harloe, 1992; Frobel, Heinrichs and Kreye,1980; Sassen, 1988, 1991). Sassen (1988) underlines the relationship between movement of capital and migrant labor. She points out how the availability of a supply of migrant labor, without the basic rights of citizenship is an important factor contributing to changes in the labor market (Sassen 1988, 1991). Two major factors contribute to the growth of new low wage labor intensive facilities in core cities: a) migrant labor in flexible production strategies

Theoretical Considerations 17 (Sarmiento, 1996) and b) subcontracting by formal sectors to informal sector to avoid state regulation of the labor process (Fernandez-Kelly and Garcia, 1989; Sassen 1991). The following sections illustrate important features of both processes and the interrelation between low wage migrant labor, flexible production and state policies.

Flexible Production and Migrant Labor Market Studies on the relationship of economic restructuring and labor markets have underlined the issue of flexible production. This research refers to flexibility as a strategy of industries to accommodate production according to the demands of the fluctuating international market (Scott, 1988; Malecki, 1991) Scott notes how the counterpart of rising flexibility in the organization of production is rising flexibility in labor markets (Scott, 1988:177). According to Morales and Bonilla (1993) “labor market flexibility refers to the breakdown of rigidities in an economy that hinder adjustments in wages, hours, and work relations.” The authors refer to the observation of Guy Standing of the International Labor Organisation that flexibility is “little more than a euphemism for labor insecurity” (Morales and Bonilla, 1993:22). Morales and Bonilla refer to the nature of these jobs. “Much of the increse in part-time workers employment since 1979 has been involuntary…Part-time employment was particularly noticeable in social welfare services, personal and recreation services, and retail trade, where, nearly one third of employment was part time, and in eating and drinking places and hotels where the proportion was 40% (Applebaum and Schettkat, 1989)” (Morales and Bonilla, 1993:5) Flexible production strategies have been broadly used in skilled whitecollar jobs whose favorable characteristics differ from flexible production tactics used with unskilled low wage migrant labor, whose characteristics are unfavorable. This section will concentrate on the second group. Appelbaum and Gereffi discuss how this “flexibilization” provides the manufacturer with a competitive margin because the presence of numerous suppliers and producers concentrated in geographically interdependent networks of small firms, factories, and specialized local labor markets. The authors note how this spatial concentration, also strength and intensify the flow of information through family connections and personal relationships (Appelbaum and Gereffi, 1994:45). This

18 Making Ends Meet “community-based labor” no longer enjoys the protection from working in a formal sector industry, since workers and contractors “are retained only insofar as they are immediately necessary for production” (Appelbaum, Bonacich, Smith, 1993: 7; Scott, 1987, 1988 ). As Scott points out: …where flexible production arrangements are in place, they are frequently accompanied by much fluidity of local labor markets, as manifest, for example, in elevated rates of turnover, extensive part time and temporary work, and high proportions of politically marginal workers such as immigrants, women and adolescents in the labor force…In other words, employers attempt to tune their payroll numbers as sensitive as possible to the ups and downs of production, while cultivating fractions of the labor force whose potential for political resistance to this process is likely to be low (Scott, 1988:177). Industries using the combination of flexible forms of production and low-wage immigrant labor are found among the most successful enterprises. A good example is the garment industry in Los Angeles (Appelbaum and Gereffi, 1994; Chin, Sarmiento and Smith, 1997). Wolff indicated that the garment industry experienced the most rapid growth of any sector during the 1980s. Also, the industry exemplifies the combination of flexible forms of production and low-wage immigrant labor as Wolff points out: The apparel industry serves as the exemplar of the relationship between low wage non-durable manufacturing and the expanding Latino immigrant labor force. With nearly 100,000 employers in 1991, it is the largest of the nondurable employers in Los Angeles, relying overwhelmingly on immigrant Latino worker: of a total of 66,500 sewing machine operators, according to the Census EEO File, 84% were Latino (and two-third were female). Thirteen percent were Asian. Officially reported wages were an average of $6.90 an hour in December 1991, but these were inflated wages because they do not take into account the estimated 25, 000 or so in the informal sector of sweatshop and home work employment who are earning sub minimum wages (Wolff, 1992:12).

Theoretical Considerations 19 Workers employed in industries using these strategies are not just forced to survive on low wages, but are also required to accept work schedules which vary over seasons, requiring them to work long hours when there is demand and to be "laid off " when the demand ends (Scott, 1988; Sarmiento, 1996). The flexibility of this strategy requires a particular form of labor force. An argument in this work is that undocumented, and very often, documented, workers became ideal materials for these new strategies. Sassen points out: …immigrant labor is not just any labor. It is a component in the labor supply with a distinct role in the labor process characterized by: (1) the institutional differentiation of the processes of labor-force reproduction and maintenance; and (2) a particular form of powerlessness, associated with formal or attributed foreign status, that meets the requirements of types of work organization based on direct, rather than structural control over the workforce (Sassen, 1988:37). The increased presence of this labor force has been a strong influence in the restructuring of these industries. Bonacich’s research has shown how in Los Angeles, the structural factors and the presence of this labor force lead to the emergence of small entrepreneurs, who are dependent on this labor. These employers, who are conditioned by intense competition and need to adjust to quick changes in the market demand, obtain the benefit of cheap labor without increasing the costs of production related to full-time wages and expences related to worker’s benefits. Bonacich points out, “The contracting system obviously has tremendous advantages for manufacturers. They do not need to maintain a stable workforce, and can pass on to the contractors the problem of recruiting and laying off workers in response to seasonal fluctuations and style changes. The contracting system increases their flexibility” (Bonacich, 1992: 171-172). The idea of an “unfavorable flexible labor market" is extensively used in this study. This term emphasizes the ability of industries and other enterprises (construction, agriculture) "to adjust activities to uncertainty and to rapid changing conditions brought about competition" (Malecki 1991:202). This flexibility becomes valuable in industries where rapid change in styles or models necessitate tight coordination between design, production, and marketing, as is the case with the garment industry (Chin, Sarmiento, Smith, 1997: 6). This study amplifies the scope of flexibility

20 Making Ends Meet to other labor markets. This work suggests that strategies of combining “immigrants” and flexible working arrangements are also characterizing other sectors. Agricultural seasonal labor and its irregular use of immigrants, “discharging” them when the production ends is also another form of “flexibility.” Similarly, nursery employment--characterized by a highly flexible and unstable labor market--and subcontracting in the construction industry are good examples of this strategy. Contractor construction, using immigrant, non-unionized labor in a flexible way offers the possibility of lowering the costs of production. According to Gordon and Sassen: The opportunities of firms to escape control are greatest where establishment are small, labor intensive, and/or mobile, and when the labor force is transitory and/or part-time but drawn from a relatively closed community of groups marginal from the mainstream labor market. It is principally this last factor, rather than cultural traits or specific skills, which links the informal sector to immigrant communities and indigenous minorities (Gordon and Sassen, 1992:125). All these strategies reduce costs of production, through a reduction of the wages. But also, and here its maximal strength, it allows employers a major and direct control of their labor force to control risks. As Sassen explains: “Immigrants, especially in the United States, are often employed in firms where the system of control rests not on techniques of production and elaborate organizational arrangements, but on the powerlessness of the workers. Control is not structural but immediate and personal…the powerlessness of immigrants is particularly significant” (Sassen 1988:42). Employer’s command of migrant labor force is an important factor in highly competitive industries, and as we will observe in the next section , state policies play an important role in the reproduction of these practices.

State Policies and the Informal Economy As pointed out by Gordon and Sassen, “The extreme case of this pressure toward “flexibility’ in employment relations is the growth of the so-called ‘informal sector’” (Gordon and Sassen, 1992:124) The

Theoretical Considerations 21 authors underline the informal economy’s main characteristic by stating: This (informal sector) has been defined in various ways, for different purposes. In labor market terms the salient aspect of informality’ is employers’ avoidance of state-regulated employment conditions, in regard to health and safety, minimal wages, and work permits, etc (Gordon and Sassen, 1992:124). Fernandez and Garcia’s research reveals how the avoidance of state-regulated working conditions in the informal economy are possible: “…by ambiguous legislation, exemptions to labor code, conflicting interpretations of the law by state and federal agencies and a differential ability to enforce labor and wage legislation. These statevariables are decisive in creating a climate suitable for the expansion of the informal sector” (Fernandez-Kelly and Garcia, 1989:228). Also, a number of authors highlight the degree to which migration, in general, must be understood in the context of government policies (Portes and Rumbaut 1985, Chavez, 1994,1996, 1997; Cornelius, 1991). Sassen is particularly clear on the link between core government migration policies and business: Border enforcement is a mechanism facilitating the extraction of cheap labor by assigning criminal status to a segment of the working class--illegal immigrants. Yet selective enforcement of policies can circumvent general policies and protect the interests of economic sectors relying on immigrant labor (Sassen, 1988: 36-37). Changes on immigration status affect the relationship of these families with the labor market (Sassen, 1988, 1991; Portes, 1983; Chavez, 1991, 1994; Alarcón, 1995, Cornelius, 1991). Chavez points out: "being 'undocumented' is a political status which carries certain liabilities and constraints important for understanding patterns of migration, economic activity and settlement" (Chavez, 1991:3). As we will observe, these political constraints affect the ways in which immigrants organize their income generating economic strategies. The participation in informal and/or formal sector of the economy, the decision to migrate and location chosen are influenced to a great extent

22 Making Ends Meet by immigration status and therefore their insertion on specific labor market.

MIGRATION AS A SURVIVAL STRATEGY Households Studies, Productive and Reproductive Aspects of Women’s Labor and Migration In this era when paid employment seems so important, we often forget that housework and childcare are ‘work’ and that they are vitally important for survival and reproduction of families as well as society"(Lamphere, 1987:xiii) Anthropological research has emphasized the importance of introducing household analysis in international migration studies (Schmink, 1984; Chavez, 1989; Kearney, 1986; Pessar, 1982; Grasmuck and Pessar, 1991; Fernandez-Kelly 1983; Lamphere, 1987; Stephen, 1991, Mummert, 1992a 1992b 1994). As observed by Schmink, household studies “bridge the analytical gap between “microeconomic theories from historical-structural analysis of macroeconomic approaches” (Schmink, 1984:2) She emphasizes how household studies “introduce the role of women as intermediaries between the individual and the structural levels of the political economy”(Schmink, 1984:87). In the same perspective, Lamphere in the discussion about her analytic framework, integrated these concerns: "Each woman's strategies grew out of a different relationship to the local economy and to her family, but each illustrates the active way in which women have coped with their families' needs both in the work place and in the home" (Lamphere, 1987:xv). An important aspect of Lamphere’s work is to observe the changing political economy of concrete historical moments and the forms in which families, particularly women are affected. Lamphere uses a framework which incorporates both the productive and reproductive aspects of women’s labor.6 “The major link between the workplace and the family is that the family is where labor is reproduced workers are fed and clothed, and young children are socialize to become the next generation of workers" (Lamphere, 1987:18). One of the most significant contributions on this interrelationship between production and reproduction is Claude Meillassoux’s book, Maidens, Meal and Money (1981). Kearney (1986:343-344) underlines

Theoretical Considerations 23 his main arguments. Meillassoux argues that capitalism does not destroy the pre-capitalist modes of production it encounters in the developing world, but instead, it maintains them in articulation with the capitalist mode of production. He acknowledges the pre-capitalist mode of production is beneficial to capital because they provide capitalism with cheap labor. This is possible for two reasons; first, because the food produced in the pre-capitalist sector covers part of the subsistence costs of the worker's household. Secondly, because the pre-capitalist sector pays the cost of reproduction of the labor force, which includes raising children, caring for the sick and the elderly. Both these 'benefits' allow capitalists to pay workers lower wages, because their wages do not have to cover all the costs of household subsistence, nor the costs of reproduction of labor (Kearney, 199I, 1995, 1996). Even though there have been important criticisms to his work,7 Meillassoux’s contribution to the analysis of the relationship between migration and the domestic unit in the places of origin, cannot be denied. Meillassoux’s analysis of the profits from immigration in France shows that large profits are made by international capitalism through movements of population. Meillassoux stated: "As we have seen, sending him (immigrant) back to the domestic community from time to time saves capitalism part of the cost of maintenance, reproduction and retirement that is paid to permanent workers” (Meillassoux, 1982:125-126). Research has shown how contemporary economic restructuring reproduce the migrant labor relationship within binational labor markets. For example, Sassen argues how the immigrant “process of reproduction takes place in the country of origin and that of maintenance, at least partly, in the receiving country. Together they allow the receiving country to externalize renewal costs” (Sassen, 1988: 37).8 Tzintzuntzeño families (including transnational families) have workers with different work experiences: salaried employees in formal sectors, self-employed workers in the service sector, and unpaid family workers in the informal economy. An example of this combination is Timberlake's assumption that “domestic work and piecework is not marginal, but linked to a system of modern capitalist production where the unpaid family workers subsidize the reproduction of industrial workers” (Feagin and Smith, 1987:30-31). We will observe in the Tzintzuntzeño case that families are very often structured across borderlines. As in the case of circular migrant workers, studied by Burawoy (1976), the family in sending

24 Making Ends Meet communities very often subsidize the reproduction of members laboring in low-wages and temporary labor conditions found in the receiving community. As Kearney notes: “Although some dependency theorists have done excellent work on the effects of migration on sending households and communities, their concentration on unequal exchange and on migrants dependency on wage income limits the analysis of the complex economics of households and communities and the ways in which they reproduce themselves by participating in two spheres of production” (Kearner, 1986 :342). The analysis of the role that women play in the labor market including the informal sector, in Mexico and the United States, assists us in identifying important aspects of these processes. Household studies including the productive and reproductive aspects of women’s labor, are important in understanding the role women play on migration processes, particularly when migration is used as a survival strategy. (Fernandez-Kelly, 1983).

Discussion on the Strategy Approach Studies that emphasize "the strategy approach" normally assume a level of "solidarity" within family members (Pessar, 1982; Lamphere, 1987; Margulis, 1986; Mummert, 1992, 1994). Fernandez-Kelly argues the pooling of resources as an important family strategy: Among most working class peoples, such costs cannot be paid by the wage of only one provider. Therefore choices must be made about the number of household members that need to work outside of the home to enable family subsistence. The pooling of resources maximizes the chances for survival of both individuals and households. In these circumstances, personal autonomy is subsumed under the constraints by family needs (FernandezKelly, 1983:13). Fernandez- Kelly underlines Tilly’s contribution to the family strategy analysis. “Her contribution is equally significant for historians, economists, sociologists and anthropologists as it places emphasis upon the concept of family strategies, which affects not only the immediate survival of kin groups, but the participation of their members in wage employment." (Fernandez-Kelly, 1983:11) Fernandez-Kelly cites Tilly (1978) in pointing out that the analysis of family strategy "… moves away from, on the one hand, any implicit

Theoretical Considerations 25 acceptance of the powerlessness of people caught in a process of large scale structural change, or, on the other hand, the attempt to see into people’s minds to study mentality or attitude, which is often tautological" (Tilly, 1978:3). Critics of the “strategy approach” point out how this model makes “utilitarian, maximizing assumptions about human behavior and often claims ‘psychological reality’ for strategies” (Lamphere, 1987:29; Hondagneu-Sotelo, 1994) These criticisms have challenged the strategy model leading to a re-evaluation of earlier studies.9 Hondagneu-Sotelo (1994), shows how recent research exhibits a more conditional, tempered usage of the household model (Grasmuck and Pessar, 1991; Menjivar, 2000). Lamphere responding to the problems with the strategy approach indicates: Although I accept the assumptions of rationality and goaloriented, maximizing behavior, I carefully place strategies within an analysis of local economy that often constrains choices. I do not assume that those choices are wholly ‘free.’ To deny the strategy approach and its assumptions, I argue, is to ‘buy into’ the stereotype of passive working-class women that was prevalent in the social science literature of the 1950s…my analysis thus focuses not on the psychological reality of women's and families’ strategies but on the relationships between patterned activities and social and economic constraints. (Lamphere, 1987: 29-30). Lamphere's framework for the analysis of productive and reproductive labor emphasizes women as "active strategists weighing possibilities and devising means to realize goals” (Lamphere, 1987:29). Drawing from Jane Collier (1974), asserts that family could be defined as a “‘political arena’ in which woman, as well as men, actively strive to attain goals, often manipulating their relationships to other family members to achieve these ends" (Lamphere, 1987:29). Lamphere refers to the case of Polish women who are said not to have worked outside the home (Lopata 1976:90). Also, the case in which Italian family values are said to account for woman's participation in foodprocessing and canning factories near Buffalo where they were chaperoned by male relatives (Yans-McLaughin, 1979). Lamphere argues how these studies rarely attempt to examine variations within a local ethnic population or examine the impact of the local economy on

26 Making Ends Meet women's behavior. Lamphere discusses how Polish women may not have worked in mining communities, not because of Polish family values, but because these economies used male labor to a much greater extent than female labor. Similarly, for Italian women in Buffalo, where male industrial job prevailed, women's work opportunities may have been as restricted by the local labor market as by family values. She points out how in New York with a contracting labor-market situation, Italian women were employed unchaperoned in the garment industry, in small ships, and industrial homework (Lamphere, 1987: 31). As in Lamphere’s examples, the case of Tzintzuntzeño women demonstrates the dynamics of women’s labor. Women’s labor is restructured across national boundaries in tune with changes in both their husbands and their own labor market participation. According to my interviews, when husband’s employment in the United States was affected by their conditions of their immigration status, Tzintzuntzeño women remained in Tzintzuntzan, complementing the family income with husbands’ remittances and their craft jobs. As soon as men changed to a more permanent employment, very often due to changes in their immigration status, women found new opportunities to reunite the family and found employment within the service sector of the “daughter community.”

U.S. POLICIES AND THE IMPACT ON MEXICAN IMMIGRANT FAMILY STRUCTURE. California’s former Governor, Pete Wilson’s, "lashing out" at immigrants found few responses from academic forums (Chavez, 1996a; Chin, Sarmiento and Smith, 1997). Wilson blamed immigrants for the state's budget deficit, but failed to appreciate the political and economic forces that give rise to immigration. These policies pointed to undocumented immigrants, particularly women, as responsible for California’s economic problems (Chavez, 1996a:7). The Clinton administration favorite strategy was the enforcing control of the U.S. Mexico border. The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), changing the hiring behaviors of employers through fines and criminal penalties, is no longer the preferred approach to stop undocumented immigration. Wayne Cornelius (1994) explains that only 38 million (7%) of the more than half-billion dollars allocated for Clinton ($540.5

Theoretical Considerations 27 million) border plan to tighten border control was earmarked for tougher enforcement of employer sanctions. Cornelius argues that the only policy that could have a significant impact on illegal immigration “is getting really tough with employers.” He states how seriously targeting employers could be highly disruptive to sectors of the economy that is heavily dependent on immigrant labor. He concludes that it is much less costly, politically and economically, to go after migrant workers and their dependents as illegal entrants or users of social services (Cornelius, 1994). Chavez illustrates how California’s Proposition 187 is a good example of this xenophobia (Chavez, 1996a). Chavez points out, that one of the first actions former Governor Wilson took after passage of proposition 187, was to cut off prenatal care to undocumented women (Chavez, 1996a), by targeting health care and education, the initiative was directed entirely at undocumented workers reproduction process. But, Chavez argues the proposition does not target the production apparatus, employers’ interests are not affected. The implicit message is that “we are going after the reproduction of the undocumented labor force, not the laborer and the employer" (Chavez, 1996a: 48). Another example of the State’s role in controlling productivereproductive processes is the strong promotion by Governor Wilson of a New Bracero or Guest-Worker Program (Chavez, 1996a). The assumption here is that workers are not allowed to bring their families, leaving the costs of the reproduction of their families to the countries of origin (health care, education and pension). As Chavez states: "… a guest-worker program institutionalizes the perfect costbenefit ratio for immigrant labor: bringing foreign workers produced with no costs and who are not allowed to bring their families, thus not incurring reproductive costs (health care, education) here. In essence, production without reproduction, workers without families, sojourners not settlers (Chavez, 1996a). Chavez points out the difficulty of implementing anti-immigrant laws such as the ones mentioned above. One of the problems is that these laws do not look at the dynamic processes in the migratory experience. Immigrant families’ present heterogeneous family structures, consisting of members with various immigration statues.

28 Making Ends Meet Transnational and Binational families are just examples of the complexity of these processes (Chavez, 1988, 1992, 1994).

Transnational—Settled Families and Labor Market Participation An important goal of this work is to better understand and underline the interdependence of socio-cultural aspects with the political economy issues of migration. Feagin and Smith point to this interconnection. They argue that economic restructuring is associated with “community and household restructuring, and with geographical (spatial) transformation.” Economic changes such as plant closures and openings can force households to “restructure”. As Feagin and Smith explain: “Household and community restructuring are not mere byproducts of economic and state restructuing; the everyday activities of people living in households and communities -informalization, immigration, formation of networks, and political action- are constitutive elements in the process of urban transformation; they shape as well as reflect the global flows of labor and capital and the character of state policies” (Feagin and Smith, 1987:5). This study refers to household restructuring as the changes in the household internal socioeconomic structure and/or geographical relocation. A good example of these processes is found in the cases of transnational and binational families. Chavez (1992) defines transnational families as "families with one or more members in the United States and one or more members ‘back home’ in another country” (Chavez, 1992:119) and binational families as "a family that consists of both undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens or legal residents" (Chavez, 1992:129). Feagin and Smith (1987) argue how families are temporary or permanently restructured across national boundaries or regions in line with the changes of opportunities that the labor market offers them (Feagin and Smith, 1987:23; Mingione, 1985; Lamphere, 1982; Grasmuck and Pessar, 1991). As discussed in the former section, recent changes in economic restructuring produce important changes in the organization of labor market. New modalities of flexible production create a flexible migrant labor market. This flexibility makes it more difficult for immigrants to live permanently in one place. Research has underlined two lines of study: one that points to immigrants from Mexico becoming more permanent as a result of contemporary economic restructuring (Cornelius, 1992; Chavez, 1991,

Theoretical Considerations 29 1992; Alarcón, 1995, 1996); another that states Mexican workers have demonstrated a tendency to migrate on a temporary basis and naturalize at very low rates (Alarcón, 1994, Smith, 1992, Kearney, 1995, 1996; Goldring, 1990, 1992b, 1997). Alarcón, (1994); Chavez, (1995); Hondagneu-Sotelo, (1994). Cornelius, (1988) argues that one of the most important factors which influence settlement is the immigrants’ experiences with the labor market in the United States. Chavez’ findings identify income and steady employment as the most important factors influencing settlement (Chavez, 1991, 1992, 1994). Also, Alarcón acknowledges the number of years living in the United States, and changes in the United States economy, have an effect in settlement decisions. Cornelius (1992) notes how changes in the U.S. economy are reasons for immigrants’ settlement in the U.S. He (1992:157) argues how immigration from Mexico since the 1980’s has become more permanent because of the following factors: 1) changes in the United States economy that have affected the nature and magnitude of the demand for Mexican immigrant labor, 2) the longrunning economic crisis in Mexico, 3) the 1986 U.S. Immigration Reform and Control, act (IRCA), and, 4) the maturation of transnational migrant networks (Cornelius, 1991:157). These studies address or emphasize the relationship between immigrants and the labor market in the United States. The assumptions that changes in the United States economy have increased settlement can be misleading in obscuring the fluidity of labor markets, especially in cities such as Los Angeles which is characterized by high rates of long turnover and spatial mobility (Morales and Bonilla, 1993: 1-27; Wolff, 1992). Analyzing the labor market as a monolithic, static phenomenon keeps one from observing the different effects it may have on immigrant families. Immigrants’ relationships with the labor market at varying sectors and locations present migrants with a variety of income generating experiences. Other factors influencing these decisions are socio-cultural issues. Reconsideration of social cultural factors is important in the understanding of settlement processes. Chavez also underlines other factors that influence Mexican immigrants to settle in the U.S.: forming a family, giving birth to children in the United states, raising children who attended U.S. schools and have acquired local culture (Chavez, 1994). Approaches in transnational communities fail to seriously take into consideration these factors, as Chavez states "by overemphasizing migrant's linkages to their home community, we run the risk of

30 Making Ends Meet underemphasizing the changes they undergo and the linkages, both perceived and material, that they develop to their communities" (Chavez, 1994:55). Chavez asserts that undocumented workers can have multiple senses of community membership. By developing social linkages, cultural sentiments and economic ties, many of them imagine themselves part of their communities in the U.S. "In particular, I argue that undocumented Mexican and Central Americans can, and often do consider themselves to be part of their communities in the United States" (Chavez, 1994:56). Chavez argues that immigrants can have multiple identities; they can imagine themselves to be part of their communities "back home," and they can also imagine places for themselves in their "new," or host, communities. A sense of belonging to the local community is a powerful influence on settlement. Chavez points out how settlement by undocumented immigrants occurs because migrants develop a sense of belonging to multiple communities and multiple identities, some connecting him or her to a community "back home" and some created by his or her presence in a "host community" (Chavez, 1994). The increasing globalization of capital has fundamentally changed our identities, politics and urban spaces. New immigration research points out the flexibilized world of “post-Fordist” production and the need to use a political economy analysis to explain the socio-cultural experiences of these new spaces (Valle and Torres, 2000). Sassen analyzes the advantages that immigrant communities offer, “given the intensity of their networks and the channeling of newly arrived and long-resident immigrants into immigrant-dominated labor markets” (Valle and Torres, 2000: X1I). The issue of immigrant employment and the forms in which it shapes immigrants’ family income generating strategies lead us to a closer examination of the interrelation between the microstructure and macrostructures of labor migration.

CHAPTER 2

Research Methodology

The purpose of this chapter is to present the methods and procedures of the study. Since one of the main objectives of this work is to analyze the inherent dynamics on Tzintzuntzeño income generating strategies, the selection of the research methodology was of utmost importance. This task was approached by drawing on several theoretical questions and at the same time considering the constantly changing Tzintzuntzeño families’ migration experiences. For presentation purposes, the chapter has been divided into 3 sections: 1) description of the objectives and methodological considerations, 2) research sites and field work, and 3) description of the unit of analysis and research instrument.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVESTIGATION AND METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS Originally, the research objective was to examine and compare the income-generating strategies employed by Tzintzuntzeño families who were residing in Southern California and Tijuana, Baja California. As the research evolved, these families’ migratory experiences led them to new locations, different ways of participating in the labor market and new political and social forms of participation. These ongoing experiences meant that research questions, such as those concerning life in the United States, had to continue evolving. Data from California and Tijuana had to be complemented with questions concerning other locations: Do their migration movements to Washington and Alaska affect the forms in which these migrants interact with their families? How does immigration status and changes in labor market participation on both sides of the border influence 31

32 Making Ends Meet family dynamics and structure? An important objective of this study is to examine the dynamics of these processes. In order to answer these research questions, it was necessary to "follow" the economic activities of these families and observe how changes in labor market participation influences the relationships within the family and their selection of new work/migratory sites. Sites of importance are: Tzintzuntzan, Michoacan, Tijuana, Baja California, Southern California, and "incredible new places” where these families have migrated to find new employment opportunities such as Washington State and Dutch Harbor, in the Aleutian Islands 800 miles off the coast of Alaska. Central to this research is the role women play in the material and social reproduction of migrant labor and labor market. The latter includes occupations in Tzintzuntzan, Tijuana, Southern California and Washington. Women's participation in both the productive and productive spheres of the production are of the utmost importance in understanding migrant income-generating strategies (Mummert, 1992, 1994; Stephen, 1991). Important questions here include: Are the Tzintzuntzeño families in Southern California, Tijuana and Washington reproducing the "internationalization of the informal economy"? Do their income-generating strategies differ on each side of the border? Is the participation of women in the formal and informal sectors on each side of the border different? This study is also concerned with the strategies Tzintzuntzeño families have in order to provide for their own sustenance; how the family re-organizes their family structure to optimize their financial income. Important research questions related to immigrant family structure are: How do husbands’ and wives’ jobs outside the home affect the division of labor within the family? How do they affect income-generating strategies? What kinds of strategies do men and women develop to achieve their goals? Finally, the study examines how changes in labor market participation, citizenship and immigration status of these families influence the relationships between migrants, their place of origin, and "daughter communities." How do Tzintzuntzeño economic strategies in Santa Ana and Los Angeles link people from Tzintzuntzan, Mexico, with their families and paisanos in Tijuana and/or other places in Mexico and the United States? Among the most important questions related to transnational social and family social networks are: How are international migration strategies conducive to the development and maintenance of transnational social and family networks and under what conditions do they breakdown? Does the legalization of

Research Methodologies 33 immigration status and long residency in the United States favor the establishment of reunited families? Do target migrants and seasonal migrants, especially undocumented workers, go back to Mexico during unemployment periods in the United States? Do income-generating strategies lead migrants to alternate between Southern California and Tijuana? How does the participation of women in the migratory process affect family residential patterns? In order to answer these research questions, methodological problems had to be resolved. Among the most important were establishing the connections between the individual and the structural levels of analysis and having the flexibility to "record" the dynamics of Tzintzuntzeño migratory experiences. Changes from transnational families to reunited and binational families, participation in multiple labor markets, and immigration/citizenship status are processes always in constant transformation. The research methodology for this work proved to be crucial in understanding the dynamics of these processes.

ANTECEDENTS OF THE INVESTIGATION, RESEARCH SITES AND FIELD WORK This study partially builds on the long ethnographic experience with Tzintzuntzeño migration undertaken by George Foster and Robert Van Kemper. This long historical record of the Tzintzuntzeño population started with the work of George Foster in 1944, whose findings are described in Empire's Children; the People of Tzintzuntzan, published in 1948. Foster returned to Tzintzuntzan in 1958 and continued his studies of the village, producing the classic book, Tzintzuntzan: Mexican Peasants in a Changing World. Foster’s work has been followed by that of Robert Kemper. Kemper started working in Tzintzuntzan in 1967 and has continued to the present. This long historical record has produced an important ethnographic census of the Tzintzuntzeño population in Mexico and the United States. In early 1990, I started working with Kemper in the collection of census material in Santa Ana, California, where I reside. Robert Van Kemper's research on Tzintzuntzan migration to the United States included a number of names and addresses of Tzintzunteños in Los Angeles and Orange County. This allowed me to track a very well grounded social network of Tzintzuntzeños in Santa Ana, Los Angeles, and Tijuana, Baja California. The contacts helped me overcome a

34 Making Ends Meet major obstacle when working with undocumented migrants. They are hard to find and difficult to select randomly (Chavez, 1988). The contacts that Kemper provided allowed me to tap into a network of Tzintzuntzeño migrants from which I began a snowball sampling.1 In 1991, I conducted interviews with Tzintzuntzeño families in Southern California2 to examine family structure and the effects of the 1986 immigration law. Using snowball techniques, I contacted and met with families in Tzintzuntzan. My preliminary study included 30 Tzintzuntzeño families. These interviews were conducted in their homes in Santa Ana and Los Angeles. In the case of transnational families, I interviewed wives and some children in Tzintzuntzan. I also conducted 15 open-ended interviews with women in Tzintzuntzan during December of 1991. This work started as a comparative study between Tzintzuntzeño immigrants living in Santa Ana, California and Tijuana, Baja Ca. Mexico. These sites were selected because they were recipients of Tzintzuntzeño immigrants and because both are good examples of today’s global economic restructuring process in which migration plays an important role (Chapter 5). As the research evolved, the problem became more complex and other sites were incorporated. Since 1990 and to the present, I have been in constant communication with these families, in Santa Ana, Los Angeles, and Tzintzuntzan. My continued contact with them has allowed me to observe important changes, the dynamics of the immigration process over time. Following these families over the years, has giving me an advantage over “one shot” immigration surveys which fail to observe processes over an extended period of time. In 1994, I received a grant from UC-Mexus, to visit Tzintzuntzan and Tijuana, Baja California. During this period, I interviewed 15 new Tzintzuntzeño families in Tijuana and continued interviewing my original sample. Also, these visits to Tijuana and Tzintzuntzan gave me the opportunity to meet new Tzintzuntzeño families that were either transnational or were living in different states within the United States. During the visits to Tzintzuntzan, I had the opportunity to observe important town fiestas where the participation of immigrants, residing in U.S., was important. The Celebration del Señor del Santo Rescate, celebrated in February of each year and Noche de Muertos (All Soul’s Night), also known as “The Day of the Dead” celebrated with a vigil in the cemetery on November 1, and 2, both of which will be discussed in the following chapters.

Research Methodologies 35 As time marched on, so did members of the families. Interviews in Santa Ana, Tzintzuntzan and Tijuana lead me to new contacts. In February of 1996, I went to the state of Washington where I interviewed families from my original sample that were now residing there. I also interviewed members of 20 new Tzintzuntzeño families. Additionally, this visit enabled me to interview wives from my original sample whose husbands at that time (February 1996) were working in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. During the visit to Washington, I again joined in the celebration El Señor del Santo Rescate, in one of the most important churches in Tacoma, Washington. While in Tacoma Washington, I also witnessed and video taped the formation of an important political organization by Tzintzuntzeño immigrants. In 1996, a grant from Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (The National Council for Culture and the Arts), allowed me to continue the record of Tzintzuntzeños’ economic and cultural experiences across border lines. This grant permitted to videotape interviews with Tzintzuntzeño migrants in Tzintzuntzan, Tijuana, Santa Ana, Los Angeles, Tacoma, (Washington) and Dutch Harbor, (Alaska). This video taping on the binational cultural experience of Tzintzuntzeño culminated with a documental entitled: “The Place of the Hummingbird.”3 While visiting Dutch Harbor, I had the opportunity to interview workers and had informal discussions with other Mexicans and workers from several ethnic groups. These experiences allowed me to observe some effects of the international division of labor in this region (Fröbel, Heinrichs and Kreye, 1980).

DESCRIPTION OF THE UNIT OF ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS The Unit of Analysis Anthropologists have employed the terms "family" and "household" loosely without attaching to them rigorous, formal definitions.4 As Moore suggests, "the relationship between family and household is always something which requires detailed social and historical analysis" (Moore, 1988: 54). Since this study will stress variation in family composition, we must underline that the extent to which a "family" extends or contracts is related to the possible web of kinship

36 Making Ends Meet relations and is economically and culturally determined (Chavez, 1985, 1990,1992; Yanagisako, 1979; Moore, 1988). Therefore, for the purpose of this work, a family is defined on the basis of kinship relations, both consanguineous and affinal, and not necessarily on the basis of co-residence (Chavez, 1990, 1992). Immigrant families are often split geographically, even across national borders. Chavez defines transnational families as "families with one or more members in another country" (Chavez 1992: 119). And binational families as "a family that consists of members with mixed immigration status e.g., undocumented immigrants, United States citizens and/or legal residents" (Chavez, 1992:129). Even those families split across geographic space, can be decision-making groups that ensure their maintenance and reproduction by producing and disposing of a collective income. This work examines the family concept as one built on kinship relationships, nuclear and extended, with co-residence or/and transnational arrangements. Married children who had their “own home" were interviewed separately, unless they were contributing to the family income of their parents’ household. It is also important to define the concept of "migrant incomegenerating strategies." Useful in the understanding of migrant income generating strategies, is Mummert’s concept “estrategias familiares de reproducción” (family's social reproduction strategies) (Mummert, 1994: 22). Mummert defined it as, The joint effort by a group of people, related with kinship relations and by co-residence, to ensure their daily and generational livelihood. In this sense the "family's social reproduction strategies include (remunerated or not remunerated) activities that the group’s members do to satisfy their immediate needs and for the new generations’ procreation” (Mummert, 1994: 22-23). The migrant income-generating strategies in this study, as in the case of "family social reproduction strategies" in Mummert, cannot be reduced to a “coldly calculated", pre-planned judgment, but it “reflect the resolution taken by families sometimes consciously, some times not, with the same objective, that of obtaining a surviving income to enable material and social reproduction” (Mummert, 1994: 23).

Research Methodologies

37

Research Instruments Ethnographic interviews have been extensively used in anthropological studies (Chaves, 1988, 1992; Fernandez-Kelly, 1983; HondagneuSotelo, 1994). Fernandez-Kelly explains how ethnographic interviews have been of extreme importance in connecting historical-structural analysis with microeconomic analysis of families in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and across the border. She emphasizes the importance of ethnographic observation in understanding the relationship between the insertion of individuals into particular sectors of the labor market and household organization. According to Fernandez-Kelly: One thing is to speak about the general structural conditions which determine the movement of production...another one is to examine the conditions that precipitate the entrance of a particular sector of the population (e.g., women) into the work force. This cannot be achieved by looking exclusively at the requirements of capital accumulation. It is also necessary to take into consideration supply channels which result from the particular position of individuals-endowed with personal characteristics-within the household and labor market." (Fernandez -Kelly, 1983:153) Fernandez-Kelly directs herself to questions such as, why do women increasingly become performers of specific labor. Her answer requires a thorough examination of the position of these individuals in the labor market and how this affects their relationship with their families (Scott and Tilly, 1975). Fernandez-Kelly highlights how the analysis of household organization and structure moves us beyond the reductionism inherent in concepts such as "reserve industrial army" and "cheap labor" (Fernandez-Kelly, 1983: 152). Fernandez-Kelly points out that even though ethnographic research is limited to validate broader generalizations, “it suggests particular ways in which families group and regroup in order to adjust to wider economic constraints” (Fernandez-Kelly, 1983: 153). The research questions guiding this study led us to stress the importance of the qualitative aspect of the research. Hondagneu-Sotelo (1994) underlines the significance of incorporating participant

38 Making Ends Meet observation and intensive interviewing in the understanding of family social dynamics. She states: Over the course of eighteen months, forty-four men and women in twenty-six families allowed to gather data using participantobservation methods, in depth tape-record interviews, and informal conversations that occurred during my visits to their homes and other sites of shared activities. These qualitative methods allowed to assess complex social dynamics related to migration and settlement as they occur in family and community groups (Hondagneu-Sotelo, 1994: xx). Similarly, Lamphere (1987), recommends the Rapaport (1971, 1978) methodology, which involves lengthy interviews conducted with both husbands and wives (Lamphere, 1987). Goldrin also considers qualitative data as essential to formulate ideas about the construction of community (Goldrin, 1992b). Since this study recorded changes in families’ participation in labor market and organizational strategies, ethnnographic interviews allowed the flexibility to capture the dynamics in the process. Interviews provide me with important information of work and family life. This method allowed me to observe how the family’s division of labor was conditioned, and at the same time how it influenced the family’s participation in the labor market. This work uses three databases. First, Robert Van Kemper has collected census material particularly on Tzintzuntzeños, which goes back to his first visit to Tzintzuntzan in 1967. Census data includes general information on location, type of employment and demographic data. I collected census data on Tzintzuntzeños living in Santa Ana in 1990. Incorporating Kemper census material and a set of structured questions, also in 1990, I developed an ethnographic interview designed to observe the effects that Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986, and changes that the labor market had on the Tzintzuntzeño family structure. A total of 30 ethnographic interviews were undertaken in Orange County-Los Angeles area and Tzintzuntzan. I undertook a second data collection in 1992. Building upon my earlier questionnaire, I contacted Tzintzuntzeños in Southern California. At that time, most of the families were living in Santa Ana, California. Finally, a third questionnaire was developed in 1996. I continued with the 30 original families interviewed in Orange-Los Angeles, and with the 15 ethnographic interviews started in 1994, in Tijuana, Mexico and

Research Methodologies 39 Tzintzuntzan, and added, 20 ethnographic interviews in Washington State. In each case, data was collected on every economically active member of the family unit. Particularly, those contributing to the family expenses by wages or/and housework, including all family members living in the same household. The data also included family members who contributed to the income family, even when these persons where not living in the same household (the cases of transnational families). Interviews with Tzintzuntzeño families focused on work, legal status, residential patterns, family structure, family division of labor, and labor conditions, especially wages and fringe benefits. Ethnographic interviews allowed me to gather work histories of family members. The work history goal permits the interviewees to communicate their experiences without framing their responses. From 1990 to the present, I continued taking records of the original 30 families, adding five more families in Santa Ana in the last years. Interviews included a section with both closed and open-ended questions. I analyzed the closed questions with descriptive statistics and cross-tabulations, using the computer program, SPSS.

Description of the Ethnographic Interview The ethnographic interview was divided into four sections. The first part used structured questions to collect socio-demographic information on all members of the domestic unit. The unit in this project is defined as all family members who share a house or apartment. The second part of the interview also used structured questions related to the interviewees’ work experiences. All Tzintzuntzeños, 18 years of age and older who were economically active and/or contributors to the family income at the moment of the interview were interviewed. The objective of this section was to collect information about the labor market characteristics, immigration status, labor conditions wages, and fringe benefits. The third section collected the labor history of each person who was economically active in the household. The interviewees included all that contributed by economic or/and labor to the family income. This section's intention was to observe changes in the immigrants’ labor experiences through their own narratives. As menctioned, the goal of the work histories was to permit the

40 Making Ends Meet interviewees to communicate their experiences without framing their responses. The labor history form functioned as a list guide to document all the different jobs, sites, timings, duration, and general information about each job. This section was characterized by openended questions. Questions here also allowed me to ask about household organization as frequently as possible. From the work histories, I gathered qualitative information about labor market participation, migratory experiences, and the ways in which these events affected family income strategies. Immigrants had an opportunity to voice their own experiences, an important approach, which allowed me to observe how Tzintzuntzeño patterns of migration were related to income-generating strategies. The fourth section examined the household organization and its relationship with labor market participation. This section contained open-ended questions about family income-generating strategies in relation to labor market participation. The objective of this section was to observe how the characteristics of labor market participation of husbands, wives, and children were related to in the household division of labor. In this section, an "Interview Guide" was used.5 An interview guide was prepared to make sure that the same information was obtained from a number of people. The interview guide provided topics or subject areas within which I was free to explore, probe, and ask questions about that particular subject. The guidelines for the "Interview guide" were divided into three broad topics for discussion: 1. 2. 3.

Observations about how the families labor marketparticipation affected family relationships. Income-generating strategies to complement the family income How the division of labor at home affected power relations.

This study used a variety of research techniques to gather data. For example, recording of census data and other written records such as periodicals were used. The collection of the Tzintzuntzeño newspaper Miukua from issues No. 1 to the last available publication, No. 103 allowed me to observe the informal practices occurring in the Tzintzuntzan "extended Community". It is important to note that Miukua is also distributed in Washington State. An extended interview with it’s editor Alberto Rendon, gave further rich and important ethnographic material.

Research Methodologies 41 To illustrate Tzintzuntzeño migrant income-generating strategies, this work used case studies of Tzintzuntzeño families living in Santa Ana, Los Angeles, Tijuana and Washington. The histories of the original families were collected for over nine years. In addition to the above discussed, survey/ethnographic methods, I engaged in participant observation, which allowed me repeated interviews, participation in family reunions and celebrations-- graduations, quinceañeras, weddings, and baptisms and informal meetings with family members. Also, it allowed me the opportunity to attend religious ceremonies such as Night of the Dead, the celebration for El Señor del Santo Rescate and other celebrations in both Tzintzuntzan and in the United States. The observations of attitudes and the role husbands, wives and children played at specific moments and under particular circumstances, were also important in the understanding of family behavioral patterns. The selected case studies illustrate the diversity of the migrant income generating strategies. The changes observed over the last nine years, in each case study, demonstrate the dynamics and variety of family income generating strategies. The time I spent with Tzintzuntzeños was profoundly enriching on both personal and research levels. Tzintzuntzeños interviewed were usually very willing to share with me their experiences and that of their community. I truly appreciate the opportunities I had to take pictures at fiestas, accompany some to doctor’s appointments, provide transportation, and translate for them. Some translations allowed me the opportunity to gather case materials on court appearances, working conditions, health experiences, and work related injuries. The time spent with Tzintzuntzeños, was also an excellent opportunity to observe and record information about incomegenerating strategies, which are difficult to gather through direct questions. Photography and Video Tapes Throughout the time in which the study was carried out, a photographic record was collected. In addition, numerous interviews, religious ceremonies, and working conditions were video taped along with other video records. For example, as before mentioned, with the grant given to me by the el Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes I was able to tape the 20 minute video “Los Lugares del Colibri,” which presents the dynamic binational, economic, and cultural experiences of

42 Making Ends Meet Tzintzuntzeños. This film includes footage of the Day of the Dead in Tzintzuntzan, where it is possible to underline the growing participation of immigrants who live in the United States, and the Fiesta in Tacoma, Washington,6 where one can also observe the strong presence of transnationality.

CHAPTER 3

Tzintzuntzan Historic Socioeconomic Development and Migration

INTRODUCTION This chapter's focus is on a general understanding of the socioeconomic, cultural and historical developments, which have shaped the social relationships of migrant Tzintzuntzeño families today. The chapter is divided into three sections. The first section provides Tzintzuntzan’s geographic settings and demographic features. The second section contextualizes Tzintzuntzeños historically. The PreColumbian Indian communities and the impact of colonization upon them shaped the forms in which Indian communities were “incorporated” into the current world economy. This section reviews the social institutions that have helped determine the socio-economic and cultural experiences of contemporary Tzintzuntzeño families. These manifestations are of utmost importance in the understanding of Tzintzuntzeño identity and their strong cohesion as a group. Finally, the third section provides a review of Tzintzuntzan’s employment patterns. This section also analyzes Tzintzuntzeño migration to United States in the context of economic development in Tzintzuntzan.

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Making Ends Meet

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING Tzintzuntzan, Place of the Hummingbirds. The word Tzintzuntzan derives from the Purepecha language and literally translates to "the place of the hummingbird." When you pronounce the name, Tzintzuntzan, one senses the vibration and sounds hummingbirds make with their rapid flapping wings: zi-tzun-tzan. The Purepecha language is unique to Central Mexico. Research identifies its links to the Quechua language of the Incas of South America. This is a language that has no immediate relatives in all of Mesoamerica (Wolf, 1959:44). “Purepecha," which means commoners, was used by the Chichimec invaders to set themselves apart from the remainder of the population. After the Conquest, the Spaniards labeled the local Indians "Tarascos" from the native word tarascue, meaning "relatives" or "in-laws." According to Johnson (1978), it was a term the natives used mockingly for the Spaniards, who regularly violated their women. But the Spaniards ignorantly took it up, and the word Tarasco (English: Tarascan) is commonly used today for the Indians who call themselves Purepecha (Foster, 2000; Johnson, 1978; Wolf, 1959). According to INEGI,1 as of 1990 there were 2,209 Tarascans. The name Purepechas is currently extended to all Tarascans, residents of the modern state of Michoacan (Wolf, 1959:129).

Historic Socio-economic Development and Migration

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Map of Michoacan, Mexico

Population Tzintzuntzan, is located 57 kms (35miles) from Morelia, Michoacan. According to the 1990 Mexican General Census of Population, the general population for the whole Tzintzuntzeño municipio was 11, 439. For the cabecera or town of Tzintzuntzan the census showed 2,644 inhabitants.2 The cabecera is comparable to a county seat here in California. This data, 2,644 inhabitants, accounts only for the town of Tzintzuntzan and does not include the other 27 small villages within the municipality of Tzintzuntzan.3 Kemper’s 1990 study of the town of Tzintzuntzan showed a population of 3,300 inhabitants.4 According to the ethnographic census Kemper and Foster collected in 1970, Tzintzuntzan was a community with 2,253 residents. During that period, Kemper perceived important dynamics in the population: “I started to observe the locality as a central knot of an extended social and economic area.” In this area, Kemper included small towns in the municipio, and sites in the United States (Kemper, 1994:122). During the 80’s, Kemper and Brandes continued with Foster’s census of the population. Kemper points out

46 Making Ends Meet the persisting difficulties in defining the boundaries of the studied population: While we were working in the Census, it became clear that the simple division between the resident population and the migrants were inappropriate to represent a changing social and economic reality. To solve this ethnographic problem, we created an intermediate category that we call ‘extended population’ (Kemper, 1994:122). Kemper explains how when he started preparing the ethnographic census of Tzintzuntzan in 1990, he selected the town of Tzintzuntzan as a center point of an "extended community"5 (social and spatial) counting both migrants and permanent residents of Tzintzuntzan. Since then this “extended community”, includes not only Tzintzuntzeños in Mexico City, but in Northern and Southern California, Illinois and Washington State. According to Kemper, “In 1990, Tzintzuntzan had a ‘central’ population of 2993 persons living in 580 domestic units, but also 362 individuals (in 178 different domestic units, 31 percent) classified as ‘extended population’” (Kemper, 1994: 124). Kemper’s census of population registered 3000 migrants or people living outside of the community “más allá de la frontera” (including wives, children, grandchildren and great-grand children) in different localities. Kemper’s research has shown, that approximately half of the contemporary Tzintzuntzan population, live in or around the community, and the other half is living temporary or permanently outside of the community. Kemper has noted that a growing population, 31 percent of the local domestic units has one or more “extended” members (Kemper, 1994:124). These processes force us to a re-evaluation of our notion of community. Kemper argues how former anthropological studies of community focused on a fixed place in time and space. His long fieldwork experience with the people of Tzintzuntzan emphasized methodological aspects that take into consideration the constant flow of circuit migrant networks. He notes, for example, at the difficulties in defining who is and who is not resident of the Tzintzuntzan community. This approach underlines the complex and dynamics of community formation and migration flows. (Kemper, 1994: 125) Kemper suggests that if the Tzintzuntzan’s population continues changing as seen in the last decades, “the challenge to our theories and

Historic Scio-economic Development and Migration 47 methodologies will be significant. What once was treated--by both its inhabitants and anthropologists-- as a closed system has spatially and temporarily become an “extended community,” whose characteristics can not be ignored” (Kemper, 1994:128). Kemper’s questions have important relevance for future research on transnational communities. Structural changes on both sides of the border will continue to strengthen the increasing interdependence of sending and receiving communities and therefore resulting in a “constant and flexible flow of migrant population.” As in the case of Tzintzuntzan, exposed by Kemper, these processes represent enormous challenges in attempting to document demographic changes at both the daughter communities and places of origin.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND TZINTZUNTEÑO IDENTITY Anthropological studies of Indian identity underline the role that institutions, commercial interests and the state have in shaping peasantIndian identity. (Warman, Nolasco, Bonfil, Olivera, Valencia, 1970; Bonfil, 1987; Friedlander, 1975; Stephen, 1991, Kearney, 1996). Stephen‘s discussion on the Zapotec’s indian identity, points out the “duality” found in the Zapotec’s identity. She notes how descriptions of ethnicity very often ignores the ways in which indigenous peoples have re-appropriated dominant concepts about themselves: In the case considered here, local indigenous identity has been maintained and perhaps strengthened by an indirect opposition to pressures of assimilation. This opposition has taken the form of a multidimensional ethnic identity – one face is shown to consumers of indigenous culture (such as tourists, importers, state agencies and foreigners who purchase indigenous crafts), and another operates within Teotitlan and is accessible to those who are members of the community by virtue of their participation in local network and institutions (Stephen, 1991:17). In the case of Tzintzuntzeño families this “internal dimension” emphasizes two aspects: their migratory experiences and their common

48 Making Ends Meet heritage as descendents of Tzintzuntzan. Both are important factors in understanding Tzintzuntzeño identity. As with other Indian communities, migration implants new dynamics. As Stephen points out: Historically, anthropologists divide people into discrete units such as cultures, tribes or ethnic groups based on the fact that they spoke a particular language shared common ceremonies and material artifacts, and lived in similar areas. This time-honored approach was taken by anthropologists in Mexico in relation to particular ethnic groups as well by the government census office. Bilingualism and migration, among other things, have led most anthropologists to conclude that ethnic groups cannot necessarily be distinguished by objective empirical traits such as the language or the territory they occupy. Instead, ethnicity has become a subjective, dynamic concept through which groups of people determine their own distinct identities by creating boundaries between themselves and other groups through interaction (Stephen, 1991:10). In the Tzintzuntzeño case, it is clear how migration comes to accelerate changes in the Tzintzuntzeño identity. According to Kemper, (1994: 123-124) almost one half of the Tzintzuntzan population is a poblacion extendida (extended population) with important links in Mexico, particularly Mexico City (Kemper, 1976) and the United States. Also, the use of a unique language to define Tzintzuntzeño identity presents some problems: most of the inhabitants of Tzintzuntzan are not Purepecha speakers (Foster, 1967; Kemper, 1976). Tzintzuntzeño migration, among with other factors, leads us to new dynamics in defining Tzintzuntzeño identity. Critical to the understanding of Tzintzuntzeño identity is their relationship with Tzintzuntzan, the pre-Columbian capital. Yácatas (Tzintzuntzan’s pyramids), still are an important element in the contemporary landscape of Tzintzuntzan and the people’s identity. Belonging to a common historical background is a strong element affecting Tzintzuntzeño identity. Tzintzuntzeños interviewed reported “feeling part of a common past,” particularly the development of the Tarascan empire in the pre-Columbian era. This is significant in the understanding the group’s cohesion. Like the Teopitecos, in Stephen’s analysis, today Tzintzuntzeños still use the language of kinship to relate to their important Tzintzuntzeño social institutions. The cargo system still makes up strong pillar supporting Tzintzuntzeños’ solidarity, both

Historic Socio-economic Development and Migration 49 nationally and in transnational relationships. This “internal dimension” is not produced in a vacuum, but is grounded in historical processes.

Tzintzuntzan, the Capital of the Purepecha Empire As previously indicated, in order to better understand the Tzintzuntzeño identity; it is important to know and comprehend their historical antecedents. Comparing with the rest of the Mesoamerican region, the Western Mexico’s Pre-Columbian record is poorly understood. What is known archaeologically, indicates that much of this often-arid land was located outside the developmental currents of Mesoamerica. In the early Post classic period (900A.D.) the region became a Mesoamerican frontier and felt the impact of the Toltecs (Tula, Hidalgo). Prior to this time, Western Mexico's ties appear to have been with southern Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (Miller, 1986:54-55; Mary Helms, 1982; Coe, 1982 Rendon Guillen, 1996). In the twelfth century, Chichimecs invaded the area of Lake Patzcuaro, where –Tarascan speaking-- farmers and fishermen had settled. Thereafter, the semi-nomadic Chichimeca- Yanaceo arrived from the Northwest and fused with the established settlers to form a Chichimec regime. From its capital in Tzintzuntzan, in the basin of Lake Pátzcuaro, the dynasty gradually extended and during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it conquered portions of the states of Michoacan, Jalisco and Colima (Wolf, 1959:129; Helms, 1982:91). It is during this period that the region reached its highest development in terms of population growth and ceremonial center construction. Tzintzuntzan was the center of the vast Tarascan Indian Empire, a power that rivaled the Aztecs. It is important to note that the Aztecs did not conquer this territory (Townsend, 1992:102; Coe, 1982). Surroundings peasant villages and towns hundreds of miles away feared its power. Unfortunately, archeological research gives us few clues to analyze the socio-economic base of the whole population, the Indian community that was the great social platform that supported the ruling class. Archeological studies of this region concentrate on the ceremonial centers and offer little about the Indian community which may be of great importance in understanding Tzintzuntzan’s contemporary socio-cultural aspects. Semo’s influencial book; The History of Capitalism in Mexico, underlines important historical processes useful in the understanding of

50 Making Ends Meet Mexican peasant communities’ social and economic developments. According to Semo, indigenous societies had a collective system of land ownership. The cohesion of the agrarian community was based on common ownership of the land, where agriculture and crafts were combined on economic self-sufficiency. Semo points out to the main contradiction in this form of production. “But, in those areas under Aztec or Tarascan control, and among the Tlaxcaltecas and the Maya, this was not longer a question of primitive communities: even though there was no private ownership of the land, the surplus product took the form of tribute that ended up in the hands of the state and its representatives” (Semo, 1993:23, Helms, 1982). The Codice Mendocino illustrates the products obtained from tributes: cotton, cacao -extensively use as currency- textile goods, maize, beans, feathers, jade and other important commodities of the time. Townsend (1992) points out different forms of tribute. One, paid by the Aztec themselves; a great portion of revenues came from the community’s tributes. A second form, was paid by people that had been conquered by war. The greater part of the tributes came from defeated villages. No community was excluded from this obligation and the revenues of the Aztec and Tarascan empires were significant. According to Foster, The conquered pueblos paid tribute according to the available products in their territories, for example cloth and clothing, gold dust and gold nuggets, salt, cotton, painted and unpainted gords, dried bananas, honey, turkeys, and chiles (Foster, 2000: 37) Semo, refering to the Aztec’s tribute states, “every conquered province had to send individuals to perform a whole range of tasks. The Great pyramid of Tenochtitlan and the impressive dam of Lake Texcoco were built with the tributary labor of thousands of men from different places. All dues were paid in kind or labor” (Semo, 1993: 25). Also Foster points out how “the prisoners of war were taken to Tzintzuntzan and sacrificed to the gods, except the young men who were saved to work in the fields” (Foster, 2000:37). The Yácatas, PreColombian constructions in Tzintzuntzan, were constructed by the work of peasants both, from the community and tributaries of the empire. Semo underlines the fact that exploitation under this form of production was not based on the private ownership of the land but on the forms of relationship between the Indian community and the state. (Semo, 1993:25). Similarly, Fuentes, referring to the relationship

Historic Socio-economic Development and Migration 51 between community and the state, is particularly clear to stress how exploitation occurred in those areas under Inca control: The question of the land was of paramount importance. The basic division set apart the lands of the Sun, which were those cultivated by all and for all, and the lands of the Inca, which were meant to sustain the king and the state. But in theory all land belonged to the state, which yielded use of it to the communities. These were based on a unit called ayllu, a clan related by blood ties and organized as a cell stronger than the family (or the individual) to exploit collectively …Talk about Inca socialism is interesting but perhaps irrelevant for an economy devoid of money but elitist in structure (Fuentes, 1992:124). As in the Inca and Aztec domains, most land in the Tarascan domain was the property of the state, which controlled its holdings through social units (calpulli, among the Aztecs). Semo underlines how the common land property in the calpulli was not transferable. It was available to its members, but it did not belong to any one of them individually. The right to work the land was passed from father to son. All members participated in the election of the calpulli head. The solidarity of this unit was expressed through religion, with belief in one God (Calputeona), with a different one for each calpulli (Semo, 1993:24). Similarly, in Tzintzuntzan religion played a crucial importance in the social organization of the community and the expansion of the empire (Foster, 2000). Tzintzuntzan at the time of the Conquest must have been an impressive sight. When Cristobal de Olid first arrived in 1522, the first chronicles estimated its population at about 40, 000 scattered in numerous barrios around Lake Patzcuaro. As Semo notes, in his discussion of the transition between the Aztec Tributary Despotism and the Republica de los Españoles: Despite its violence, the Conquest did not destroy indigenous society. On the contrary, there was continuity between precolonial and colonial society. The link between them was embodied in the survival of the agrarian community and the tributary system it supported. Such continuity was made possible

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Making Ends Meet by certain features shared by both Aztec society and the Spanish empire (Semo, 1993: 23).

Tzintzuntzan, with its five pyramids (Yacatas in Tarascan) overlooking the town, was the great ceremonial center --the cultural, political and religious core for a vast area-- It also held an indigenous community whose social patterns have not been thoroughly studied. When the last Emperor, Tangaxoan, surrendered to the Spaniards, in 1522, the Empire was destroyed. Its ruler was killed, the priests and nobles were stripped of their ranks and power, and the city itself was reduced in status of an Indian village (Foster, 1967; Wolf, 1959). But the social structure which sustained the vast empire served as an “anchor” to cement the new colonial system of domination.

The Origin of the Cargo System When the Spaniards arrived, one of the most important institutions in this transitional period was the encomiendas. Helms (1982) defines the encomienda in legal terms as a grant given by a representative of the crown to former conquistadors, and to leading colonists and churchmen, who had participated in the royal cause. These had the privilege to receive tribute from the communities. The communities also had to provide labor services for a diverse type of public and ecclesiastical works (Helms, 1982:149). Later, from 1550 to the first half of the seventeenth century, the repartimiento, a state-directed labor service was regularized. This was used to force Indians to work in the construction of public buildings, churches, and roads. The work done by native laborers were consigned to heavy, unskilled jobs in the construction of roads, municipal and church buildings, or as field hands (Helms, 1982: 151; Burns, 1993). Semo argues how the protection of communal property and extraction of its tribute constituted two sides of the same relationship (Semo, 1993). The segregation of Indians from Spaniards and mestizos forced the crown to reorganize these communities. One of most important efforts by the crown to maintain and reorganize these communities was the “congregations” or “reductions” (settlements of converted Indians). These ecclesiastical institutions, each named after a patron saint, were instrumental in introducing Hispanics ideas in agriculture, political as well as in religion (Helms, 1982:163). But the main purpose tended to bring together the Indian population and

Historic Socio-economic Development and Migration 53 prevented their break up. Semo states, “as early as 1512, the Laws of Burgos ordered the congregations of Indians in new, purposely built villages on the outskirts of Spanish towns, and the destruction of the old villages that they might not be tempted to return to them” (Semo, 1993: 30). This helped to anchor the community within the tributary system. In the new settlements, indigenous communal traditions continued to blend with new Spanish ideas. Helms notes how the Indian community had evolved its own mechanisms of community self-protection and solidarity during the centuries of the colonial experience. As in the case of the PreColumbian socio-political organization , these mechanisms disclosed a strong cohesion. By the eighteenth century the solidarity of the native community was expressed primarily through religious forms…The sense of personal security and collective identity provided by religious activities was expressed by community fiestas, by the cult of the patron saint, and by membership in religious brotherhoods known as cofradias (Helms, 1982:198). Helms underlines how this participation and the observance of fiestas and holy day ceremonies contributed to the cohesion and maintenance of native community tradition and solidarity (Helms, 1982). The cofradia was a collective fund composed of animals or lands which were contributions from its members, all used to help finance community day celebrations. Cofradias are the antecedent of today’s mayordomias (Foster, 1967; Stephen, 1991;Cancian, 1965, 1992). In Tzintzuntzan, mayordomia is known as a cargo system. Two important aspects of this institution are: its continuing significant presence and the Cofradia’s countless officials. Semo points out how this position conferred prestige and authority. The mayordomo incurred annual expenses of some 200 pesos and so did the capitan, the alferez and so on... Competition for social prestige was such that the ‘officials’ were often in debt, lost all their possessions, and were reduced to abject poverty. Thus, public offices helped to prevent the accumulation of private fortunes, imposing on the wealthiest individuals a degree

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Making Ends Meet of spending that had effective leveling-off consequences (Semo, 1993:32). The expansion of these institutions has affected and continues to affect the community. This is explained by the increase of projects which were carried out, particularly by religious institutions (Foster, 1967). Foster points out how in late 1525, several Franciscan friars arrived in Tzintzuntzan to build a church and monastery. Members of this order remained to exercise religious control over the surrounding area until 1766, when a secular priest replaced them. Vasco de Quiroga arrived in Tzintzuntzan in 1533. He established several "hospitals" which became the center for a communal way of life. Foster notes how the town-hospitals had a common ownership of the land, were Christian instruction was imparted and new arts and crafts were created (Foster, 2000:39-41). According to Foster, the lands of each village and its hospital were communally held. Households were to be composed of an extended family consisting of up to a dozen married couples, with the oldest male as the patriarch. Each household was allotted a garden, the produce of which belonged to the family, but field production became community property (Foster, 2000: 41). As Foster noted in 1967, religion continued to be an important factor in the cohesion of the community. In few peasant communities does one find a more elaborated and colorful religious life that in Tzintzuntzan…For most Tzintuntzeños religion is a vital force which permeates almost every aspect of living. The early Franciscan friars did their task well, and for over 400 years Tzintzuntzan has been intensely Catholic. No one is a Protestant, and no one is a non believer. Religion is the ultimate validation of life, and of the values to which people adhere (Foster, 1967: 194-195). An important manifestation of this phenomenon is the cargo system. Foster explains the Tzintzuntzan’s cargo system, which involves sponsorships of ceremonies by a person or small group of people of an image or a church building. “Prayers are said periodically, candles are burned, Masses are paid for, food is served on ritual occasions, and images are carried in procession” (Foster, 1967:195). Foster indicates how in Tzinztunztan a sponsor is called carguero rather than mayordomo, the most common term in Mexico (Stephen,

Historic Socio-economic Development and Migration 55 1991), because he assumes the cargo, the charge and responsibility as defined by custom (Foster, 1967:195). Foster’s study highlihts the historical background of this system, he notes the cargo system started in Tzintzuntzan with the first Franciscans, probably with Vasco de Quiroga through the "hospital system." He points out: “…it is evident that the basic Spanish system of sponsoring sacred images and buildings and a yearly cycle of feastday celebration was an essential part of this idealistic system in which religious and civil activities were thoroughly integrated”(Foster, 1967: 195-196) He suggests, the cargo system grew until the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in 1911, and as late as 1920 it was still quite strong, but the institution tended to lose importance because of the economic constraints it presented. It is noteworthy that today members of the mestizo families that did not participate tend to be well above average in education and wealth... Perhaps the same ability that has led them to this position enabled them to recognize the futility of the traditional carguero activities. Certainly the end of the system was due in significant part to increasing numbers of people who felt the rewards did not justify the expenses (Foster, 1967:211). But this has not been the end of the Carguero tradition. The cargo system is again growing in importance. More people participate, more economic and social resources are added to this organization. Civil organizations do not have the strength that these religious celebrations have to move masses. In Tzintzuntzan, the religious pilgrimages are always better attended than political meetings. The people do not need to be invited to attend, family traditions and solidarity with the community move them to participate. Migration has incorporated new elements in these non-closed communities. Foster underlines how a changed prestige system returned almost certainly by the first wave of returning braceros, during the period of 1940-45. Today, migration continues to bring new prestige symbols of material welfare such as the construction of two story houses, televisions, satellite antennas, compact disc players, vehicles, clothes and other products from the United States. The cargo system also appears to have grown. New and more numerous forms of celebrations are a main feature of Tzintzuntzeño religious festivities today. The dynamic is one of

56 Making Ends Meet “commitment to traditional values” within changing socio-economic context. Foster notes an example of the rapidly increasing number of penitents who carry crosses on Good Friday: “Formerly La Soledad Church had but one cross, which sufficed for all penitents, who carried it in turn. Today the number of penitents has increased to the point that three crosses are needed to meet the demand “ (Foster, 1967:320). In early 1998, thirty years later, Tzintzuntzeños living in Santa Ana, California who are cargueros de la Soledad, Church, upon returning from Tzintzuntzan from their cargo responsibilities, told me that today there are close to 150 crosses carried in these processions. Another example of the continuity and dynamism of the celebrations and the prestige that they bring to families and the community is the festivity of Noche de Muertos (All Soul’s Night). Foster states: Utilizing religion as a devise to compete for prestige within the new framework of values is also known by the appearance of more and more tombstones in the cemetery and this, in turn, emphasizes the graveyard not only as a focal point for expressing ancient values, but as a potential device for the community to compete with other communities, and particularly with Janitzio (Foster, 1969:320). During my visit to Tzintzuntzan last year, I found that Tzintzuntzan is still competing with Janitzio in importance in the celebration of the Noche de Muertos. Interviews I conducted during the Noche de Muertos (All Soul’s Night) indicated that a great number of migrants from Mexico City and different states from the United States return to decorate the tombs of their dead family members and spend the night "velándolos en el cementerio" (mourning their dead in the cemetery), as they have been doing for over two hundred years. This ethnic solidarity keeps social and family networks strong and in movement in Mexico and in the United States. These celebrations have transcended national boundaries. Tzintzuntzeño religious celebrations of El Señor del Rescate in Tacoma, Washington, are good examples of these manifestations. Traditional dances, reflecting colonial antagonisms, and syncretims are still an important part in the ritual. Tzintzuntzeños are rigurous with dance teachers that prepare the performance each year. An interview with the teacher in charge of the dance performance at Tacoma explained his long experience with traditional dances, learned from elders from Tzinztunztan and the time-

Historic Socio-economic Development and Migration 57 consuming, efforts and also the rewarding experiences. “When we can contemplate the dances being executed in the Tacoma, church, I think it is very important for us, from Tzintzuntzan. They make us feel really proud of who we are, I don’t want our traditions die here in the U.S.” (Antonio). Tzintzuntzeño’s preparations of altar de muertos (altar for the dead) in Santa Ana, California present us with another example of these practices. A Tzintzuntzeño family was proudly showing me how they were growing cempoalxochitl (the traditional flowers used to decorate the altar for the dead and tumbs back in Mexico) in their gardens, “we are going to share with others from Tzintzuntzan and then we can have real c e m p o a l x o c h i t l in our altars.” Also, the preoccupation Tzintzuntzeños have in returning to fulfill their cargo responsibilities are manifestations illustrating the new dynamics of the Tzintzuntzeño identity. These new forms of identity are essential elements in reproducing the Tzintzuntzeño transnational community.

TZINTZUNTZAN’S EMPLOYMENT PATTERNS Tzintzuntzeños’ position in their place of origin’s employment structure, as well as the characteristics of these occupations influence the way in which they are “incorporated” into the receiving communities in the United States. Through this relationship of labor markets, we may observe the interdependence that exists between sending and receiving communities (Grasmuck and Pessar, 1991).

Making Pottery Foster's ethnographic work has been an important contribution to the understanding of the socio-economic aspects of Tzintzuntzeños’ life and a base line for this research. Foster’ s analysis of heads of households’ occupations in 1967 reveals important features of the Tzintzuntzeño employment patterns which help us understand the present occupational structure in Tzintzuntzan. Foster’s work illustrates the occupations of 376 heads of household in Tzintzuntzan This data demonstrated that craft production has been an important source of income for Tzintzuntzeño families. From the 376 heads of households,

58 Making Ends Meet 206 or 55 percent of the families earned all or the major part of their incomes from making pottery (Foster, 1967:38) He explains that pottery making accounted for even more income, since it was also the secondary occupation for people who defined themselves primarily as day laborers, masons, or homemakers. Foster notes this data only presented the heads of households’ economic activities, if occupation is examined from the standpoint of household members (including women), rather than just heads of households "the doubling up of sources of income is even more striking." He notes that several women had pottery stands on the highway and a few women worked as maids in Mexico City for weeks or months. Foster also pointed to another characteristic of Tzintzuntzeño employment pattern: the limited Tzintzuntzeño participation in agricultural work. As he states: A 1960 agrarian census, list only ten men and two women with more than five hectares of agriculture land, and the largest holding is only fourteen acres... In addition to Tzintzuntzan's twelve ‘large’ landowners, an additional fifty to sixty people own less than five hectares… because of limited agricultural lands, only 49 heads, or 13 percent, earn all or a major part of their income from farming (Foster, 1967: 37-38). Foster and Kemper have studied Tzintzuntzeño employment pattern for a long period of time, and both agree that people in Tzintzuntzan have been limited to craft production (Foster, 1967; Kemper, 1979). Craft production was, and continues to be, one of the major sources of income for Tzintzuntzeño families. Kemper’s book, published in 1976, also illustrated these patterns. Table 1 shows that making pottery continued to be the principal employment of most of Tzintzuntzeño households, even when these activities had diminished. Crafters’ sons and daughters left these works to participate in commerce and as day laborers (Kemper, 1976:15).

Table 1 1970 Tzintzuntzan Occupational Structure Occupation Pottery Agriculture

Number 167 27

Percentage 46 7

Historic Socio-economic Development and Migration Pottery/Wholesaler 17 5 Day Laborer 53 15 Domestic Employee 13 4 Fishermen 13 4 Miscellaneous 34 9 Construction 5 1 Small Store Owner 14 4 Employee 17 5 Total 360 100

59

The above data came from Kemper’s analysis of the ethnographic census material (Kemper, 1976:17). The totals represent only heads of households’ occupation. The table includes neither other workers, nor the head of households’ secondary occupations. Kemper discussed how in relationship with agriculture employment, because of the limited agriculture property, and increase in the population, this occupation has considerably dropped. Also, he notes, how the high rate of the Lake exploitation united with the infestation of the aquatic lilies diminished fishing to a degree that by 1974, just one Tzintzuntzeño used fishing as main occupation (Kemper, 1979:15). An important change is the increment of “day laborers” and service employees including, Tzintzuntzeño working in local schools, the town clinic, and local municipal and federal government offices. Also there is an increase in the category of miscellaneous employment, which includes specialists such as bakers, and butchers. Kemper states the most important occupation increase was with wholesale pottery and craft resale. According to Kemper these local intermediaries owned pick-ups and transported a substantial amount of pottery and other crafts to border cities (Kemper, 1979:16). Table 2 illustrates the results from the original 30 Tzintzuntzeño families interviewed for this study. It includes both the husbands and wives. It shows a total of 60 Tzintzuntzeños’ occupations before their first trip to the United States.

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Making Ends Meet

Table 2 Tzintzuntzeños’ Occupations Before Their First Trip Occupation Pottery/Straw Weaving Services Employee Day Laborer Retailer/Wholesaler Factory Worker Domestic Employee Miscellaneous Small Store Owner Students Not From Tzintzuntzan Total

Number 19 10 7 6 5 2 2 1 2 6 60

Percentage 32 17 12 10 8 3 3 2 3 10 100

Table 2 illustrates primary occupations, even when Tzintzuntzeño men tended to have multiple occupations during this period. A more detailed analysis of these activities will be found in the next chapter in Table 1. The results of my interviews showed that making pottery and weaving straw figures were still an important source of income in the community. 19 Tzintzuntzeños (32 %) had these activities as their main employment. Even though this craft is a popular art, a constant tourist demand all over Mexico, the earnings from this labor are minimum. According to my interviews minimal fees were earned for each piece. Most of the children in the families interviewed participated after school and during vacations in the preparation of these crafts. As with pottery, straw weaving is an important secondary occupation for married women. Pottery and straw weaving are sources of income, but they are not enough to sustain a family. The income extracted from these products is just enough to "complement" the family expenses. As with pottery there is a huge demand for straw figures, but a high level of competition exists, due to the fact that it also constitutes a major source of income for other Pátzcuaro Lake dwellers. Also, even though most of the work is done by Tzintzuntzeños, the costs of the material and the control of prices by intermediaries made this work unprofitable. Almost all the selling of these products are done through intermediaries

Historic Socio-economic Development and Migration 61 who buy cheap labor from Tzintzuntzeños and then resell to stores or transport to Mexico City and other localities at a much higher price. Income from this source depends on the intensity of this work and the numbers of workers in each family.

Service Employment Ten Tzintzuntzeños (17%) from my sample were employed in the service sector occupations. They included a nurse, a postman, a seamstress, an employee for local government, an employee for the archeological site of Tzintzuntzan, store employees and others. Even when these activities presented a major labor employment stability, the high cost of living and low wages forced Tzintzuntzeños in these occupations, to also look at migration to the north as an economic alternative. According to Kemper, Tzintzuntzeños temporary movement toward other sites has as a main objective: obtaining an economic supplement to the insufficient local salaries. An interview with a schoolteacher, not included in the original sample, pointed out that low wages in Tzintzuntzan and having her brother living in Santa Ana was among the most important reasons to migrate to the United States. Kemper noticed how schoolteachers travel to California and Washington to work in the fields during their summer vacation (Kemper, 1994: 126127). Kemper discusses the case of many young Tzintzuntzeños who graduated from the Mexican higher educational system and lived outside of Tzintzuntzan for several years, while attending school. Yet, they continued to return to the community, even after living in urban areas where they could get better employment. Kemper cites close to 150 schoolteachers in this category. They reside in Tzintzuntzan and commute daily to other locations to work. The elementary and secondary schools in Tzintzuntzan are taught almost completely by Tzintzuntzeño teachers (Kemper, 1994).

Day Laborers The lack of employment opportunities force Tzintzuntzeños to new activities. This is reflected in the growing number of people dedicated to “day labor.” A jornalero (day laborer) includes the work of a mason, carpenter, mechanics, and other manual labor. In my sample,

62 Making Ends Meet there were seven men (12%) who were occupied in these activities. Tzintzuntzeños often work as day laborers in Mexico upon their return from a temporada (temporary stay) in the United States. This occupation is a good example of the "day by day" forms of employment, which is also a common experience confronted by many migrants in the United States. Laboring in unstable employment in Mexico and in the United States leaves these workers without a steady source of income to support their families. Foster, refering to these workes, points out that many of these day laborers are braceros, returning migrants, who while in the United States work for hourly wages (Foster, 1967:40).

Pottery Wholesaler and Small Business An important occupation of young Tzintzuntzeños, before their first trip to United States, was pottery and straw weaving figurines wholesaler, and fruit and vegetable retailer. Six Tzintzuntzeños (10%) worked in these occupations. The small businesses, other that craft production, do not create any noticeable employment. Competition with products from Pátzcuaro and Quiroga make small businesses unprofitable. People prefer to buy cheaper products in Pátzcuaro, Morelia, and other states in Mexico. For example, the owners of the only "bakery" in town explained that the reason they do not bake every day is because people in Tzintzuntzan preferred to buy bread in the town little stores. These establishments buy sweet bread every day from the neighboring town of Quiroga. This baker’s family is not able to compete with prices and production of larger bakeries. "We sometimes are left with our bread, it really isn't worth it, we can't make it." This is the reason why some Tzintzuntzeños prefer to set up their small businesses in Pátzcuaro rather than in the village. An exception to this are the small business dedicated to pottery, wheat straw figures and other crafts. During recent years some owners of these road stores have made profits.

Remittances Most of Tzintzuntzeños interviewed pointed out lack of jobs in Tzintzuntzan as their main reason to migrate to other states in Mexico and to the United States. Only some families with family members in Mexico City, Morelia and the United States have significantly raised

Historic Socio-economic Development and Migration 63 their standard of living (Kemper, 1979, 1994). The remittance from the United States have constituted a vital part of economic survival strategies, specially today (1996) when one dollar equals over 8.00 Mexican pesos. Kemper and Miller also underline the importance of these remittances, when men are not able to send money or come back after the autumn work in the United States, their wives and children suffer serious problems (Kemper, 1994; Miller, 1992). Even though these remittances have an impact on Tzintzntzan’s overall economy, for most of the Tzintzuntzeño families interviewed, as with other migrant communities in Mexico, these remittances are not always translated into productive investments (Cornelius, 1990a, 1990b). Kearney (1986) cites Cornelius (1976) who observes that the benefits from migrant’s earnings to Mexican communities depend to a great extent on the degree to which the migrants, while in the United States, participate in formal organizations (Kearney, 1986:347). Torres Hernández (1985: 154-162) and Kearney (1986:347) cite the example of the binational agricultural cooperatives, The Arizona farmworkers Union, (AFWU), who make contributions to projects of development in the places of origin. The formation of the Tzintzuntzeño daughter communities, the increased strength of binational social networks and the Tzintzuntzeño relationship with binational labor markets open new questions related to the quality of the remittances and productive investment in Tzintzuntzan.

Multiple occupations and the Flexible Characteristics of the Tzintzuntzeño Labor Market An important feature of the Tzintzuntzan occupational structure, at the moment of their first trip to U.S., was that most of the men employed had a flexible and unstable employment. The occupational structure of the men interviewed in the sample presents strong similarities with what Foster reported in 1967. Foster's study found that 45 percent of the people in Tzintzuntzan had multiple occupations. He recognizes the difficulty in measuring these categories, conceding his data does not "fully show the extent in which occupations are multiple, "Unfortunately, since most people are self-employed, it is difficult to estimate levels of income, but enough data are at hand to show the very narrow economic magin that characterizes the lives of most villagers (Foster, 1967: 47). As discussed before, employment in non-craft

64 Making Ends Meet production is minimal. There are no large factories in the area and commercial activity is limited. Foster underlines the difficulties Tzintzuntzeños had in complementing the family’s income. A living it is clear, is earned by nearly everyone in bits and pieces. Every family member is alert to the possibility of picking up a few extra pesos here or there, and rare is a person who, in addition to his primary occupation, does not try his hands at other tasks. The only thing all occupations have in common is that they scarcely produce enough for a family to live on (Foster, 1967: 47). Similar conditions are still present in Tzintzuntzan. According to my interviews, a day laborer, working as a mason or carpenter earns from $20.00 to $30.00 pesos for a full day, and a minimum salary for a "public employer" actually is at $30.00 pesos a day. Pottery craftsmen and straw figure makers earn an average of $20.00 day. Income can be compared with the prices (in pesos) of commodities commonly purchased by villagers. Kilogram of chicken: Kilogram of meat: Kilogram of beans: Kilogram of tortillas: A plate of pozole:

$24.00 $40.00 $10.00 $15.00 $5.00

Low wages and unstable occupations forced the Tzintzuntzeños, I interviewed, to adjust their diets to their family income. As this woman explained: "A lot of people making pottery just have enough to eat beans and tortillas as their main meal. This costs 20.00 [pesos]. That's all they can afford" (Josefina).

THE MIGRATORY PHENOMENON IN THE CONTEXT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN TZINTZUNTZAN International migration research emphasizes the importance of observing the interconnection between sending and receiving communities. (Grasmuck, 1991, Kearney, 1991, 1995; Smith, 1992; Goldring, 1992b). This interdependence should also be analyzed

Historic Socio-economic Development and Migration 65 historically. According to Acuña, the massive flow of migrant labor between Mexico and the United States has its roots in the early twentieth century (1900-1930), when economic developments in each country produced conditions favorable to international migration (Acuña , 1988, Massey et al., 1987). Acuña examines the early twentieth century, when the American southwest became a leading producer of oil, cotton, fruit and vegetables. He explains how Federal programs built giant dams to furnish water and hydroelectric power to farms and cities, but the Southwest remained an economic colony of the East during the first three decades of the century. Little manufacturing took place, and easterners exploited its resources by controlling tariffs, interest rates, and the costs of farm products. Acuña argues one of the problems was that the region had a low population density. Southwestern towns remained small compared to the eastern cities. These factors greatly influenced labor-management relations in the Southwest. Acuña suggests the geographic proximity of Mexico become key to the region development, By hiring Mexicans at lower wages than were prevalent in other parts of the United States, corporate farmers could afford the cost of land, irrigation, and the oppressive freight charges…California did not share in the vegetable and fruit market nationally in 1900, but, in 1929, it produced 40 percent of the total share. These changes could not have taken place without government funding and Mexican labor (Acuña, 1988:142). Acuña indicates another factor contributing to the absortion of Mexican labor , “the restructuring of the United States reserve pool of unskilled labor” (Acuña, 1988:142). He observes how the 1880’s saw the beginning of the total exclusion of Chinese laborers. Over the next three decades, Asian immigration was completely halted (Reimers, 1985; Garcia y Griego, 1987). Also the succession of immigration laws, based on class, region of origin and ethnicity, limited the number of laborers. The Literacy act of 1917, closed the entrance of European cheap labor. In 1921 and 1924, immigration laws put central and southern Europeans on a quota (Acuña, 1988: 142). Calavita discusses how when the Quota Restrictions of 1921 and 1924 reduced European immigration, Mexicans and other Western Hemisphere immigrants were exempt: “this ‘backdoor’ was seen as a valuable substitute for European labor- a preferred one, in fact, given Mexico’s geographic

66 Making Ends Meet proximity and the United States’ ability to regulate the supply at a moment’s notice”(Calavita: 1994:59). On the southern side of the border, Mexican political and economic conditions created a mass of impoverished rural workers. Modernization via commercialization of the hacienda had led to the almost total disappearance of the communal village. Mexican peasants were displaced from their lands in massive numbers. Massey et al, points out how by 1910, 97 percent of rural families were landless. One-seventh of the entire country was owned by twenty-nine individuals and companies (Massey et al.,1987:39) Porfirio Díaz encouraged the process of industrialization, mining and transportation. Financed by foreign capital, railroad building and industrialization were the most important innovative processes generating social change in Mexico during the Porfiriato. Railroads accelerated the nation's industrial and agricultural growth. They stimulated the flow of capital into the economy, increasing the possibility of commercial exploitation of Mexico's resources. An example of this was the creation of the Mexican railroads by capitalists from the United States. Railroads expedited the transportation of raw material, but most importantly, they also accelerated the movement of labor. As Acuña, explains: "Well before the 1900's, over 22 thousand railroad cars transporting an estimated 77 thousand Mexicans entered the United States, a factor that faciliated the movement of Mexicans to the border. " (Acuña, 1988:148) Victor Alba (1967) points out, United States corporations owned three-quarters of mineral holdings in Mexico and that by 1910, “United States investments amounted to more than $2 billion dollars, more than all the capital in the hands of Mexicans" (Victor Alba, 1967:106). The presence of the United States capitalists in the Mexican economy destabilized it, insuring a constant supply of raw materials and cheap labor for business in the Southwestern United States (Acuña, 1988: 148). The state of Michoacan is a good example of the migration flows during this period. Railroad construction affected the state’s economy considerably, changing the labor market structure. (Fonseca, 1988; Alarcón, 1989). Historically, Michoacan has been an important source of migration to the United States (Lopez Castro, 1988; Duran Juarez, 1988). Surveys indicate that a quarter of all Mexican migrants come from Michoacan and Jalisco alone (Massey, 1987; Bustamente, 1992; Cornelius, 1976, 1990a). In the particular case of Tzintzuntzan,

Historic Socio-economic Development and Migration 67 migration started later. Foster points out how only two men had gone to the United States before 1910. Although two men had gone to the United States as early as 1910, lived there a number of years, and survived to return, and another larger group had gone about 1922, some of whose members remained and were lost track of, it was not until war demands for fields hands brought into being the bracero program that large numbers of field hands began to travel widely (Foster, 1967: 29). Confirming his data, Kemper explains that before World War II, few Tzintzuntzeños left the community. The Mexican Revolution in 1910 did not disrupt local life as it did in other parts of Mexico, and migration during the period between World War I and II was very limited (Kemper, 1976:11). For Foster, the first major cultural impact occurred in 1931 when Lazaro Cardenas as Governor of Michoacan, sent to Tzintzuntzan a Cultural Mission consisting of teachers, specialized in plastic arts, social work, music, home economics, and “small industries.” Sixty rural schoolteachers were brought from surrounding villages to receive training (Foster, 1967:26). According to Foster these new changes in the Tzintzuntzan community were a result of “above all as the consequence of General Cardenas’ personal interest; he was now president of Mexico (1934-1940), and he saw in Tzintzuntzan a symbol of the indigenous glory of pre-Conquest Michoacan, his native state.” (Foster, 1967:28). But it was not until World War II that changes in Tzintzuntzan were hastened. According to Acuña, during WW II, the farm labor shortage became more acute when Chicano workers from the fields and railroads were sent to war and federal authorities placed JapaneseAmericans in concentration camps (Acuña, 1988:261). To meet the labor shortage, the United States government entered into an agreement with Mexico. The two governments would supervise the recruitment of Mexican laborers. Mexicans could be contracted to work in the United States for months at a time, and then return them to Mexico. The two governments entered into a preliminary agreement in 1942, called the program “Emergency Labor Program” also known as “the Bracero Program” (Galarza, 1964; Reisler, 1976). Calavita, emphasizes the Bracero Program’s effects on Mexican labor:

68

Making Ends Meet …it attempted to institutionalize the flexible and temporary nature of the Mexican labor supply (always recognized as a primary virtue), but also because formal and informal policies during this period contributed to the increase in illegal migration that characterizes the contemporary movement (Calavita, 1994: 59).

The demand for workers brought about by the “The Bracero Program” was an important catalyst for the large number of workers traveling to the north (Calavita, 1994, 1992). As with other communities in Michoacan, World War II accelerated changes in Tzintzuntzan. Foster addresses the intensity of the Bracero Program’s impact on Tzintzuntan. "By 1960, two hundred men --almost 50 per cent- of the adult males had visited the United States at least once, and a number had returned year after year. This exposure, more than any other event, seems to me to have changed the village” (Foster, 1967: 29). Kemper, also highlights the effects of the program: “The government program that more intensively influenced Tzintzuntzan took effect during the beginnings of the World War II and continued until 1964…During the 25 years that the program lasted, more than half of the Tzintzuntzeño heads of households worked at least once as ‘braceros’… Kemper states the social and economic consequences of this massive and temporary migration have been “significant and irreversible” (Kemper, 1976:30-31). Tzintzuntzeño participation in the Bracero Program is a good example of the interdependence of the sending and receiving communities. From the early days of the program to the present, Tzintzuntzeños have had a strong migratory relationship with the United States (Foster, 1967; Kemper, 1976).

Norteñizacion The increased incorporation of Tzintzuntzeño migrant labor in the United States labor market has not been just a consequence of the changes in the macro economic structures. The increment of migration flows is also influenced by social factors. The sending community’s social changes caused by circular migration are underlined by the concept of "norteñization" that emphasizes the new social infrastructure produced by these movements. Alarcón uses the term "Norteñization" to describe an ongoing process by which communities specialize in the production of international migrant workers through changes in their

Historic Scio-economic Development and Migration 69 economic and social structure. His central hypothesis is that international migration has generated a close relationship between specific areas in Mexico and the United States labor market (Alarcón, 1988, 1992, 1995). This concept presents a view of the relation between Mexico and the United States where social networks take an important part in the final outcome. Social network analysis facilitates the understanding of processes of transnational migration and the changes that result. The manners in which migration evolved among Tzintzuntzeños contributes to their economic strategies today. Contemporary Tzintzuntzeño income-generating strategies did not start ten years ago. Rather, they developed over time, in response to contracting practices by employers who hired the workers only during moments of production and laid them off when they were no longer needed, thus forcing them to return to their country of origin. The lack of units of production in their communities prevent the “returned” migrants from permanent employment, which limits the ability of Tzintzuntzeños to settle in the Mexican community. This pattern perpetuated the reproduction of this labor by their families in their places of origin. This relationship is manifested by the interdependence of the labor markets, characterized by its flexible and temporary nature. Tzintzuntzeño’s seasonal employment contributed to their poverty. Unable to obtain a stable job, they moved from work to work, from Mexico to the United States, most of the time isolated from friends and in contact only with their immediate families. The combination of craft income and the wages coming from migration to Mexico City and the United States stimulated new forms of interdependence between sending and receiving communities. Public policies have continually reinforced these patterns. The Bracero Program, the Guest Worker, and Proposition 187, discussed in later chapters, are good examples of these practices. Strong social practices and institutions, grounded in economic and historical processes, are important in understanding Tzintzuntzeño identity, their cohesion as a group and their income generating strategies in Tzintzuntzan and across borderlines.

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CHAPTER 4

Tzintzuntzeño’s Migratory Experience: First Stage

This chapter illustrates the first stage of the migratory experience of the original 30 interviewed Tzintzuntzeño families. The chapter is divided into three sections. The first section introduces the 30 migrant families. It further exams husbands and wives occupations before their first trip and their own experiences with income generating strategies while they were growing up. Using Tzintzuntzeños’ labor histories to examine their work experiences gives the “historical dimensions” to the Tzintzuntzeño’ income generating process. The second section explores the role of women’s labor in the reproduction of the migrant labor force during their husbands’ first trips to the United States. It shows that women complemented their husbands' remittances with craft labor while still attending to housework and family in Tzintzuntzan. Finally, the third section examines families’ strategies for combining resources to provide for their maintenance. This section illustrates how economic and social resources were combined in a dynamic manner during this first stage of their migratory experience. This section also examines how political and economic developments on both sides of the border affected Tzintzuntzeño family structures. Changes in immigration status due to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 -IRCA- affected Tzintzuntzeños’ relationship with the labor market. All of these events gave the migrants a “new position” which in turn had an influential effect on the ways in which the families organized their income.

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THE FAMILIES The study began with the migratory experiences of the 30 families in Santa Ana, Los Angeles, California and Tzintzuntzan, Mexico.1 They were interviewed in 1990. Their labor histories assisted in examining their experiences before 1990. One of the most important goals of these labor histories is to go beyond a single snap shot of these families, and highlight "family history" to understand migratory processes and their effects on family structure (Chapter 2). This chapter tracks these families from their initial journeys, emphasizing their labor experiences and economic survival strategies during the first stage of their migratory experience. Table 1 illustrates the economic activities of husbands and wives before their first trip to the United States.2

Table 1 Husbands’ And Wives’ Occupations Before Their First Trip No 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10

Men Natividad Robles Rogelio Perez

Occupation Pottery

Women Rosario Robles

Occupation Pottery

Rosaura Perez

Rodolfo Quiroz Roberto Marquez

Employee in a store /Pottery Factory worker Day laborer/ Wholesale

Straw weaving/ Pottery Services

Juan Altamirano Nazaro Ruiz

Pottery/ Wholesaler Postman

Miriam Altamirano Rita Ruiz

David Corral Ramiro Razo Rodrigo Jimenez Salvador Torres

Pottery N/A Factory worker Store employee

Lucero Corral Rosa Razo Lorena Jimenez Herlinda Torres

María Quiroz Maricela Marquez

Store employee/ Straw weaving Straw weaving Straw weaving Pottery Pottery Pottery Cleaning houses

Tzintzuntzeño’s Migratory Experience: First Stage

73

Husbands’ And Wives’ Occupations Before Their First Trip No 11

Men Vicente Fernandez Juan Nepomuceno Lorenzo Rodriguez Carlos Hurtado Martin Hernández Margarito Fuentes Fernando Alvarez

Occupation Pottery/ Butcher Pottery/ Day laborer Pottery/ Day laborer Pottery/ Day laborer Pottery/ Day laborer Employee (blacksmith) Maintenance employee

Women Eloisa Fernandez Nepomuceno

18

Carlos Espinoza

Mariana Espinoza

19

Esteban Torrecilla

20

Juan Luis Sanchez

21

Hector Cerros

22

Pablo Pozas

23

Rogelio Lopez

Day Laborer/ Pottery Day laborer/ Straw weaving Service Sector employee/ Day laborer Straw retailer/ Musician Straw retailer/ Musician Factory worker/ Student

12 13 14 15 16 17

Elena Rodriguez Carmen Hurtado Josefina Hernández Julia Fuentes Rocio Alvarez

Occupation N/A Services N/A Pottery Pottery Cleaning houses Pottery/ Sraw weaving N/A

Carolina Torrecilla

N/A

Rosa Sanchez

Seamstress

Rosalinda Cerros

Straw/ Fruit retailer

Herlinda Pozas

Pottery

Mirna Lopez

Factory worker

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Making Ends Meet

Husbands’ And Wives’ Occupations Before Their First Trip No 24

Men Javier Solis

25

Gabriel Villa

26 27

Arnulfo Pena Sergio Zandoval Mauricio Higuera

28

29 30

Jacinto Arellano Enrique Perez

Occupation Service sector employee/ Day laborer Employee public service Student Mason Pottery retailer Worker factory Pottery

Women Liliana Solis

Occupation N/A

Rosaura Villa

Nurse

Marisol Pena Susana Zandoval Matilde Higuera

Student Pottery

Sofia Arellano

Pottery/ Straw weaving Housewife

Anna Perez

Pottery

Table 1 illustrates the large participation of Tzintzuntzeños, both men and women, in craft production. These occupations are not very different than those Kemper, (1977), and Foster (1967) found in their village research some decades ago. Pottery and straw wheat weaving employment differed for men and women. Even though most of the women, in a major or minor scale, participated in craft production, (with exception of non-Tzintzuntzeño women, who later married Tzintzuntzeño men in the United States), these activities were not done as a full-time job. Particularly for women with small children, this was a part time job that was combined with housework. When men had craft production as a main occupation, they were dedicated also to the commercialization of the product. Men’s part-time occupations in craft production very often were combined with day labor activities. Day labor occupations included: mason, carpenter, vendor and loading merchandises to local merchants. Only five Tzintzuntzeño men reported having a permanent job at the moment of their first trip; three worked in factories, one in Guadalajara and two in other places outside Tzintzuntzan and two employed in public service. Similarly, just three

Tzintzuntzeño’s Migratory Experience: First Stage 75 women reported having a permanent job, one as a nurse, another as a seamstress and one as a factory worker. As noted in Table 1, most of Tzintzuntzeños are employed in one or two economic activities. Unfortunately, the table does not demonstrate the large participation of children in craft production. Most of children in households where both parents were craftsmen presented a large participation in these activities. According to the interviewees, most Tzintzuntzeños working in these occupations started when they were very young. This fact illustrates an important economic strategy, which has been extensively used by Tzintzuntzeños and other rural communities to complement their economic disparities. The work of Mexican anthropologist Ricardo Pozas, emphasizes important features of the peasant family’s economic participation in the Mexican labor market. He illustrates how the economic disadvantages confronted by the family in their relationship with the dominant society, force these families to utilize the labor of all members. Pozas underlines how children, along with the rest of the adult members of the family, perform a variety of activities in order to guarantee everyday survival (Pozas y Pozas, 1969). Even though, these processes have changed considerably in the last decades, interviewees’ comments suggested that children’s importance to the family income is not a fictional inspiration of the household strategy model.3 Most of the Tzintzuntzeños interviewed recalled working with their parents in activities related to craft production, some as early as 7 years of age. When speaking about first jobs, Tzintzuntzeños underlined the importance of their own work as children contributing to their family’s income. As Rosa and Carlos explained: Beginning at a very young age, they put us to work, almost as soon as we learned to walk, and they put us to work. We worked and in that way we helped our parents. We would make plates, pots, dishes or whatever was necessary, everything. So when I grew up, I didn't do this type of work, because when we were little they would wake us up at 4-a.m. do you know what work a child does? They dig the clay out of the earth and then they must ‘take the earth outside to the sun to let it dry’ and after that it needs to be crushed with a stone until it's like flour. If I couldn't do this, then they had me make tortillas, or cook, or wash my brothers' clothing - and there were 9 brothers and sisters. There were a lot of us. And at 8

76

Making Ends Meet o'clock in the morning, we would have already eaten breakfast and we would be doing other things or getting ready for school...and that was how we spent most of our time. That's why, since I was a little girl, I became very interested and liked very much to sew (Rosa). …I think I was 7 or 6 years old. You see, the situation improved in my house because we had a big oven with a large capacity. We could not fill it, although we were firing clay all the time. Sometimes we had to make lots of pieces in many sizes. That's when our family made more progress. Because we were doing all the work, my parents made all the big pieces and we did all the smaller pieces. Yes, in one week we filled all the ovens, and we went every week to sell it, with the station wagon very full. Yes, my father would go sell it. But it was also a pain- you cannot imagine, for everyone, but more so for me. Because this meant getting up very early, and they didn't say ‘no, you poor kids, but ‘orale'[come on] get up,’ and I was the oldest, and well, I got up and helped them (Carlos).

Children’s work to complement the family income was not just concentrated in craft production at home. These activities extended to agricultural activities. Working in a variety of jobs outside of the home to bring extra-money to the household was another way to complement family expenses. As Juan Luis and Hector indicated: My father had two small plots and he spent a lot of time working ‘a medias’ and I used to work with him almost all of the time in the field, I was about 7 or 8 years old. This was every day because we had to go to school. We worked after school and during vacation (Juan Luis). When I started working, I was approximately 12 years old, and I worked with the farmers in Tzintzuntzan. One would work there on Saturdays and Sundays. One goes to school, and after school, ‘orale’ [come on] to work! (Hector). The difficulties confronted with living conditions, resulted in extra work for members of the family. Bringing firewood to use in food preparation and the firing of the ceramic, taking care of smaller brothers and sisters, were extremely important activities for

Tzintzuntzeño’s Migratory Experience: First Stage 77 Tzintzuntzeños and very often these were the responsibilities of the children of the family. As Pablo, Javier and Maricela related: The way one starts to help their parents, for example, is by going to the hills and bringing firewood to use in the firing of ceramic and also to prepare the meals; if there is no wood, there are no meals. For example, I believe you saw how they prepared the pottery; my mother also used to make pottery. We all had to bring the clay for firing". I am the second to the youngest of my siblings, Enrique, Jose Luis, Ana and Gerardo. I was there with my older brothers. Because when we needed firewood, everyone who could do so went to the hills to bring it... because the ovens work with wood, and if we didn't have wood the clay could not be fired (Pablo). Seeing our parents' situation, how they didn't have enough money to even eat poorly, we didn't dare make demands for clothes, shoes, or things, right? Sometimes they didn't have enough for the school supplies, right? Sometimes, for the midterm exams or for the finals, we went to the hills to bring firewood to sell it, or simply sticks to support the chayotes’s (“vegetable pear”) branches. As you know, over there it is customary to eat chayotes. Then we would bring branches, to support the vines. When the chayotes were ripe, then we ate them (Javier). Yes, what I liked most than anything, was to assist my aunts in everything. When they had a newborn baby they would take me to their homes. I was about 12 years old. Because hardly any pottery was made in my house, my mother worked very little (in ceramics), she used to make ashtrays. We used to make 12 dozen every day... (Maricela). Tzintzuntzeños today recognize their children’s contributions during those years in Tzintzuntzan. As Patricia, interviewed in Los Angeles, said when referring to her son Carlos’s work: Well, yes, I used to say to my son ‘look if we work we can have the things that we need and if we don’t do it, well…’ He didn’t said things like ‘mama I want to have breakfast at home before

78

Making Ends Meet going to school.’ We didn’t have time, I had to give him money because in the school they used to sell food, and that was what they wanted it. And I used to tell them, if we don’t work we will not have any money, we need your help and all that, because this was to receive their help, right? And they did help us a lot.

All interviewees emphasized the combinations of activities related to school and housework. Most of the Tzintzuntzeños interviewed noted how the increased time on economic family activities took away time from their school time. Interviewees illustrated the priority given to craft production compared to the importance given to school. As Herlinda and Lorenzo stated: I was more or less Paulino's age, younger than Ediberto. I was about 9 years old and at that age they sent me to watch over the cows, or to do other things. I learned how to make pots. I tell my children ‘look, you have bread and everything in your hands and in your mouth, here we give you everything, but not over there.’ I tell them 'over there, we had to go to school and work at the same time'. Yes, since I was my son's age, I began helping my mother with the pottery (Herlinda). Yes, yes, for example let's suppose we got up at 5 o'clock in the morning, and at 8 o’ clock, we were back at home, ready to go to school. Yes, daily, that's how it was every day. There was no... After school every one had a chore to do, for example when we made the Crosses (wheat straw figures) you know, it has the crown, the scepter, and the cross, that is to say, we each had a task, that's how the work was distributed. Well, as you know, the father, what he wants is to take advantage of his children's labor. When there was a lot of work sometimes we barely had time to eat a taco while we were working and ‘orale’ [come on], we had to work on something until it was time to go to school. In other words, we never rested, because we worked during any available time. That's how it was with the majority of the people, that's how it is with almost everyone (Lorenzo). The participation of minors in the family economic survival strategies affected the educational experience of these minors. Because the time spent working, they had little time left for school, resulting in high levels of dropouts. This is reflected in the low years of schooling for the families in the original sample. As Antonia’s interview demonstrated:

Tzintzuntzeño’s Migratory Experience: First Stage 79 I only finished secondary school; after secondary I could not continue studying because 3 of my older brothers were studying and so was Mary, who was studying to became a nurse, and also for financial reasons. They were all living in Morelia, so my father could not afford it, and he told me: 'I think you are going to lose a year' and after that year, time passed, and I was already 15 years old. Some Tzintzuntzeños started learning their “future” occupations at a young age. These occupations were learned from other family members and still are an important form of complementing income among Tzintzuntzeños in Los Angeles, Washington and Tzintzuntzan. This is illustrated in the case of Pablo, who still complements his income through his work as musician, his secondary occupation. Well, that was not for long, because when I was about 13 years old one of my brothers started learning the accordion, another learned the guitar, and I had always enjoyed singing, ever since I was little, so I helped them. We all learned to play by ear. I was the only one who didn't learn anything. Just to sing. We had the idea because my grandfather used to play in the Tzintzuntzan band, and he played for several years and then my father had a clarinet, but he never learned how to play it. Then one year, during the bracero period, he arrived at home with an accordion and that was when Ramon began learning to play it. Now we perform here in Los Angeles and it's work that has helped us all. We still perform during weekends and it’s an extra job that we have. The lack of industries or small businesses in Tzintzuntzan, the low economic benefits from craft production, and lack of education leave Tzintzuntzeños with few options other than migrating. Kemper’s research of Tzintzuntzeño’s migration to Mexico City explains how since 1965 the migrations to Mexico City have increased considerably (Kemper, 1977:12). Research emphasizes (Dinerman, 1982; Cornelius, 1990a) that emigrants are typically young and single. The Tzintzuntzeño case is no exception. Of the 30 men interviewed, the average age was 24 years old at the time of their first trip to the United States.

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Making Ends Meet

WOMEN'S WORK AND REPRODUCTION OF THE LABOR FORCE DURING THE FIRST STAGE OF THE MIGRATORY PROCESS

One of the main objectives of this section is to bring into the analysis the role women's labor has in shaping the ways these families relate to labor markets on both sides of the border. In order to understand these labor experiences, it is important to examine the role women's labor had in the reproduction of Tzintzuntzeño labor force. Women's labor is not a static process. As with gender and ethnic relationships, this is a dynamic, always changing phenomenon. Therefore, a consideration of concrete historical moments is important. Tzintzuntzeño women have had considerable changes in their occupational experiences. The initiation of the United States -Mexican Bracero Program, during the 40’s, was a major factor in the penetration of new labor experiences in the community. Large numbers of men migrated to the United States and new investments in the home area affected craft markets, increasing a demand for Tzintzuntzeño crafts. Both factors increased the work of women and children in Tzintzuntzan.4 Prior to their first trip to United States, most women were employed in craft production (Table1). Their work as crafters and the active role that women had in the organization of religious ceremonies in the community gave the women a good amount of prestige and respeto (respect).”5 Tzintzuntzeño women position at the moment of their husband’s first trip to the United States is important to consider when understanding the decision- making processes during that period of time. Contrary, to what Hondagneu-Sotelo found in the case of the The Oakview Barrio families during their stage migration, Tzintzuntzeño women’s economic participation and their roles in the social structure of Tzintzuntzan were important factors that influenced the active role these women played in these decisions-making processes. HondagneuSotelo illustrates the Oakview experiences with the household’s decisionmaking processes: In those families where men migrated before their wives and children, women were not included as active participants in the decision to migrate. Rather, the husbands unilaterally decided to migrate north with little regard for their wives’ concerns and opinions; migration was not the outcome of conjugal or household decision-making processes. Husbands either announced their imminent departure, or sought their wives’ tacit

Tzintzuntzeño’s Migratory Experience: First Stage 81 approval by justifying their actions on the basis of family economic need. This pattern reflected both the legitimacy of husbands’ and fathers’ authority to act autonomously, and the context of the immediate opportunities in which they acted (Hondagneu-Sotello, 1994:57). In the case of Tzintzuntzeño families, women’s decision to stay in Tzintzuntzan while their husbands left to work in the United States was not a decision totally taken by their husbands without considering women opinions, as the Hondagneu-Sotelo’s case suggested. Tzintzuntzeño women took an active role. These decisions took into consideration the possibility of their husband’s employment and the lack of security of the family’s income in the United States. Also important in these decisions was the possibility to rely on an “economic cushion”6 provided by women’s craft work, which secured the subsistence of the family during this period. Men’s absence from home increased women’s work and responsibilities (Mummert, 1991, 1994; Alarcón, 1988) but Tzintzuntzeño women had a dynamic economic and social participation long before their husbands’ first trip to the United States. During this first stage of the Tzintzuntzeño migratory experience, women's labor in Tzintzuntzan covered part, and sometimes, all of the subsistence costs of the family. First trip costs and the instability of their husbands situation in the United States resulted in the family subsistence being carried by women and very often as the interviews showed, children’s labor. Women’s work in the reproduction of the labor force, which included preparing food, raising kids, caring for the sick and elderly, forced women to combine economic activities with housework. As Emma stated: We worked the wheat straw, but not all day, just in the evenings to help us with some money. My children helped me when they came from the school, but the pay was so bad, that it was not worth working so hard for nothing. These Tzintzuntzeño women’s attitudes present them as active participants, not patient victims. When "stage migration” occurs, women were not left behind because of authoritarian decision- making by their husbands. Women in Tzintzuntzan presented a dynamic, nonsubmissive attitude when confronting these situations. As Ana states:

82

Making Ends Meet When my husband and sons were in U.S. I used to work making ceramic pots with my daughters. You can ask in Tzintzuntzan about our work(joking). We are well known in Tzintzuntzan for our ceramic, and this is something that you can do even if you don't have any money. You just need to have the ovens and to know how to do it.

As we can observe in table 2, in most of these cases women worked in Tzintzuntzan to complement the family income. They were for the most part engaged in work such as pottery-making, straw weaving, and other ad-hoc jobs. This was corroborated by most of the women interviewed in Tzintzuntzan. As the table also shows, most of the husbands were employed in agricultural jobs in the United States. The seasonally, low “reliance,” low wages, no benefits, and lack of medical insurance made these workers more dependent on their families, particularly during periods of unemployment.

Table 2 Occupation Of Women And Men Before "Legalization" WOMEN MEXICO OCCUPATION Potters Weavers Seamstress Maid Selfemployed Butcher Factory Nurse Student Housewife Total

Q T Y 18 1

Factory

MEN MEXICO Q OCCUPA T -TION Y 2

Cashiers

1

U.S. OCCUPA -TION

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 26

Q T Y

U.S. OCCUPATION Agricultural Work Factory Work Restaurant Construction Vendor

Housewife

1 4

Q T Y 2 3 4 1 1 1

3

Tzintzuntzeño’s Migratory Experience: First Stage 83 Most of the interviewed men agreed that working in the field did not give them the security of stable conditions that would enable them to unite with their families in the United States. One of these men stated: My first year in California, I arrived at Northworth and that was in '74 or '75. I came because my brother was already here and that was where he got me a job. I worked in the strawberry fields; that was where they worked, and it was also the work I came to do. The season was from February to July, and I stayed from '75 to '78. When the season ended, I returned to Tzintzuntzan. I always returned to Tzintzuntzan as soon as the strawberry season ended. When I arrived in Tzintzuntzan, I used to work with my brothers until the following season. I also worked the straw with my father. I got married in '78, and soon after, I left the strawberry fields because the immigration officers frequently raided the fields. They knew which seasons to arrive (Pablo). Women who stayed in Tzintzuntzan continued laboring and taking care of the family, securing the welfare of the children economically and socially. Most of the wives expected that the family would be reunited either in the United States or in Mexico. Rosa explained how she organized her work and family income while her husband was working in the United States: My husband left for the United States in 1974 and soon after he returned to marry me. When he came the first time, I already had my two sons. I stayed in Mexico, waiting for the opportunity to join him, right? My husband would come every year. He usually stayed 10 months and then went back to work in Tzintzuntzan for three months. Sometimes he did not send me enough money. It depended on how the season had been. It always varied. It depended on the kind of work he could get, because he had good and bad jobs. During some seasons he could make money. Sometimes he had three good months and then one bad month, then three good weeks, then it would be

84

Making Ends Meet less. It varied and was rarely constant. Yet, I made ends meet with what he sent me, because I have always done all right with my work. Many customers sought me out for my sewing. I made dresses of all types and sizes, pants, blouses, anything, and for instance, if there was a dance recital at school, I made all the girls' dresses...

Josefina, also states: When my husband was working in the United States, I stayed in Tzintzuntzan with my three children. I supported the family with what little funds he sent me and whatever I earned with my work in Tzintzuntzan. Because over there (Tzintzuntzan), the women work too much. There are also a lot of conveniences over there. The only thing that one needs is...Well over there it's not possible to get ahead because you need a lot of money to do everything. For example, in my case, I used to sell the unfinished pottery because I didn't have money to buy wood to fire it, to complete it,... that's what held me back...If I would have had some money, I could have accomplished a lot more....over there you can get ahead, but only if you have money to invest. We had none! That's why one gets stuck selling the unfinished pieces. For instance, I make it today and sell it tomorrow. Then I would have money, which I used for my children and myself. That's why I never lacked anything. An important factor in understanding the reproduction of the Tzintzuntzeño family labor force during that period of time was the assistance that members of the extended family gave to each other. The social relationship that existed among family members functioned as a “shock absorber” at difficult moments, especially when the husband were absent. As we observe in Josefina’s interview: I used to see my parents every day, or rather, I worked at home and I would visit them every evening. I went to see them every evening. I felt uneasy if I didn't go there. Our houses were near each other. ... my mother would say ‘come to live with us, daughter, here you will lack for nothing,’ but I would think, no it's not proper, I am already married, I have my own life. I didn't

Tzintzuntzeño’s Migratory Experience: First Stage 85 want them to feel obligated to give me anything. I didn't want that; I didn't like the idea that they were going to support me. I knew I had to make it on my own.

MIGRATION STATUS, LABOR MARKET AND EFFECTS ON TZINTZUNTZEÑO FAMILY STRUCTURE This section focuses on the effects that political and economic changes have on the re-organization of the Tzintzuntzeño families. The analysis emphasizes the type of employment and political position (immigration status) these families had during their first stage of their migratory experience. This chapter starts with the employment these families had before the passing of IRCA in 1986. This section will focus on the effects IRCA had on Tzintzuntzeño family structure. Particularly, the impact that legalization had on Tzintzuntzeño’s labor experiences and how these new relationships with the labor market affected their family relationship. Even though changes in labor market participation and legal status are important factors affecting the migrant income generating strategies, Tzintzuntzeño families are not just receptive actors being shaped by the macro structural changes. An important goal of this section is to underline the active and dynamic arrangements that migrants plan as a response to economic and political changes. Before legalization, Tzintzuntzeño men interviewed, usually “left” their wives and children in Mexico. Typically, they worked from 8 to 10 months in the United States and then went home. They stayed in Mexico for a period of time, then returned to the United States. One of these circular migrants stated: During almost 8 years, I went and returned every year. Sometimes, I would stay in the U. S. 10 months and then would return home. Other occasions, I would stay for shorter periods in the United States, it would depend on the type of work I could find (Enrique).

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Making Ends Meet

Changes caused by their husbands’ new immigration status and changes in their relationship with labor market opened new opportunities to women. Wives often came to the United States because their husbands' employment (as a result of legalization) had meant he would not return as often. Women also saw an opportunity to work and earn money in the United States as well. As Rosaura indicated: Before, women were more obedient. If their husbands told them to wait for them in the town, they did it. But now women are changing. If they see an opportunity of also going to United States, they do it, even when their husbands are the ones that have the papers. When women migrate to join their husbands, they find that men have established social networks that they can use to help them find jobs, despite their undocumented status and the employer sanctions provisions of the 1986 immigration law. As Matilde recalled: I knew that I wouldn’t have any problems to start working, because Mario (her husband) already had a job for me in the field picking green beans. I arrived Sunday and on Monday I was already working. One of the important employees of the company is from Tzintzuntzan. Javier (manager of a factory) also noted how the networks helped people get jobs: Before, just men came to United States. But now, I think women are more encouraged to come, because there are more families and everybody tries to help the paisanos (fellow countrymen). In my factory there are several from Tzintzuntzan, and if we can help them we will... Prior to the 1986 immigration law changes, some older children had already reunited with their fathers in the United States, but families with younger children confronted difficult decisions. Sometimes children were left behind under the care of extended family (grandparents, sisters) at no

Tzintzuntzeño’s Migratory Experience: First Stage 87 cost to the children’s parents’ employer. For the United States employers, there was no better day care than the one provided by their employee’s families back in their place of origin. For example, Matilde left her children behind in Tzintzuntzan when she came for the first time to the United States. The overcrowded housing, her unstable job, low wages and problems with her immigration status were not the perfect conditions into which to bring her children. As she explained: ...Yes, I miss my children I feel really sad without them but I know that they are very well taken care of by my family and my husband’s parents. They just go from one house to the other as if it was their own. That gives me a lot of tranquility. Back in Tzintzuntzan, Matilde's family took care of her children’s needs. As Matilde's sister, Martha, recalled: “...then Matilde had her first baby and I devoted a lot of time to her children...It was at that time that she left for the United States and she left the children in Tzintzuntzan. Yes, I think it was about 5 years. This was in 1990, from about '87 to '90. I arrived here in '91... Table 3 focuses on people who were married at the time of their first migration. The data is broken down by migration status before and after legalization and the structure of their families, transnational and reunited families in the United States.

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Making Ends Meet

Table 3 Married Men From Tzintzuntzan Family Structure And Legal Status Transnationa l Families Reunited Families*

Undocumented on First Trip 19

Still Undocumented 5

Now "Legalized" 0

0

0

14

Total 19 5 *4 Women reunited before "legalization"

14

In the first column, the undocumented Tzintzuntzeños overwhelmingly lived in transnational families. After acquiring documents, Tzintzuntzeño men reunited their families in the United States. As you can observe in Table 3, third column, 14 men reunited with their families after legalization with IRCA; the men "brought" their wives and children to the United States. In this group there are 4 women who reunited with their husbands before legalization, without legal documentation. These families confronted the dangers of crossing the border in order to be together. We can observe that families saw the legalization process as an opportunity to be reunited with members of their families. It is important to note that some of the women were more concerned with having the family reunited (whether in the United States or Mexico), than obtaining legalization of their migratory status. In one of the interviews, Ana explained: I didn't come to this country to fix my papers. I came because I was tired of living with my family separated. We were living our lives separately (cada uno por su lado)... I do not care where I live, so long as my family is together.

Tzintzuntzeño’s Migratory Experience: First Stage Also, Rosaura stated:

89

I really was not too happy to come to the United States. I had a good job in Zamora, (she was a nurse in a Hospital). My husband barely earned enough to pay all that he needed in United States …I had enough for me and the children, but I didn't like the idea of living apart. The second column in Table 3 shows five new arrivals, who were not able to legalize their migrant status. By 1990, they still had their families in Mexico. Informal conversations with single men in the United States suggested that these "new arrivals" would supply the labor market with a good reserve of cheap labor. Those arriving during that time (1990) without any documents usually had to spend more time looking for employment, but eventually they found a job. The 1986 law has added new layers at the bottom of the immigrant work force, which may be jobs that have been abandoned by newly legalized immigrants.

Table 4 Single Men On Their First Trip To The U.S. Who Later Married Before "Legalization" Transnational Families Reunited Families

6

After "Legalization" 0

5*

11

Total

11

11

*1 Married U.S. Citizen 3 Married women from another place in Mexico 1 Married a woman already in the U.S. In Table 4, we observe single men on their first trip to the United States who later married. This table shows the same patterns as seen in the previous table. As you can observe in the first column, six men

90 Making Ends Meet married women from Tzintzuntzan, who continued to reside in Tzintzuntzan (transnational families). One married a Tzintzuntzan woman already residing in the United States. Three men married women from other parts of Mexico who were already in the United States, and one married a United States citizen. In the second column, we observe that after becoming legalized, the men were all living with their families in the United States. As a result of acquiring legal status, there were significant changes in occupations, which help us explain changes in family structure. As we can observe in Table 5, while undocumented, men tended to work in seasonal jobs, such as fieldwork (23). In contrast, the newly legalized men tended to be employed in factories and other more stable occupations, (even those in agriculture mentioned jobs as foremen, not laborers). There are 25 legalized men and 5 men who were not able to obtain legalization, they came after IRCA ("the new arrivals").

Table 5 Occupation Of Men In The U.S. Before "Legalization" Agricultural Work 23 Factory Work 4 Restaurant 1 Construction 1 Vendor 1 Trash Recol. Mechanic Unemployed Total 30 *5 Men are new arrivals, after IRCA

After "Legalization" 4 15 3

1 1 1 25*

These differences in occupations influence the development of different family strategies. Undocumented status and the temporary jobs allowed many to go home more often than documented immigrants. Lack of employee and social benefits, such as Welfare and Medi-cal, made these workers more dependent on their families in their place of origin. The experiences of these families indicate that "employer sanctions" have not been successful in reducing job opportunities in the

Tzintzuntzeño’s Migratory Experience: First Stage 91 United States. The proliferation of fraudulent documents is one of the most important features of the post 1986 IRCA experience. For the Tzintzuntzeño, the most important source of information about employment was the well-established immigrant network of the newlylegalized husbands. These networks, strengthened by IRCA legalization, gave men a greater sense of security in jobs and more stable employment in the United States. This in turn led to a greater willingness and capacity to immigrate their families from Mexico. At this point of the research, Tzintzuntzeño families are seen as an endurable institution, men’s migration and increasing integration into a market economy do not necessarily accelerate the breakdown of the family unity. Also families’ reunification in the United States may increase family solidarity and extend kin ties in the rural communities. Immigrants’ wage labor contributes to the maintenance of extended family, as we will observe in the following chapters. The experience of Tzintzuntzeño families immediately after IRCA (1990) demonstrated that immigration legislation did not stop the flow of undocumented immigration. According to these interviews, by providing legalization for undocumented workers, the law created new ways for the workers to interact with the labor market. Tzintzuntzeños moved into more stable jobs ( i.e., from field labors to factory workers). This changed family strategies and influenced decisions to reunite families in the United States. The wives of these newly legalized Tzintzuntzeños thus came as undocumented immigrants themselves. In many cases they found work in the informal sector of the economy, allowing the family to increase its earning power. In this case, IRCA resulted in more undocumented migration, that of family members, who saw new economic opportunities. Employers and the Tzintzuntzeño social networks rendered immigration policies ineffective.

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CHAPTER 5

Economic Restructuring and the Migrant Labor Market in Southern California

One of the most significant factors that influence the events after immigrant arrival to the United States is the host labor market (Portes and Rumbaut, 1990). To understand how Tzintzuntzeño families have organized their daily income generating strategies, we must closely observe the forms in which these families are integrated into the region economy, as well as the characteristics of contemporary economic restructuring1 in Los Angeles and Orange County (Sassen 1988, Morales and Bonilla, 1993; Manuel Pastor, 1998). This section analyzes the interdependence that exists between Los Angeles and Orange County’s economic restructuring and immigrant labor market and provides the theoretical and contextual framework to understand how this relationship affects Tzintzuntzeño families. Research has established immigration as a key factor in labor market restructuring (Morales and Bonilla, 1993; Gordon and Sassen, 1992; Sassen, 1988, 1993). In Southern California, the growing Latino population and its increasing labor force participation give the region important features. This line of research has also shown that an effect of economic restructuring in this area is the formation of impoverished barrios, another feature that creates an intense atmosphere that breeds strong social networks.2 Several contextual factors such as the reliance on the Latino labor force in the low-wage service sector, the new flexibility employers sought in response to the pressure of international 93

94 Making Ends Meet competition, and the increasing informalization of these jobs have a stong effect on immigrant’s living conditions and the forms in which they organize their income generating strategies. The Tzintzuntzeño case allows us to observe the experiences that immigrants have within a labor market with such characteristics. Their experience with shortterm employment, and the high rates of underemployment and unemployment, one of the most notable effects of contemporary restructuring, have affected the forms in which Tzintzuntzeños organize their family income. The flexibility with which employers hire and lay-off workers, and the informalization that results from these practices are important employers’ strategies that are found among some of the most successful global enterprises (Gordon and Sassen, 1991). The garment industry in Los Angeles, with its increasing informalization and Latino (mainly Mexican) labor force participation is a good example of these tendencies (Morales and Ong, 1993; Bonacich, Cheng, Chinchilla, Hamilton and Ong, 1994; Chin, Sarmiento and Smith, 1997). Tzintzuntzan immigrants, as other immigrants with similar profiles, by their active participation in the labor market, play a dynamic role in the economic reorganization of the region. The characteristics of this participation present important elements in the understanding of new tendencies in the organization of the contemporary labor markets and immigrants’ social-economic strategies. This chapter begins with a general discussion of economic restructuring, describing how Los Angeles and Orange County, in particular, fit in. The second part discusses the growth of the Latino population, the characteristics of its labor and the changes in the employment distribution in the region. The last part of the chapter, deals with characteristics of the Latino labor market participation, particularly, high rates of unemployment and low-income employment, two important consquences of contemporary economic restructuring on immigrant communities, which have as a result the formation of impoverished barrios, the “third world cities.” Sassen refers to the "restructuring of the global economy" as the result of the internationalization of capital and its effect on the supply and demand of labor. Sassen argues how new immigration is primarily associated with a process of socioeconomic re-composition in major urban centers. This has resulted in the major growth of two sectors:

Economic Restructuring and the Migrant Labor Market 95 services and downgraded manufacturing (Sassen, 1991, 1987, 1988, Morales and Bonilla, 1993; Jorge Chapa, 1998; Friedman and Wolff, 1982). Sassen’s research has shown how both, downgraded service and manufacturing jobs have generated a large array of low-wage jobs. These jobs present few if any requirements for skill and language proficiency and have few advancement opportunities, consequently generating conditions conducive to the absorption of a large influx of immigrants (Sassen, 1985:301; Soja, 1987; Sabagh and Bozorgmehr, 1996; Morales, 1983, 1992, Chin, Sarmiento and Smith, 1997). This perspective on economic restructuring argues that immigration has caused a growing “flexibility” of the labor market in the United States. This flexibility includes processes that provide for useful insights into the analysis of the intersection of labor markets and immigration (Gordon and Sassen, 1992; Fernandez-Kelly and Garcia, 1989). Southern California, specifically the region of Los Angeles and Orange County, is a good geographic area in which to observe important features of economic restructuring as a result of the influx of new immigrants. This restructuring underlines both the increase of immigration flows and the influence these flows give to the restructuring of the labor market (Morales and Bonilla, 1993; Muller and Espenshade, 1985; Fernandez-Kelly and Garcia 1989). As is well known, Los Angeles and Orange Counties are regions with major increases in new migrant populations (Morales and Ong, 1993; Morales, 1983). This area presents a good model to analyze the forms in which migration affects changes in the labor market (Morales and Bonilla, 1993; Sassen, 1993, 1994; Wolff, 1992; Soja, 1987, 1989, 1991; Sassen and Smith, 1992). As Morales and Bonilla explain, “Latinos in the United States display several distinct characteristcs: high rates of immigration and reproduction, low levels of education, high rates of urbanization, concentration in low-paying jobs, and high levels of poverty. These traits are both cause and consequence of the restructuring” (Morales and Bonilla, 1993: 11). This line of research points out how immigrants’ characteristics influence the regional labor market, which in turn affects the kind of restructuring in a determined area. Futhermore, it investigates how this influx generates a growing service sector with peculiar strategies to

96 Making Ends Meet reduce the costs of production (Morales and Ong, 1993; Sarmiento, 1996; Chin, Sarmiento and Smith, 1997). Wolff describes the relationship between Orange County and Los Angeles as a single region sharing characteristics in economic restructuring. “This epic-scale region emerged from a historic population and industrial expansion that originally centered in the City of Los Angeles: first it spilled throughout Los Angeles County, then into Orange County, and more recently it has flowed into the nearby counties of Riverside, San Benandino and Ventura (Wolff, 1992:1) This region has seen an increase in its participation in the international economy in recent decades. As pointed out by Wolff: “Los Angeles has become a national and international leader in aerospace and is a center for international finance and trade. Since the late seventies, the region's preponderance of international trade has shifted to the economies of Asia. As of 1990, the top five trading partners with Los Angeles were Japan, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, the People’s Republic of China and Singapore. Additionally trade travels by land between Southern california and Mexico”(Woll, 1992:2; Soja, 1987; Soja, Morales and Wolff, 1983). Olin points out some similar trends in Orange County. He points out how during the Cold War era, this region was one of the major industrial metropolis in the world. “Beginning in the early 1950’s and continuing through the 1960’s Orange County became an increasingly important participant of a larger Southern California region which is comprised of Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties” (Olin, 1992:149). Olin notes how from the mid-1950 until recently, aerospace-defense production represented the most important sector of Orange County's manufacturing employment. The County's development is also due to its change from an agricultural economy to an industrial one. Another factors that were responsible for this economic development were the expansion of the aerospace industry in Irvine, and the growth of the tourist industry, including the successes of Disneyland, Knot’s Berry Farm, and beach cities. Olin notes how in 1992, the County ranked as the tenth largest county economy in the United States (Olin, 1992: 149-150).

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97

POPULATION GROWTH One significant characteristic shared in the economic restructuring of Los Angeles and Orange County is the tremendous population growth. From the early 1970's through the 1990's, Los Angeles and Orange County's populations increased at a faster pace than that of the nation. According to Wolff (1992:2), between 1975 and 1990, Los Angeles' population increased by 38%, while the nation, as a whole, grew by only 16.3%. The region’s higher population increase was due, in large part to the increase of migration.3 The new immigrant flows had a strong effect on the Los Angeles ethnic composition. Wolff illustrates that between 1980 and 1990 the white population of the five -county area (Southern California) increased by 3.8 % the Latino population by 73.2 percent, the Asian population by 138.8 % and the AfricanAmerican population by 11.5 %. Over sixty percent of California's Latinos reside in the five counties of the Southern California region. According to the 1990 census, 3.4 million Latinos live in Los Angeles County, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the region total (Wolff, 1992:2). The changing demographics of Los Angeles are more apparent when the population is broken down by age. Age contrast is essential in comparing the trends of white and Latino populations, as observed in figure 1.

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Figure 1 Over 18 Year Old Racial/Ethnic Distribution Los Angeles County, 1990 Over 18 Year Old Racial/Ethnic Distribution Los Angeles County, 1990 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Asian

Latino

Black

Source: U.S. Census, P.L. 94-171 File, Goetz Wolff, 1992

White

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Figure 2 Under 18 Year Old Racial/Ethnic Distribution Under 18 Year Old Racial/Ethnic Distribution Los Angeles County, 1990 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Asian

Latino

Black

White

Source: U.S. Census, P.L. 94-171 File, Goetz Wolff, 1992

Using data from the U.S. census, Wolff demonstrates how an important factor for explaining the increase of Latino population is age. The figures clearly show the potential for the continued growth of the Latino population, regardless of whether the current rates of immigration continue or not. While Latinos make up 35% of the “over 18 years old” population, they constitute 55% of the “under 18 years old” population (Wolf, 1992:3). Currently in Orange County, the Latino community, in which most of the Tzintzuntzeños live, is clustered in the older, north-central neighborhoods, which have been abandoned by white residents. Mexicans reside primarily in Santa Ana, South Fullerton, and Anaheim.

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Figure 3 Map of Orange and Surrounding Counties

Unquestionably, Orange County has also had a tremendous growth in the past years. Data compiled for the 1990 United States census shows that the Latino population is clearly expanding in Orange County. Nieves's demographic data analysis from the Bureau of the U.S. Census points out that in the 1980 Census, Latinos accounted for 289,339 persons in Orange County. By 1990, that number had risen to 564,828 persons. In the 1980's, when the county's non-Hispanic white population grew at a rate of 2.9%, the Latino population grew at a rate of 97.3 for a full decade. (U.S. 1990 Census; Nieves, 1993:2) According to Nieves, the 1990 Census reported 575,108 foreign born persons in Orange County. This number constitutes 24% of the county's population. Such a large presence of foreigners demonstrates that significant portions of Orange County residents are first generation Americans. Nieves illustrates that a significant number are recent immigrants. One third of the County's immigrants arrived between 1985 and 1990. Therefore, a significant portion of the 97% Latino growth rate for the decade can be attributed to immigration (U.S. Census; Nieves, 1993:2-4).

Tzintzuntzeño’s Migratory Experience: First Stage 101 Nieves points out important characteristics of the Latino population in Orange County. Today, he states, “persons of Mexican origin constitute 85% of the county Latino population, consequently, the Latino population in Orange County is much more homogeneous than the Latino population of the United States as a whole” (Nieves, 1993:3). The Latino population is also very young. While the median age for all persons in Orange County is 31.5 years of age, the median age for Latinos is 24.1 years. Similarly, over 52% of the Latino population is under 25 years of age, while only 36% of the total County population is under 25 years of age (Nieves, 1993:3). This factor is important to consider in the analysis of the increasing participation of Latinos in the regional labor market.4 The 2000 Census of population continues to show the same pattern. Orange County has the second largest population in the state. The Latino population grew by 46%, accounting for at least 28% of Orange County’s total population of 2.84 million. Although 51% of the population is white, Latinos make up 46% of the county’s children. Santa Ana, where most of the Tzintzuntzeños from the original sample reside, presents us important demographic changes. Today, Santa Ana’s population is 71% Latino, making it a city with one of the highest Latino population in the state and in the nation. Children account for up to 40% of the 338,000 residents in Santa Ana, the county’s largest city (U.S. 2000 Census).

LATINO LABOR FORCE IN THE REGION Recent research on the economic restructuring in Los Angeles area underlines the increasing influence that Mexican labor force has in the restructuring of the regional economy (Morales and Ong, 1993). Wolff’s research in Los Angeles sketches some industry trends that point to a strong relationship between increased presence of immigrant labor and the continued restructuring of the region’s labor market. He notes how Latinos have the highest level of labor force participation.

102

Making Ends Meet Thirty-five percent of the labor force was Latino in 1990…As a population group, Latino have the highest level of labor force participation: nearly 70 percent. This high rate may in part be due to a population age distribution with a large share in the prime working age cohort. Moreover, it is a fact that large portion consists of immigrants who came to Los Angeles to find employment. Latino males’ labor force participation rate of 82 percent is the highest of all the racial/ethnic groups (Wolff, 1992:9).

Latino labor force participation strongly influences the reorganization in Los Angeles’s labor market. As Wolff points out, “The changes in the composition of the Los Angeles manufacturing sector and the forms of its increasing reliance on a Latino/immigrant labor force, of which one-third is employed in manufacturing, are among the strongest indicators of a shift from an idealized modern industrial economy”(Wolff, 1992:10). Morales and Bonilla’s research in the Los Angeles also points out to the increasing participation of Mexican labor force in the restructuring of the area. They argue that even though Mexican workers are employed in both durable and nondurable industries, this group is overrepresented in nondurable goods. Recent immigrants are most concentrated in this sector. The authors state that approximately one half of male immigrants and over two thirds of female immigrants worked in manufacturing, “Concentration in manufacturing is coupled with employment instability and low wages, which has contributed to low incomes. Throughout the eighties, Mexican workers were nearly twice as likely to be in manufacturing than Anglo workers (39% vs. 17%)” (Morales and Bonilla, 1993: 67). Wolff’s research in Los Angeles demonstrates the reliance on the Latino labor force is clearly intertwined with the Los Angeles' service sector, which includes hotels, gardening services, restaurants, among many other.5 As observed in Figure 2, the service sector is the largest employer in Los Angeles County and accounts for 30% of all the formal wage and salary jobs. High tech (electronics and aerospace) is the second largest employer accounting for one in five jobs in Los Angeles (Wolff; 92:7).

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Figure 4 Employment Distribution By Major Sectors Los Angeles County, 1991 Employment Distribution By Major Sectors Los Angeles County, 1991 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5%

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Source: U.S. Census, 1990 Wolff, 1999. Resources for employment and economic development

Correspondingly, in Orange County the service sector is taking the leading role as the largest employer. Figure 3. Cantu points out important industries in Orange County, including services 30.5%, wholesale and retail 25%, and manufacturing 18% (Focus O.C. 1997, Cantu 1996-1997:6).

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Figure 5 Key Industries In Orange County Key Industries in Orange County 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Services

Wholesale & Retail

Manufacturing

Source: Focus OC 1997 Cantu, 1996-1997.

As in Los Angeles, the expansion of the Latino population seems to correlate with an increase of the service sector in Orange County. In Table 1, Cantu (1997) shows the Latino employment distribution, by ethnicity, for men and women in Orange County. The table illustrates important differences in the employment distribution among Latinos. For instance, the ratios for Cubans and South Americans in Managerial and Professional occupations are close to Whites. In contrast, when compared with other minorities, we observe a greater percentage of Mexicans and Central Americans in the “Oper/Fabr/Lab" category (more manually intensive labor). We can observe a significant increase of Latino female participation in the service sector of the economy, particularly Central American and Mexican women, who are highly represented in this area. This fact is emphasized when we compare it to the White and Asian female participation in this sector. (Cantu, 19961997:24). Tzintzuntzeños, as we will observe in the following chapter, are also increasingly being employed in the service sector.

Table 1 Employment Distribution By Origin And Sex Occupations Males Manage/Prof/Spec Tech/Sales/Admi Service Prec/Craft/Repair Oper/fabr/Lab Farm Females Manag/Prof/Spec Tech/Sales/Admi Service Prec/Craft/Repair Oper/Fabr/Lab Farm

Non-Hispanic White Black Asian

Total

Mexican

Hispanic Puerto Cuban Rican

Central American

South American

33.8 25.2 6.6 14.3 10.1 0.6

20.6 30.8 9.4 13.0 15.3 0.5

29.5 26.1 6.8 10.7 11.8 1.2

9.3 12.5 16.8 17.2 28.3 7.2

7.5 11.4 17.7 17.3 29.4 8.0

17.4 24.4 9.6 14.6 15.2 1.1

19.3 20.3 10.8 15.1 13.7 1.1

8.3 13.7 15.4 17.5 32.3 4.1

29.1 16.5 11.7 16.0 19.2 2.2

26.1 30.5 8.1 1.3 2.6 0.2

25.6 45.3 11.2 2.0 3.8 0.2

18.8 31.7 8.1 4.1 8.0 0.1

10.4 24.7 18.2 4.0 16.1 0.7

8.6 24.0 18.2 4.3 17.4 0.8

20.8 39.0 9.6 2.2 6.0 0.0

32.9 23.9 8.9 4.0 8.7 0.5

7.2 16.1 32.5 3.0 16.5 0.2

24.2 25.5 18.2 3.0 10.4 0.0

Source:U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990 PUMS 5% file. Note: Numbers represent percent of group in job sector. (Cantu, 1996-1997: 23)

106

Making Ends Meet Although Latinos are overwhelmingly represented in the service sector, there are class differences within the same ethnic group. According to the Tomas Rivera report, barrio residents earn substantially less income than do non-barrio residents in Orange County. Table 2 shows the increased participation of barrio residents in occupations related to manufacture and service sector. The report points out how low income families are restricted by their available options: “Latino families are larger, and consequently a greater percentage of their incomes goes to meeting basic needs. Housing costs take a high percentage of the available income. The prohibitive cost of housing outside the barrio contains Latinos in their neighborhoods. Barrio residents are also less likely to be carrying medical insurance, thus creating the additional out-of-pocket expense of medical expenses”(Tomas Rivera Report 1990:15). Melendez (1998) notes the strategies and resources immigrant communities have developed to confront the effects of globalization and poverty (Melendez, 1998: 107). Portes and Rumbaut also underline the “shield” aspect of the immigrant community, “common sociological observation is that such communities cushion the impact of cultural change and protect immigrants against prejudice and initial economic difficulties”(Portes and Rumbaut, 1990:88).

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Table 2 Occupations Of Persons Living In Barrios And Non-Barrios In Orange County Occupations Executive Professional Technical Sales Clerical Private Service Farming Craft Operator Laborer

Country Total 15.3 13.6 3.4 12.4 17.6 0.4 10.7 1.2 12.1 10.1 3.4

Non-barrios 16.4 14.8 3.5 13.2 18 0.3 10.3 0.9 11.5 8.2 2.9

Barrios 7.4 6 2.6 6.7 14.7 0.8 13.1 3.3 15.8 22.9 6.7

Source: CACI, 1987. The Tomas Rivera center Working Paper, 1990:17

According to the Tomas Rivera report, the differences in occupational status between barrio and non-barrio residents are nonsurprising. Latinos living in barrios are often unable to respond to the demand structure because of barriers related to language, transportation, and skill or education levels. Barrio residents are typically employed in the construction, recreation, and services industries and in general are more likely to be employed in low-skill occupations such as craft and service positions (The Tomas Rivera Report, 1990:17). Most of Tzintzuntzeños interviewed are located within barrios in Santa Ana, Orange and Los Angeles neighborhoods.

LATINO UNEMPLOYMENT IN ORANGE COUNTY An important characteristic of the Latino Labor market, and a direct consequence of the region's economic restructuring, has been the increase of unemployment and underemployment. Latinos have continuously suffered a much higher unemployment rate than the

108 Making Ends Meet county as a whole. Morales and Bonilla (1993) explain important causes of Mexican immigrants’ economically disadvantaged position during 1980, “Half of the recent immigrant population earned poverty level wages, in 1980, in contrast to 20 % of the total work force ... This coupled with the fact that 58 percent of Mexican males and 75 percent of Mexican female immigrants were part-time workers, led to extremely low annual earnings”(Morales and Bonilla, 1993:69). Nieves (1993) notes how in 1980 the Orange County unemployment rate for persons over the age of 15 was 4 percent. The 6.8 percent unemployment rate among Latinos was almost double the white jobless rate of 3.6 percent. Nieves argues that although the Latino unemployment rate was low compared with state and national rates at that time, the Latino unemployment rate for Orange County should be viewed in the context of the tremendous rate of job growth within the country and the relative low rate of unemployment for Whites. Nieves added that in 1990, 8.4 percent of Latinos in the labor force were unemployed as opposed to only 4.8 percent of the county workforce as a whole (Nieves, 1993: 27). Cantu further underscores the same problem. He states that during 1994-1996, when California’s unemployment rate was approximately 2 percent higher than the nation’s, Orange County maintained an unemployment rate usually several tenths of a point below the national rate and as much as 1.5% in April 1996. However, unemployment rates by city in Orange County reveal that cities such as Santa Ana and Garden Grove, which have large Latino populations, had the highest unemployment rates (about 5.6%) while predominantly white cities had low unemployment rates, e.g., Laguna Beach, 1.2% (Cantu, 1996: 22; confr. FocusOC, 1997). This problem is reflected in the 1990 report from the Tomas Rivera Center. The study of the community household surveys listed lack of jobs and employment opportunities as the most important problems facing Latinos in Orange County. Table 3.

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109

Table 3 Major Problems Facing Orange County, According To Latinos Latino Leadership

Latino Community

1.Education 2. Employment 3. Housing 4. Dropout rate 5. Immigration 6. Health Care 7. Economic Development 8.Bilingual Education 9. Substance Abuse

1. Employment 2. Finances 3. Discrimination 4. Language 5. Drugs 6. Education 7.Housing 8. Crime 9.Neighborhood Condition

Source: Tomas Rivera Report, 1990:58

As shown in Table 3 above, the Latino leadership's perceptions about the most important problem for the Latino community differed somewhat from those of the Latino community respondents. While the leaders believed that education was the most important issue, the Latino community respondents thought unemployment was the more pressing problem that needed to be addressed. The report points out: "In essence, the Latino leadership gave priority to the root cause of the problem, while the Latino community saw a lack of jobs (or the effect of that lack) as their priority; unemployment was their pressing, everyday problem. The emphasis given to discrimination and language barriers in the community household survey, also suggests that the community had a more intense sense of constraints on opportunities than on immediate needs, while the leadership places greater emphasis on long-term remedies to the problem” (Tomas Rivera’s Report 1990:59).

POLARITY The Los Angeles-Orange region presents a considerable disparity in its representation of income brackets. The region has one of California’s highest per capita levels of income and one of the most expensive

110 Making Ends Meet housing markets in the nation. This high level of prosperity continues despite serious difficulties brought on by significant layoffs in major industries, a formidable state budget crisis, and a national recession. In addition, the region has also experienced an expansion of the lower income bracket; due, in large part, to the growth of low-wage, manufacturing, and service industries. In Orange County, such low-income levels are overrepresented by Latinos. According to Nieves’s study of Latinos and social services in Orange County, Latinos make up 15 percent of Orange County's residents, but 30 percent of its poor. Per capita income in Orange County is a moderately high $19,890. In contrast, Latino per capita income is only $9,258 (Nieves, 1993:23). Orange County has a large number of wealthy persons, but over 90 % of those earning over $100,000 per year are white. Only 5% are Latino. Statistics showed that in Orange County the county poverty rate for all persons is 8.5 %. The rate for Latinos is much higher at 18.6% (Census 1990, Nieves, 1993:24). Also, Cantu points out that a greater percentage of Latinos, especially Mexicans and Central Americans are in the lowest income quintiles when compared to other racial and ethnic groups. More Latinos are living in or near poverty than other ethnic groups. Cantu discusses how, contrary to anti-immigrant rhetoric which claims that immigrants who come to the United States depend on welfare, only 20.8 % of foreign born Mexicans in Orange County received public assistance in 1989 despite the fact that 87.7 percent of this population made less than $20,000.00 in that year (Cantu, 1997: 30). The above indicators direct us to observe the relationship between the region’s structural changes and the growth of the Latino population, particularly Mexican immigrants. The quality of their employment is reflected in the working and living conditions of a large portion of this population. Orange and Los Angeles Counties are good examples of “third world cities” as described by recent research. The "third world city” characterization has been applied to Los Angeles on many occasions, including Friedmann and Wolff, 1982; Soja, 1987, 1991; Morales and Wolff, 1988; Wolff, 1992; Sassen, 1991). Wolff points out that the identification of Los Angeles as a “third world city" loses its analytical distinction if it is simply defined with the observation that a poor immigrant population from the third world resides in the city. Wolff, instead, underscores the processes:

Economic Restructuring and the Migrant Labor Market 111 To be meaningful, the 'third world city' label must refer to more than increased immigration. It must include the process and result of economic restructuring: the loss of high wage manufacturing without commensurate employment opportunities for displaced workers; the expansion of low-wage industries; the creation of third world working conditions (declining or nonexistent labor and health standards, child labor, sub minimum wages), the devolution of work by major firms to smaller firms with secondary labor markets characteristics; the growth of the informal sector; and the expansion of the third world conditions (crowded housing, deteriorating health conditions, minimal education) and a reduced ability of the State to address socialeconomic crises--all of which result in a starkly polarized ‘citadel’ and ‘ghetto’ (Friedmann and Wolff, 1982) increasingly epitomized by the gated community and the crowded barrios of Los Angeles (Wolff: 1992:4). This work shows that the formation of immigrant “daughter communities” in Orange County’s barrios, presents characteristics similar to Wolff’s case in Los Angeles. Particularly the role immigrant labor plays in the region’s economic restructuring. High rates of immigration, unemployment and underemployment, expansion of service sector, characterized by flexible working arrangements and informalization illustrate how immigrants such as the Tzintzuntzeños have been affected, but at the same time respond to these processes. Most of the Tzintzuntzeños, in my original sample, were interviewed in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. As we will observe in the following section, they illustrate important characteristics of the relationship that Mexican immigrants have with the region's economic restructuring in their “attempts” to earn their family’s income. In conclusion, demographically, the Census shows that the Latino populations in Los Angeles- Orange Counties are a young, low income, growing, population of predominantly Mexican origin. When we examine poverty rates for individuals in this region, it is easily observed that Latinos have a higher poverty rate than the general population. Tzintzuntzeños in Los Angeles and Orange County provide a good example of the role immigrant labor plays in the region's economic restructuring. Tzintzuntzeño migrants’ increased participation in activities related to the service sector affect their

112 Making Ends Meet income generating strategies mainly due to the problems that "informal" "casual" employment brings with it. Employment in the service sector is characterized by lack of benefits and non-regulated working hours and wages. These informal hiring practices, as we will observe in the following chapters, reproduce irregular employer-employee relationships, without any form of protection to the employee. Tzitzuntzeños’ frequent participation in this sector strongly affects the manner in which families organize their income.

CHAPTER 6

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions

As discussed in the previous chapter, contemporary dynamics in the Los Angeles and Orange Counties’ labor markets have been strongly affected by recent flows of immigrants, particularly Mexican immigrants. The socioeconomic profile of this labor force is an important factor heavily influencing the immigrant process of incorporation and the ways in which immigrants organize their incomegenerating strategies (Fernandez-Kelly, 1993; Portes and Rumbaut, 1990; Portes and Stepick, 1998). This chapter examines the Tzintzuntzeños’ immigrant experience within the local labor market and examines the ways in which Tzintzuntzeños’ living conditions are affected by it. The first section presents important background features of Tzintzuntzeño families living in Orange County, especially in the City of Santa Ana and the Los Angeles area. Labor force characterisitcs, the types of social networks and the forms of labor force reproduction are important factors herein considered. The second section sets out the Tzintzuntzeños’ working conditions. It is important to notice the extent to which both the characteristics of the Tzintzuntzeño migrant labor force and their actual working conditions influence their income-generating strategies and forms of participation in the receiving region. Finally, the third section examines working conditions in Tacoma, Washington, and Tijuana, Baja California, and compares them with the conditions existing in Southern California, particularly in Los Angeles and Orange County. Even though a common perception of contemporary Mexican immigration is that it comes predominantly from the lowest economic level --a non-skill labor flow-- research has shown that the 113

114 Making Ends Meet socioeconomic profile of the foreign born is quite diverse (Portes and Rumbaut, 1990; Cornelius, 1992; Chavez, 1996; Alarcón, 1997). This fact is important to consider because indicators of class background, in many cases, determine the types of economic and political options available to immigrants (Portes and Rumbaut, 1990). Portes and Rumbaut noted how the conditions of the host labor market determine the different forms immigrants incorporate into the receiving country. In addition, the authors underline how immigrant participation in the “host” labor market is also affected by the characteristics of the immigrant community.1 For instance, Alarcón illustrates how education plays an important role in the ways in which Mexican engineers in Silicon Valley are engaging in particular forms of incorporation in the labor market. Alarcón explains how important indicators of their integration in the U.S. “duration and presence of relatives in the U.S., immigrant status/American citizenship, and home ownership demonstrate that these immigrant Mexicans are strongly integrated within the U.S.” (Alarcón, 1997:10)2 Tzintzuntzeños in Southern California do not present homogenous socio-economic features. Their incorporation into the local labor market is particularly affected by their occupations at the time of departure, level of education, English proficiency, immigration status and length of time in the United States. These characteristics are of great importance in placing Tzintzuntzeño migrants in different relationships within the labor market (Portes and Rumbaut, 1990; Alarcón, 1997; Chavez, 1992, 1997). As we discussed in Chapter 4, from the original sample of 30 families, the Tzintzuntzeños’ occupations at the time of departure demonstrated that husbands and wives were overwhelmingly laboring in activities related to craft production, mainly straw weaving and pottery. Lack of English proficiency, formal education and immigration status were important factors influencing Tzintzuntzeño labor market participation upon their arrival to the U.S. Most of the Tzintzuntzeños interviewed did not speak or write English. As to their formal education, 64% finished elementary school and 24% completed secondary school. Although some new arrival Tzintzuntzeños, from the Tacoma sample, (not included in the original sample), presented higher levels of education, the vast majority showed strong similarities with the Tzintzuntzeños in the original sample. Immigration status was another unfavorable factor to the group. None of the Tzintzuntzeños interviewed in the original sample had legal residency at the time of their first trip to United States.

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions 115 Tzintzuntzeños’ forms of labor-force reproduction are important features that influence the Tzintzuntzeño migratory experience. These are important in the manner in which the family “responds” to labor market conditions. Especially, as to flexibility in the labor market expressed in the high degree of unemployment and underemployment found in the group. The original sample points out that married couples presented similar characteristics in the tactics used in the reproduction of labor. These couples were sharing residences and expenses with members of their extended family, especially during the first years of their migratory experience. Interviews with "new arrivals" confirm the same experiences. New arrivals are young and a high percentage of these workers are less than 30 years old and single. Most of the single men have their families in Tzintzuntzan, and are usually living with relatives or friends. This aspect is important since “sharing a place to live” is an important “survival strategy” among low wage immigrants, especially during periods of unemployment. Another important strategy of labor force reproduction is the transnational family, in which wives and children stay at home in Tzintzuntzan or Tijuana, due mainly, to the problems caused by their immigration status and to the instability of husbands’ jobs (both in Mexico and U.S.) which prevent family reunification either in the U.S or in Mexico.

TZINTZTUNTZEÑOS’ LABOR MARKET PARTICIPATION As previously mentioned, Tzintzuntzeño labor force characteristics and their forms of social networks greatly influence their labor experiences. These experiences within the labor market are dynamic processes, which are in constant transformation. This section illustrates the changes observed in the Tzintzuntzeño labor market participation from their first trip to United States to their jobs in 1997. The data shows the results of the original 30 couples, wives and husbands, interviewed in 1991. A total of 60 Tzintzuntzeños were interviewed in California. In the cases of transnational families, wives were interviewed in Tzintzuntzan.

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Tzintzuntzeños’ First Employment The data focuses on the first employment Tzintzuntzeños had when they arrived in the U.S. When the husbands immigrated first without their wives, the wives’ employment in Tzintzuntzan was incorporated into the data. This data clearly demonstrates that Tzintzuntzeños' first employment in the U.S. was located in the agricultural sector, as has been the experience of other migrant groups. Of the 30 men interviewed, 23 were working in agricultural jobs. Table 1 shows the percentages of Tzintzuntzeños’ first labor experience and wives’ employment in Tzintzuntzan.

Table 1 Tzintzuntzeños’ First Job Experience on Their First Trip to the U.S. Occupation Agriculture Factory Crafts Services Self Employed Construction Housewife Student Total

Number 23 7 18 6 2 1 2 1 60

Percentage 38 12 30 10 3 2 3 2 100

Importance of Social Networks The strength of Tzintzuntzeños’ social networks is manifested in the decisions of where to migrate, when to migrate and the employment enclaves found in the receiving country. All were conditioned by the job connections of family members. The Tzintzuntzeño case is a good example of these connections. The fact that 38 percent of Tzintzuntzeños’ first job was in agriculture demonstrates the strength of these connections. Interviews illustrated that Tzintzuntzeños’ first jobs were mainly in one company: The Southern Company located in Santa Ana. According to the data,

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions 117 of the 60 Tzintzuntzeños interviewed, 23 were working in agriculture. Almost half of those working in agriculture (12 Tzintzuntzeños) started laboring for The Southern Company. The Southern Company’s operation dependes in part in the well established Tzintzuntzeño social network. The company uses the family and “paisano” connections to facilitate its "flexible hiring" practices and control the costs of production. The company's strategies to lower costs of production go beyond the use of seasonal labor, which is affected by weather conditions and the demands of production. Among the favorite approaches to control the costs of labor by this company is to decrease wages and unjustly terminate employees with legal documents or employees with high seniority. The firings of some legalized Tzintzuntzeños with seniority in the company confirmed these practices. During this research some of the workers filed suit, which they were attempting to have certified as a “class suit" for these types of practices. Still, The Southern Company is a “favorite” employer for recently arrived Tzintzuntzeño migrants and a step employment on their way to other Tzintzuntzeño locations (Tacoma, Washington and Northern California).

Employment 1992 A second moment of the Tzintzuntzeño experience was registered during 1992. Important changes were observed with respect to the Tzintzuntzeño employment pattern. Most of the Tzintzuntzeño men were able to legalize their immigration status under IRCA. The newly legalized men changed their employment from working in seasonal agricultural jobs (20%), to working in factories, with 32% employment in this sector. Table 2, illustrates these changes. Of the 30 men interviewed, 25 were able to legalize their immigration status, and five were not able to obtain their legalization. Most of these "legalized" workers abandoned their agricultural jobs, yet their contacts with newly arrived Tzintzuntzeños--mainly their wives-- allowed the recent immigrants to get incorporated in agricultural jobs within the same company. In addition, women’s labor in the service sector changed the Tzintzuntzeño labor market composition. Service jobs at that time accounted for 23 percent of the total. Women’s “informal jobs” were of utmost importance in complementing family income during this period of “family economic adjustment.” Family economic adjustment,

118 Making Ends Meet after the reunification of families, was observed when husbands changed jobs and the family confronted new expenses attributed to having the family in the U.S. A good number of Tzintzuntzeños assisted recent arrival women, relatives and paisanos without “immigration documentation” to find jobs, thanks to the welldeveloped Tzintzuntzeño social networks and the “security” offered by their new “legal” status.

Table 2 Tzintzuntzeño Employment In 1992 Occupation Agriculture Factory Crafts Services Housewife Garment Total

Number 12 19 5 14 7 3 60

Percentage 20 32 8 23 12 5 100

The Continued Importance of Social Networks During 1992, the role of Tzintzuntzeño social networks continued being effective in obtaining new jobs. Of 19 Tzintzuntzeños laboring in factories, 11 were found at that time working in the same company, Frost Company, a furniture factory in Santa Ana. The characteristics of the second most important employer of Tzintzuntzeños in Orange County, the Frost Company, are of utmost importance in understanding the income-generating strategies among Tzintzuntzeños in Santa Ana. The Frost Company has been the first factory labor experience for many of the Tzintzuntzeños in Orange County. The Frost Company's participation in the intense international market competition has forced the company to restructure its organization of production. According to the Tzintzuntzeños working in the company, the Frost Company has been constantly changing its hiring practices in the last decade. The company's constant transformation of its relationship with Tzintzuntzeño employees affected the ways in which Tzintzuntzeños organize their family income. Tzintzuntzeños’ experiences laboring in this company

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions 119 resemble Morale’s "transitional worker" (Morales, 1983) with stable workers with seniority and some benefits and unstable laborers who have been laid off several times in the last years and then rehired. Similarly, Scott (1988) explains (due primarily to instabilities in production) a strategy that is especially favoured among employers with a core of skilled, high-wage workers but who have also a demand for various low-skilled types of work. “Employers tend to farm such work out to subcontactors ensconced in secondary labor markets” (Scott, 1988:177). As we will observe in the following section, both practices affected families’ income-generating strategies in different ways. But these working experiences "allowed" some Tzintzuntzeños to stay in Santa Ana.

Employment in 1997 In 1997, five more Tzintzuntzeño families were added to the 30 original families. Also, adults who were children in 1990 now were economically active and incorporated in the sample. A total of 84 Tzintzuntzeños were interviewed. An important change in 1997 was the increased importance of the service sector employment, which accounted for 27 percent and was the most important sector employing Tzintzuntzeño migrants in Los Angeles and Orange County (See Table 3). The service sector includes Tzintzuntzeños employed in restaurants, hotels, and childcare. The second most important occupation for Tzintzuntzeños during this period is found in activities related to factory work (25 percent). This sector is followed by agriculture that employs 14.3 percent of the Tzintzuntzeños from the original sample. Tzintzuntzeño employment in the service sector, flexible factory jobs, and agriculture are very often characterized with unstable employment. As we will observe in the interviews, employment under these conditions continues to have a strong effect in the ways in which Tzintzuntzeños organize “el gasto” (daily family income).

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Table 3 Tzintzuntzeño Employment In 1997 Occupation Agriculture Factory Crafts Services Construction Housewife Unemployed Garment Clerical Total

Number 12 21 10 23 3 6 3 5 1 84

Percentage 4 25 12 27 4 7 4 6 1 100

The 1997 information showed that some Tzintzuntzeños who legalized their immigration status were working in relatively stable jobs in factories. Though, some legalized workers still struggle to find permanent employment. Most of the new Tzintzuntzeños who are unable to “legalize” their status are still working in flexible types of employment and seasonal labor as observed in agricultural and in the service sector.

TZINTZUNTZEÑOS’ LABOR CONDITIONS AND EMPLOYERS’ SAVINGS ON COSTS OF REPRODUCTION This section analyzes the relationship that exists between the characteristics of the Tzintzuntzeño labor force and working conditions.3 Although working conditions are not homogenous, Tzintzuntzeño employer/worker relationships very often are suited to employers’ needs for flexible strategies of production. The Tzintzuntzeño labor force characteristics, such as their immigration status, lack of English, formal education, unskilled labor, and laborforce reproduction assist employers in a “gentle” manipulation of working conditions which benefits flexible arrangements, as we will observe.

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions 121 Important features of employer-Tzintzuntzeño working relations illustrate the employer’s strategies in lowering production costs. By adjusting the production according to the market demands and other circumstances, employers produce when the demands require it and stop production when advantageous. These strategies cause elasticity in Tzintzuntzeño worker/employer relationships. An example of this “flexibility” is reflected in the regulation of work schedules that very often do not complete the full time requirement and therefore have as immediate consequences the inadequacy, or in most cases, complete lack of medical insurance, the lack of retirement, underemployment, and no workers’ compensation benefits. Frequently, Tzintzuntzeño’s employers use the flexibility in the relations of production to hold costs without additional investments. This approach resulted in a direct control of their employees. The strategy is possible because employers are able to use a labor force with a high degree of vulnerability.

Regular/Flexible Schedule The ways in which Tzintzuntzeños organize their income-generating strategies and the forms in which they are affected by their participation in the labor market are not homogeneous. These effects are conditioned by the characteristics of their labor and the different working activities of wives and husbands.4 Tzintzuntzeños who have stable employment, especially those with significant seniority, have legal immigration status, and those working in factories presented different income generating strategies than Tzintzuntzeños working in the service and agriculture sectors in unstable conditions. Even when factory labor presented a more regulated employment, it also showed a variety of effects, according to the different form of participation in the firms' internal division of labor (skilled/unskilled labor, regular/ unstable hiring, and wages) Of the 35 families interviewed, Tzintzuntzeños presented a mix of responses to conditions of labor. Even though a number of Tzintzuntzeños labored with a regular fixed schedule of 40 hours per week, which allowed more regulated relationships with their employers, many complained of their inability to complete a “jornada de trabajo" (work a fixed schedule of 40 hours per week). This problem was found in factory employment, but it was accentuated among people working in agriculture and the service sector, where

122 Making Ends Meet fixed labor hours and steady employment are hard to find. Flexible schedules seem to be an excellent strategy to save on the cost of production and Tzintzuntzeños, according to the interviews, are greatly affected by these employers’ decisions. The effects this flexible schedule had on the workers is demonstrated in an interview with Margarito. Margarito related his experiences while working in San Juan Capistrano. Work became scarce and they started laying off people, and then they would tell us to return in a week or so, and that’s how little by little I had to look for another job...but anyway, I found other work and I did not have to return. They did not lay me off because there had been no work, but because work was scarce, there were very few hours...sometimes others would say there was not even enough work to pay for the ride, or rather, it was only about 3 or 4 hours...for awhile we worked in Capistrano and our ride would charge us about $3.00, I think. So we worked 2 hours in Capistrano, and we worked one hour for our ride, it’s half an hour to Capistrano, then it was not better for us, we weren’t going to go work for 2, 3 hours. Nicolas, another factory worker pointed out the problems to work a “full time” with a variety of chores.

Well, the factory has machines there, they are called air compressors, but they also have work in electronics, and some type of packaging where the product is put into boxes. There are jobs there to do, when the company needs you, but there is not always work, some time one has to wait to have work. That’ s how it is every day, and many of us have worked here one day, and then another one next week, or when the work is finished here, then there is something else over there, and they take you over there, so it is not stable work.

To complete a “full time" it is very often necessary to work at two or more locations with the same company or to work with another employer to complement the family income. Chin, Sarmiento and Smith stress the fact that “the new forms of flexible production requires

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions 123 a labor force that will adapt to high rates of turnover, and a work force that is available just at the moment when the vicissituds of the market requires it”(Chin, Sarmiento and Smith, 1994:7). Results of the authors’ research in the Los Angeles garmen industry underlined the internal organization by the results of this work. Interviews with both contractors and workers confirmed a high rate of turnover, short job tenure, and constant movement of workers between factories. It was also clear that work at many factories fluctuated from periods of intense activity involving long hours and weekend work, to ‘down’ periods when the workforce was dramatically trimmed back or production was stopped altogether. Indicative of the rate of job switching was the finding that just under half of the workers reported employment at two or more factories in the past year and 58 percent told us that they have been at their present workplace for less than a year (Chin, Sarmiento and Smith, 1997:22) Bonilla and Morales also note the difficulties employees have with flexible hiring practices, “labor maket flexibility refers to the breakdown of rigidities in an economy that hinder adjusments in wage, hours, and work relation” (Bonilla and Morales, 1993: 22) The authors quote economist Samuel Rosenger: “Behind flexibility lies the more serious question of the relative balance of power between different groups in society. Those critical of the whole notion of flexibility argue that “it recalls for increasing the autonomy and freedom of action of the most powerful goups in society, weakening the welfare state, and placing the burden on the shoulders of the weakest’’ (Rosenberg, 1989:8). Sporadic and unstable working hours not only result in low wages but also makes it difficult for Tzintzuntzeños to budget their economic expenses at home. In the Margarito’s case, he relates the difficulties he has in meeting his family expenses:

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Making Ends Meet In ten hours, you get paid overtime. After eight hours, its two hours daily...that’s when its convenient to work for them because then one earns about half a week wages with overtime, that’s what helps... for one who is married. For one who is single, it doesn’t matter, even if he gets paid 100.00, it’s enough because he has no worries. It’s different for one who has a family, because it’s not enough. I pay 570.00 for rent, and if I earn $200.00 per week, I still pay $570.00 rent, plus gas, electricity, and other expenses I have. I barely make it with $800.00. I pay, other expenses, I have nothing left over. On the contrary, I have to wait another week to pay, for example, the electric bill, if it’s very high, if not, then I pay it in full. Then I am saved by the overtime. Sometimes I work 52, sometimes we work 54, sometimes 40, 44, that's depending on the work they give us. This week we only worked 40 hours, only 40 this week! Sometimes we don’t even have the 40 hours, so I don’t know how this little matter is going to turn out, truly...we will see.

At the time of this interview, Margarito was sharing a small apartment with his wife and two small children. He explained that they prefer to live by themselves without sharing expenses with other families and explained the problems they confronted with Julia’s employment and day care for their small children. Several months after the interview, I was told that Julia had returned to Tzintzuntzan with the children and Magarito was working in Washington. Presently, Margarito and Julia are reunited again in Washington still confronting unstable and flexible labor conditions. Informal hiring practices reproduce irregular employer-employee relationships without any form of protection for the employee, as illustrated by the following example of an unjustified lay-off. Carlos relates how he was laid-off for not working during Christmas Eve: On Sunday, I told him, I’m sorry, you can punish me (for not working during Christmas Eve) 1 or 2 days- I will accept that. He said no, you will take more time off, you don’t have a job here any more. I told him, I’m not worried about it, just pay me my vacation and my time. I’m not worried, it’ s a good thing I know how to work. It’s not right. He said later that ‘they would cut you your check, wait for them.’ Then I went to the supervisor who told me I should not have responded that way. I

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions 125 said, ‘No, I am not afraid, I’ve done my work well, and I’ve fulfilled my obligation, it isn’t fair for him to fire me.’ Maybe he wanted to lay me off, and then I felt depressed. Then the personnel manager, who is Mexican, told me to sign a paper so they could give me my checks. So, since I could not read English very well, and due to my angry state, well that was it!…well then the following Monday I went to the unemployment office and filled out the forms. They told me I qualified and that I would receive $180.00 per week, so I figured, well that’s fine because it will be a little over $300 every two weeks. So I felt better. But to my surprise, in two weeks I received a letter telling me that I had quit my job. Previously I lived in an apartment with my wife, the son, and Marquito. I would worry about how I was going to make it, how I was going to pay the rent here, so I thought to myself, I'm going to talk to my brother to see if we can work something together. He was still working there, in the same misery. He told me not to worry, that he would pay, that he would help me out…Then I moved out and rented a bedroom from a lady.

Medical Insurance A high percentage of Tzintzuntzeños interviewed stressed the lack of medical insurance as a main problem with their employment. Asking Tzintzuntzeños about the benefits received from their employer, 40 Tzintzuntzeños (48%) reported not having any benefits in their work, 22 persons (26%), reported “medical insurance” as the only benefit from their employer. Very often, for Tzintzuntzeños, medical insurance is related to coverage for job injuries, 6 persons reported having accident insurance. In most cases, medical insurance only covered the laborer's medical problems, without coverage for the worker’s family (leaving the medical expenses to the employees). A problem in obtaining medical insurance is the constant change of employers and the lack of regular working schedules –both necessaries to qualify for these benefits. Tzintzuntzeños had difficulties identifying one employer. Also, activities in the service sector (27%) such as maids and baby sitters are without a “formal employer.” In this cases Tzintzuntzeños pointed out, they were self-employed or as they say, sin patron (without an employer).

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Making Ends Meet Interviewees mentioned that they frequently experienced medical problems. And yet, the families had little extra income directed to health problems. It seems families abandoned their efforts to meet their medical needs, or they went to Mexico for medical services and/or to buy self-prescribed medicine at pharmacies, swap meets or other "informal places." Most Tzintzuntzeños, solved their health problems with remedios caseros (home remedies) and/or medicine bought in Tijuana. An exception was the treatment for job injuries, which is provided by specialists (chiropractic), sometimes as a result of complete incapacity or as a result of worker’s compensation procedures. Tzintzuntzeño families rely much less on market medical services and more on self-sufficiency to provide for their needs. The majority of Tzintzuntzeños included in the study used traditional tactics, rather than private doctors, unless their condition require urgent assistance. Among the most important reasons for the lack of medical attention were economic problems and difficulties in communicating with doctors, mainly because of language difficulties (lack of English) and distrust in the medical system. For example, Roberto, who was injured during his work, asked me to accompany him and his wife to a doctor's appointment. This was their third visit to the doctor’s office and still the doctor had not been able to explain to them exactly what was Roberto’s problem. The office didn’t have a translator and the main reason why they were there was because Roberto’s company (Frost Company) had sent him there. Roberto was not able to work because of a back problem, but he had been working for weeks, after the accident, before seeing the physician. Roberto, a legal immigrant, is one of the first Tzintzuntzeños to work for the company, and has the highest seniority. Without a doubt, were it not for his immigration status and length of employment with the company, his experience would be the same as those who are laid off without medical attention and without disability benefits. Roberto was conscious of the benefits he was gaining due to his “new position” with the employer. The role of family members and kinship networks in caring for the sick are important, although very seldom recognized by official reports. In the majority of households interviewed, it is the housewife who cares for the sick, although many husbands also know special remedies. This is observed in Martin’s case. Martin’s deceased mother was well known in Tzintzuntzan for her knowledge of traditional medicine. Now Martin, in Santa Ana, prepares jarabes (herbal syrup) to cure a variety of afflictions. But very often these remedies don’t solve the

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions 127 most serious problems. A couple of years ago, Martin was hospitalized for a serious diabetes attack. As he told me: "I was feeling really weak and dizzy and I just fainted. I stayed several weeks in the hospital. My family had given up on me.” Martin explains that he now takes an herbal medicine (syrup) prepared by a friend. Martin points out that even the doctors are surprised by the results. He explains: "I know you won't believe me, but the last time I went to the doctor, they gave me a test and my diabetes is controlled, the doctor said he cannot explain why, but I know it is the medicine that my friend gave me.” As previously mentioned, in some cases Tzintzuntzeños selfprescribed their medications. They use antibiotics purchased in Tijuana and other local places. Since most of these antibiotics are taken through injections, several Tzintzuntzeño women apply the injections for their family and, for a little economic compensation, to other Tzintzuntzeños in their homes.

Retirement Pension and Unemployment Another consequence of flexible employment and a significant way for employers to save on labor costs is by not providing retirement benefits for employees. Interviews of the 60 Tzintzuntzeños showed that only three Tzintzuntzeños could rely on retirement pension plans. In most cases, Tzintzuntzeño workers are not covered by pension benefit plans. The main reason, according to the interviews, was the unstable working situation and the brief employment period with each employer. Sergio’s labor history is a good example of the consequences of “seasonal/temporal employment.” Sergio has been working in the United States since the Bracero Program. At the end of the program, he returned to Tzintzuntzan. Lack of employment in Mexico, among other factors, forced him to return to California in 1988. Since then, he has labored at several agricultural and factory sites. His last employment was at a furniture factory in Santa Ana, where he worked for several years. According to Sergio, he was laid off without cause and without any form of compensation. Sergio is a legal resident, and like other Tzintzuntzeño workers, his checks presented federal and state withdrawals, but no benefits. He is 65 years old, and is now living in Tzintzuntzan with his wife. The costs of his retirement do not represent a cost to any of the many employers

128 Making Ends Meet who hired him in the United States. Sergio’s children, who work in the United States, assist their parents financially. Sergio, believes that government agencies support employers’ strategies and feels disappointed and resentful with employers and the United States government who do not acknowledge his many years of labor in this country: I think that maybe the government here does not want older people because they are a problem. Most of all, I think they do not want to give them benefits and that’s why they are fired (Sergio). The same problem occurs with unemployment insurance. Of the Tzintzuntzeños interviewed, only five workers qualify for “unemployment benefits,” which assist the family when the company slows down or stop production. Although the Frost factory is where Tzintzuntzeños have more seniority, only two workers qualified for unemployment compensation from this company. Several Tzintzuntzeños spend several months looking for jobs or underemployed after being laid-off by the company. Not receiving unemployment benefits makes it extremely difficult for their families. Tzintzuntzeños working in this firm stated how after the “hard times” with unemployment, Frost re-hires them without any guarantee of a permanent job. A good example of this situation is the case of Nicolas who, during unemployment, spent several months doing “ad-hoc jobs” in the field, collecting trash to complement his family’s expenses because the company “slowed down.”

Lack of Payment for On-The-Job Injuries Another clear example of employers’ savings on production costs is the lack of attention to job related injuries. Several Tzintzuntzeños pointed out that they were injured during working hours. Most of the Tzintzuntzeños interviewed did not receive treatment for this work related injures. “Legal immigrants” were covered by their employer’s insurance, an advantage over undocumented workers, who seldom reported these accidents to their employers. I had the opportunity to accompany two of these injured workers to doctor’s appointments and court appearances. The case of Josefina and Martin exemplifies the abuse of these workers in both the intensity and working conditions.

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Josefina’s Experience: As mentioned before, Southern Company has been the "first job" for most Tzintzuntzeños arriving in Santa Ana. Josefina’s case illustrates how the lack of attention to job related injuries are not exclusive to newly arrived-undocumented immigrants. Josefina started working at the company in 1982, without immigration papers, picking green beans. Thereafter, she legalized her immigration status, and continued working for Southern Company for a total of 11 years. By the end, in 1992, she was earning $4.25 per hour. She relates how during summer vacations her daughter worked and helped her to "finish her line in the field". Josefina, who previously to her job injury was a healthy and strong woman, is resentful that the company did not appreciate all her efforts to do a "good job" quickly and without complaints. She describes how she hurt her neck when her work tool hit a stone and she fell down and injured her back as well. The results of her x-rays show a lesion in her back which has left her unable to work Josefina explains: And now what I am going to do? I am not good for anything, I am not even able to clean my house or prepare the food for my family. I just would like to be as before and be able to find a job… No, you see I was cutting celery, and one cuts very quickly, right? Then, I went like so with the knife, and I think it hit something very hard, I don’t know, like a rock. I don’t know because as I said, I was working quickly. I dropped the knife, and I was going like so, and who knows, but then I felt something crack and I fell face first, I fell like so…and it felt awful. The supervisor told me, take some pills, I have some pills in the truck, and that’s how I held up, taking pills constantly…. Yes. 3 times a day, that was the only way I felt well. No, Socorro, Every night, I was in so much pain. I wrapped my neck and I could not bear it, it burned so. I would take it out and I could not bear it, and I would tell him again, please let me rest some days, at least. Frequent visits to Josefina’s house allowed me to observe that the problem was not yet treated after several months. Asking Josefina about the situation, she confirmed the company had not sent her to the

130 Making Ends Meet doctor. She had no medical insurance from the company. Josefina explained: Yes, but I would tell him every single day. One of the truckers named Ignacio asked me ‘what is wrong with you’? I told him, ‘he doesn’t want to give me an assistant (to help her with the job), and I can’t, ever since I fell face first and I hurt myself. I want them to at least give me a week off so I can get cured, so I can get a massage’. Then he told me to go to a doctor to get treated. After that, I was sent to work in the strawberry fields and they no longer wanted me in the celery. After that I was transferred to the bean fields. They wanted me to get tired and quit. Another good example of employers’ direct control of the workers is illustrated in the case of Martin, who started working with the Southern Company in 1980, his first and only job. First picking up vegetables, and years later, when he legalized his immigration status, as a driver for the company. As with Josefina, Martin got hurt while working "loading cases on the truck." He notified his employer and asked to be transferred to the "picking line" or to have another employee help him unload the truck (his position was as a driver, but he also had the responsibility to load and unload the truck). For a period, his cousin helped him unload the truck (without payment). Martin related it: It seemed they wanted me to get tired and quit; they even tried to make me angry. The contractor would tell me, ‘Hey Martin, you better go home, you can’t do the work anymore.’ And I was so upset, but I tolerated it because I knew that all he wanted was to start a fight so that he could fire me, since so many undocumented workers do that; but I had papers, and I didn’t want to lose the job. Finally I could no longer work. As Josefina, Martin also quit his job at the company. Josefina related former experiences with the same firm. I was working and don’t know what fell into my eye. I just felt a sting inside my eye, and it grew until it became necessary to operate it. After 3 days I returned to work, but after that, I saw the doctor, he told me I had to rest from work for at least one

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions 131 month. I was feeling pleased about this, but when I told my boss, he told me no, that he would take me to another doctor. He did so, and then that so-called doctor told me there was nothing wrong, that I was very healthy…Yes he took me, my boss took me, he gave me a ride. And so then the boss tells me that maybe it’s my age. I said, so then its because I’m old that I feel so bad?” Tzintzuntzeños who have been laid-off agree that the employers “favor” new undocumented workers who do not complain about working conditions. As Josefina stated: I have had papers since the 90’s. So he tells me that he is going to lay off everyone who has worked a long time, that he would get all new help so they wouldn’t bother him so much. Then I slipped and fell, Kenny advised me to get an attorney to defend myself because they fired me and they made me sign a paper so I could get my check. I was so angry that I signed right away, picked up my check and right away they fired me. Then I hired one (attorney) in La Palma, but he told me he wanted money. I think he talked to the boss and offered him money or something like that because he wanted something like a bribe, and so I refused. So I changed to another attorney, I think he’s American. He never knows anything whenever I ask about my case. He doesn’t speak Spanish and I don’t understand anything. Can you believe it, Socorro? … And my husband has also had accidents at this company, but he bears it because he doesn’t want to lose his job. Presently, both cases are in litigation. Josefina and Martin are not the only ones confronting the company. Several Tzintzuntzeños informed me that many complaints have been filed and that these cases may result in a class action lawsuit. Litigation has been an important and sole recourse used by the group, particularly as a method for “legal workers” to protest against labor conditions. The fluidity of this labor, which works from season to season in the Southern company, or that are hired when the Frost Company requires their labor, without any formal contracts, not only results in reduced wages, but also in lack of union representation. Only one Tzintzuntzeño was unionized, and the others had no prospects of joining a union at the time of the interviews.

132

Making Ends Meet

TZINTZUNTZEÑO WORKING CONDITIONS IN TACOMA, WASHINGTON AND TIJUANA, BAJA CALIFORNIA A significant aspect of this work is the comparison between two important “Tzintzuntzeño daughter communities:” Tijuana, Baja California and Tacoma, Washington. To accomplish the comparison of these two Tzintzuntzeño labor markets two sets of interviews were held, 15 interviews with families in Tijuana and 20 interviews with households in Tacoma, Washington. Since some of the families from my original sample in Orange County moved to Tijuana and Tacoma, they were interviewed again and included in this new sample. These movements will be noted in the following chapters. The results of this comparison illustrated that related patterns of working conditions are present in both labor markets: similar employment conditions, particularly flexible employment, lack of benefits such as medical insurance, retirement plans, etc. This comparison illustrates important insights to better understand Tzintzuntzeño income-generating strategies dispersed across geographic areas.

Tzintzuntzeño Labor Conditions: Tacoma, Washington’s Case In the last years, Tacoma has become Tzintzuntzeños favorite place of employment. Tzintzuntzeños are located in the western region of Washington State. A total of 20 Tzintzuntzeño families were interviewed in the localities of Everett, Puyallup and Tacoma.

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions

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Figure 1 Map of Washington, State (Tacoma, Everett)

Before analyzing Tzintzuntzeño labor conditions at Tacoma, some economic aspects should be observed. Tacoma’s shift from natural resource derivative industries to a local economy based upon trade, services, and information is apparent today and is one of the key factors in the redefining the Tacoma. The restructuring of the economy is also accompanied by an increase of the population. The number of people living in Tacoma has grown during the last decade at a rate of 1% each year to a current population of 185, 600. Still, agriculture is a major source of employment in Washington State. Although unfavorable weather conditions lowered farm employment moderately in 1995 and 1996, agriculture has been growing in terms of employment as well as production in recent years. The agriculture sector provided employment to a monthly average of 84,300 workers in 1996. Among goods-producing industries it ranked third in employment in 1996, only slightly lower than aerospace, which ranked second with an average of 86,100 employees. Contract construction was the largest with 127,200 workers (U.S. Department of Agriculture and Washington State Department of Agriculture). Western counties had an average of 16, 700 agricultural jobs. The climate, rich soil and, in most years, ample water for irrigation enables

134 Making Ends Meet farmers in the area to grow a wide variety of high-value crops including apples, cherries, other tree fruits, grapes, asparagus, hops, and miscellaneous vegetables (U.S. Department of Agriculture). The following section will focus in the results of the 20 Tzintzuntzeño families interviewed in Tacoma, Washington in 1997. Tzintzuntzeños’ occupations are centered mainly in the agricultural sector. Among the most important employers are nurseries specializing in flowers, pines, and ornamental and fruit trees. In the western region, where most of the Tzintzuntzeños are employed, most of these crops require sizable numbers of seasonal workers, particularly in the nurseries specializing in raspberries, strawberries, other berries, flower bulbs, and miscellaneous vegetables. From the worker interviews conducted in Tacoma, 27 percent were found laboring in nurseries.

Table 4 Tzintzuntzeño Employment In Tacoma, Washington Occupation Nursery Factory Farms Services Construction Housewife Self Employed Total

Number 17 4 5 16 12 3 5 62

Percentage 27 7 8 26 19 5 8 100

The second most important occupation among Tzintzuntzeños in Tacoma is found in the service sector. As observed in Table 4, important levels of participation exist in the service sector with 26% of Tzintzuntzeños working in this sector. This sector includes jobs in hotels, restaurants, fast food businesses (Taco Bell), bakeries, and goodwill stores. Construction plays an important role in the employment experiences among Tzintzuntzeño workers. Construction and landscape account for 19% percent of the total employment of Tzintzuntzeños living in Tacoma, Seattle. Tzintzuntzeños are also employed in farms specializing in poultry and egg production. Dairies are a growing agricultural industry in the area and a place of

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions 135 employment for Tzintzuntzeños. Many of the non-farm jobs in the area are dependent on agriculture. For example, food processing is the largest manufacturing industry in the area, and fruit and vegetable packing dominate local wholesale and retail trade (U.S. Department of Agriculture). Tzintzuntzeños employed in food processing are among the workers with more regulated working conditions and higher wages.

Secondary Occupations Secondary occupations play an important role in the Tzintzuntzeños’ income generating strategies in Tacoma, Washington. Low wages, the labor seasonal character and the need to complement the family expenses force Tzintzuntzeños to look for alternative ways to complement their income. Among the most important strategies are "secondary jobs," defined by Tzintzuntzeños as occupations other than their principal employment, found either within the home, neighborhood or at another place of employment. Among “second jobs” outside the home in the service sector, we found “part time” jobs”, particularly in restaurants, hotels, “Salvation Army”, and activities within the informal sector of the economy. Another important “secondary occupation” is being a musician. These musicians always perform atTzintzuntzeño fiestas. These groups perform at both religious and secular parties, such as baptisms, wedding and quinceañeras. Also, musicians provide entertainment for a more varied Mexican audience in the area. Tzintzuntzeño musical groups have been in great demand for the past few years. At the time of the interviews, "El Emperador” (the best known group) had just released its first music recording. The group is formed entirely by men from Tzintzuntzan, who acquired their skills in Tzintzuntzan. Some of these musicians learned their abilities from their parents and relatives back in Michoacan. Tzintzuntzeño musicians in Tacoma, Washington, have strong connections with Tzintzuntzeño musicians in Los Angeles (“Los Faraones del Norte”) and also in Tzintzuntzan. They assist each other, exchanging members of the group, and assist each other in other ways. The group in Los Angeles, “Los Faraones del Norte”, comprised of four brothers and their children, also use their performances as an important source of income. They are in high demand at social gatherings among Tzintzuntzeños in Southern California and also in other Mexican communities. Tzintzuntzeño musical groups in Washington, Los Angeles

136 Making Ends Meet and Tzintzuntzan are an important element in the production of cultural events and are central to the continuation of Tzintzuntzeño traditions. Since their members require frequent communication with other Tzintzuntzeños in Tzintzuntzan, Washington, and Los Angeles, they represent an important “transnational activity” interesting to analyze. Although musicians charge for their presentations, the money earned at these events is not enough to maintain the family and these activities constitute a "secondary job" other than their primary occupation. Another secondary occupation mentioned for Tzintzuntzeños is baking. For example, some complement the family income by baking sweet Mexican bread which is prepared daily in a small sink and table kitchen, with all the "techniques" learned from Janitizio, Michoacan. Tzintzuntzeño men prepare and sell sweet bread every evening in the neighborhood to Tzintzuntzeños who prefer to buy this fresh bread rather than commercial brands. As in the case of the musicians, this work is done as complementary income and at times of unemployment. There is one man from Patzcuaro who has this occupation as his primary activity.

Importance of the Social Networks In Tacoma, Washington To secure a reliable labor force, the correct amount of labor at the correct time, Tzintzuntzeño contractors use the well-situated Tzintzuntzeño social network to recruit, lay-off, then recruit again when the production requires it. This is done effectively and rapidly, better than by any employment agency and at no expense to the employer. Among the most important agricultural employers of Tzintzuntzeño labor was the Mariposa Farm, which counts with the assistance of a Tzintzuntzeño contractor who, during the high season, secured production with 300 hundred Tzintzuntzeños. Interviewees working at this firm confirm these practices. As Sara, one of the workers, explained: There are lots of people from Tzintzuntzan there, yes, about 60 of them work there. When the busy season starts, flowers and everything, there must be about 300 families that apply. And after the work ends, the majority are laid off, and finally now there are about 70 persons there. I don't think those 70 have documents. No, you see, at that farm only I and one of the supervisors have documents, and that's it. The contractor is from

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions 137 Tzintzuntzan and he has his people, but when there is work, he calls every body, many from Tzintzuntzan. I think there is more work here in Washington than in Orange County, because it's very hard there, there are not enough jobs and you have more problems with the papers. During this last season, I earned $5.25 per hour. The "Rose Garden" is another important nursery employing Tzintzuntzeños. This company's use of “documented” workers allows the workers to receive some benefits. Two Tzintzuntzeños with legal immigration status and working for the firm were interviewed. They emphasized that they have medical insurance and paid vacations, but the company previously made them work 15 hours more per week continually, without extra compensation. The Tzintzuntzeño contractor and workers play an important role in providing the firm with a fast, reliable labor force when the production requires it. There are also Tzintzuntzeño contractors in the construction industry. Interviews with Tzintzuntzeños laboring in Seattle, showed a well organized Tzintzuntzeño social network, with a Tzintzuntzeño contractor. His work is well received in the fast growing and demanding construction industry. At the time of the interviews, 12 Tzintzuntzeños were working at the same construction site. They were hired and transported by Arturo from Tzintzuntzan. Arturo’s father, Nicandro, has been working in construction for the last 20 years. He introduced his oldest son to the oficio (trade) and both learned the skills needed to offer their services to small and median construction firms in the Seattle area. Both developed a well-organized social network of people from Tzintzuntzan who are highly reliable and “eager” to work every time they have the opportunity. According to the interviews, very often these workers are not certain if they will have work the next day. When I interviewed some of these workers, they were waiting for the telephone call to announce their job for the following day. Construction workers are among the most flexible labor in Tacoma. Most of these workers were young men with their families back in Tzintzuntzan. The contractor's connections with the workers and the worker's dependence on this person to obtain employment are highly valued by construction employers. The relationship between laborers and contractor goes farther than the relationship of contractor-

138 Making Ends Meet worker. In this case, and as I observed, the respect Tzintzuntzeños have for the Tzintzuntzeño contractor is based in the fact that this man is also from Tzintzuntzan. Nicandro does not speak English very well, and does not have formal education, but is able to negotiate though the translation of his son. According to the workers, the American employers respected Nicandro, because “he does fine work, and has the ability to get the job done on time.” Nicandro also recognizes the workers contributions, "they help me to do a good job, and if they offer me more jobs, they also will have them.

Seasonal Workers, a Good Example of Flexibility According to the interviews, the most significant problem Tzintzuntzeños encounter in Tacoma, Washington are the unstableness of jobs and low wages. Employment in agriculture includes seasonal workers (those who work less than 150 days on any one farm), regular hired workers, unpaid family workers and farm operators. Tzintzuntzeños in Tacoma are strongly represented in occupations with a high degree of “seasonality.” Nurseries are among the major employers of seasonal farm workers. As discussed above, Tzintzuntzeños' main occupation in Tacoma is highly related to nursery products. Nursery employment expands as bedding plants are being planted, sorted, graded and packed. For example, nurseries very often added workers to weed, thin, harvest, and pack bedding plants to ship to wholesalers. Also bulb growers added workers to the industry during the major activities, including planting bulbs, cutting flowers and sorting, grading, packing and shipping tubers and bulbs. The continuity of these jobs keep some Tzintzuntzeños occupied and provides them with a secure job. These activities required few workers, and do not affect the high unemployment rates in the region. It is also clearly observed that this form of employment is temporary and seasonal. Weather conditions also cause variability in agricultural employment from year to year. Even with this variability, growers continue to expand acreage in apples, cherries, and winter pears, which ensures greater production and higher employment in future years. Because nurseries primarily market to local residents, their growth is largely tied to population trends, which continue to increase in the Pacific Northwest. Nurseries, of course, also grow and supply fruit trees to orchards, another reason for their expansion. This expansion is

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions 139 also reflected in other sectors. Agricultural services, for example, (landscape, lawn-garden and tree services) add hired workers. Most of the gain was in crop preparation services such as cleaning, sorting, grading and packing of fruit and vegetables. (U.S. Department of Agriculture and Washington State Department of Agriculture) The average annual level of employment masks the instability of seasonal employment. The extent of employment is important to growers because they cannot harvest their crops with a established annual average number of workers. Seasonal employment averaged 36,600 in 1996, the monthly total ranged from a high of 70,600 in July to a low of 12,800 only five months later in December (U.S. Department of Agriculture). This "expansion-contraction" of production greatly affects the Tzintzuntzeño participation in this labor market. The problem is that while there is an expansion and need of new workers, employers require a highly reliable labor force. This form of production requires labor to be available and "ready" to work at the moment production requires it and to disappear and become almost invisible when the production slows down. Therefore, it is of great importance that this labor be easily manipulated according to the constant changes in the production demands. It is important to observe the role the State via immigration policies plays in reproducing these labor relations. The case in Yakima, Washington, is a good example that illustrates this type of relation. According to Wendy Harris (1999), reporter from the Yakima Herald-Republic newspaper, The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization office has ordered 13 Yakima-area warehouses to fire about 1,700 workers it says are here illegally. Warehouse owners, industry officials and others are denouncing the action and are bracing for the expected economic and social repercussions of the layoff, which affects about 10 percent of the state’s fruit warehouse workers. Immigrant advocates, meanwhile, fear for the workers, who are predominantly Mexican women, many with families to support. This action marks a policy change from the traditional rights where illegal workers are detained and then deported. The workers targeted for firing, while here illegally, will not be deported. According to Ed Kissam (personal communication) this action argues for SAW II, another Special Agricultural Workers Program (SAW). According to

140 Making Ends Meet Calavita (1994), the Special Agricultural Workers Program allowed certain undocumented workers in the agricultural sector to apply for legalization, and it provided for additional farm workers to be admitted should a shortage of farm labor develop. “To provide additional workers where there is no shortage of farm labor has been an important characteristic of immigration policies”(Calavita, 1994:64). These political strategies are important since they secure employers with a flexible labor force where forms of reproduction are not part of employers’ responsibilities. Tzintzuntzeño immigrants in the region, particularly, "undocumented" immigrants and their families constitute an ideal labor force for this form of production. Lack of political power, little or few years of formal education and language barriers, on one hand, and Tzintzuntzeños' social networks and contracting strategies, on the other hand, made them the favorite labor force for employers who use their work when the production requires and leave them responsible for their own and their family material reproduction at times of unemployment. Migration status, in particular, grants employers a margin of power to manipulate the Tzintzuntzeño labor force. Immigrants' labor features and the effects of these forms of production have material and social effects on these workers and their families which are similar to the effects that flexible employment has on Tzintzuntzeño families in Southern California.

Wages The average for all seasonal workers in the area was $5.81 per hour. Fruit tree workers averaged from $5.23 to $6.35 depending upon the type of tree. Hourly pay for nursery workers in western Washington ranged from $5.07 to $5.25, while bulb workers' pay ranged from $4.90 to $5.88 per hour (U.S. Department of Agriculture). Most of the Tzintzuntzeños working in nurseries were paid on a piece rate basis. In western Washington, Tzintzuntzeños working for raspberry and strawberry growers averaged an hourly rate of $5.30, ranging from $4.90 for bulb sorter, grader, and packer to $7.00 for miscellaneous vegetable sorter and packer. The hourly pay for service workers, ranged from $5.50 to $5.70. Comparing Tzintzuntzeños employed in egg production farms, to Tzintzuntzeños working in farms related to cheese and milk production, egg production paid Tzintzuntzeños the lowest wages, with $10.50 per

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions 141 hour for the manager and $5.5.0 for the rest of the employees and family members. On the other hand, Tzintzuntzeños employed in farms producing cheese and milk had more regulated working conditions, stable working schedules and regular payment, including paid overtime hours. Tzintzuntzeños laboring in these occupations earned an average of $8.00 per hour. Construction wages are among the highest wages in the area. Wages in construction, other than contractors, ranged from a low of $5.50 to a high of $9.50. Also, we found factory employment, with Tzintzuntzeños employed in food processing showing the most regulated wages (paid overtime hours) and working conditions. Low wages and the sporadic availability of these jobs force these families to live day to day, where each day of work “counts” in maintaining the family income. Similar to what happens in Orange County, these forms of employment create difficulties in “budgeting” the family expenses. As Porfirio, a worker for a landscape company, pointed out: No we didn’t have time to go to the fiesta yesterday, here is not like in Tzintzuntzan, here if you do not work one day, you do not complete for the food of your week. If you don't work, you don't eat or pay the rent. This company is dedicated to planting and transplanting, but it also uses smaller subcontractor companies that grow ornamental plants, and a “twin” company in charge of landscape. All these “branches” are under the same company, but with different names. The company employs five men from Tzintzuntzan, who are easily moved to where the different jobs are required. The fact that Tzintzuntzeños may communicate quickly and easily makes them readily accessible to the company in an effective and efficient way. As Porfirio explains: We work in all different places, depending on where the company needs us. There are several people from Tzintzuntzan working in the company. Mario and Daniel work with the machine planting the trees, the work should be well done if we want to sell the products at a good price. Well, that is what the patron (boss) said… Porfirio also described the difficult working conditions:

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Making Ends Meet The work some times is really difficult, especially when you need to plant and it's raining or snowing, when it's really cold. Nothing can stop the work. It must be done. To me the most difficult job is to ‘sprayear’ (spray). I need to use the chemicals that are very dangerous. During the months of May and June we sprayed more. Some times we spent one month just ‘sprayeando’ and sometimes I go out to work for the company through other companies, especially landscape companies, and it's o.k. The only thing that I don’t like is to work on Saturdays and Sundays and also that they take out too much from our checks.

Porfirio’s experience, like that of the other Tzintzuntzeños in Tacoma, working in nurseries, landscape companies, and construction firms presented labor conditions characterized by flexible working conditions, which force these workers to work an intense and long jornada de trabajo (day of work) when the production requires it. At the same time, when the production slows down, these workers were among the most affected by the unpredictability and unavailability of the 40 hours workweek. The lack of regular schedules allows loosely regulated working conditions and lack of worker benefits.

TZINTZUNTZEÑO WORKING CONDITIONS IN TIJUANA, BAJA CALIFORNIA According to the ethnographic census elaborated by Robert Kemper in 1992, there are 104 economically active Tzintzuntzeños living in Tijuana, Baja California. Ethnographic interviews were conducted with 15 Tzintzuntzeño families. Examining the characteristics of Tzintzuntzeño labor market participation in Tijuana, Baja California allows us to observe and compare the effects labor conditions have on the economic strategies of Tzintzuntzeño families on both sides of the border Tijuana, is also a good example of today's global economic restructuring process in which migration plays an important role (Soja, 1981; Wolff, 1992; Carrillo, 1983). Research has shown that the flow of capital to Tijuana has been directed to areas with abundant cheap labor, where immigrant enclaves are located (Sassen, 1988; Carrillo and Hernández, 1988; Fernandez-Kelly, 1983). Carrillo and Hernández point out that mobility of capital to the south and the closing of the

Tzintzuntzeño Families and Working Conditions 143 United States' industries is producing an important migratory phenomenon: the migration of women to the Mexican border (Carrillo and Hernández, 1988:85; Fernandez Kelly, 1983; Sassen, 1988). In turn, the availability of an abundant and relatively cheap female labor force has increased the development of industries, such as the maquiladoras, particularly in electronics in Tijuana (Carrillo and Hernández, 1988). This influx also generates a growth of the service sector. As was observed in the case of Southern California, Tzintzuntzeños living in Tijuana, especially members of the low wage labor market, share important working conditions that influence the specific forms in which Tzintzuntzeños organize their incomegenerating strategies.

Table 5 Tzintzuntzeño Employment In Tijuana, Baja California Occupation Factory Services Construction Housewife Self-Employed Clerical Professional Total

Number 22 24 20 22 9 6 2 105

Percentage 21 23 19 21 9 6 2 100

As observed in Table 5 and according to Kemper’s 1992 Tijuana census, 23% of Tzintzuntzeños worked in the service sector. This sector includes hotel personnel and business services (maintenance). 21% of them worked in factories, as unskilled workers. Even though these occupations are within the formal sector of the economy, Tzintzuntzeños’ experiences with these jobs presented features of the informal sector, which are possible because the high level of flexibility. As observed in the ethnographic census data, the most important Tzintzuntzeño male employment was found in construction, which accounted for 19% of the listed occupations. Construction

144 Making Ends Meet employment is characterized by a rapid turnover, poor working conditions and low wages. Construction work in Tijuana is among the most unstable occupations in the region. These unfavorable working conditions lead workers in Tijuana to work in “second jobs” at times of unemployment or slowdown periods. Among the most reported second jobs were street vendors ("la venta ambulante"), and selling products out of their home, "tienditas", which constitutes the oldest and most dependent occupations of Tzintzuntzeños established in Tijuana. According to my interviews, the first Tzintzuntzeño arrived in Tijuana 20 years ago and combined both occupations: construction and vending (albañileria y vendedor ambulante). In reviewing the ethnographic data from the three sites, Southern California, Tacoma and Tijuana, one can observe a tendency in regards to the number of hours worked per week and the irregular working conditions. Although nearly half of the original sample worked at least 40 hours per week, the rest of the original sample and most of the newly arrived Tzintzuntzeños, were not working under regularly established working conditions. As a result, many Tzintzuntzeños on both sides of the border generally lacked benefits, such as medical insurance, vacation with pay, paid sick leave, and pension plans. Most families on both sides of the border pointed to the lack of job security as the most important problem they confronted. The ethnographic interviews suggest that national boundaries do not create a great difference in relation with the irregularity of working conditions experienced by the Tzintzuntzeños interviewed. The similarities in working conditions Tzintzuntzeño families confronted on both sides of the border indicated important factors in understanding the economic strategies these families have in obtaining their family income. The following chapters illustrate the income generating strategies Tzintzuntzeños developed in coping with the working conditions of family members. Permanent, flexible-unstable, or a combination of both forms of employment, presented a strong influence in the decision making of these families.

CHAPTER 7

Tzintzuntzeño Women and Income-Generating Strategies

Research by Fernandez-Kelly (1983, 1992, 1997), Crummet (1993), Ruiz (1987, 1998), Stephen, (1991), Hondagneu-Sotelo (1994), and others have challenged the common conception of Mexican migrant women as passive victims of macro-structural processes. FernandezKelly argues how the stereotypical notion of Latin American women as “conservative, apathetic and totally dependent individuals has been questioned through empirical research” She notes how research findings has pointed out how “women (particularly, poverty-stricken women) actively contribute to the maintenance of their dependents” (Fernandez-Kelly 1987:15). An important contribution of the social sciences in this area is the concept that women are the main actors in the reproduction of labor force. This directs us to end with the dichotomy analysis of private and public spheres,1 and to take a closer observation of the interdependence that exists between productive and reproductive aspects of women labor (Lamphere, 1987; Stephen, 1991). Observing from this perspective, Fernandez- Kelly notes: At every stage of their lives most women participate in productive economic activities, either within or outside of their home, even though this fact has been seldom acknowledge by official economic indicators. This opens the possibility for a rich assessment of households as the locus where domestic labor subsidizes the generation of capitalist profits (Fernandez-Kelly, 1983:17). This chapter examines Tzintzuntzeño women’s economic participation, both as salaried and domestic labor in three different 145

146 Making Ends Meet sites: Southern California, Tacoma, Washington; and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The analysis includes women employed as salaried workers--productive labor--and women as social agents of reproduction (Stephen, 1991).2 Both of these forms of economic participation are important in understanding the role women play in their family incomegenerating strategies (Lamphere, 1987). Tzintzuntzeño women’s economic strategies are strongly affected by the stage of the household in the developmental cycle, the number of contributors and the characteristics of the husband’s and/or children’s employment. Using ethnographic interviews, this chapter observes the specific forms in which these women respond to their husband’s and/or children’s wage-labor conditions especially permanent or unstable work. This includes women’s work in the informal and formal sectors of the economy. 35 Tzintzuntzeño women were interviewed in Southern California (Los Angeles and Orange County); 20 in Tacoma, Washington; and 13 in Tijuana, Baja California. This chapter draws heavily on Meillassoux’s (1981) study of the relationship among migration, production, and reproduction. Meillassoux analyzed women’s work, in the domestic unit, in relation to advanced capitalism. This permitted him to observe the relationship between wages and “no salaried” labor within the family. His work emphasizes that migrant families subsidize capitalist enterprises and the industries in which they work. Meillassoux also shows how male temporary and rotating labor migration preserves and exploits the domestic unit in the migrant’s place of origin.3 Meillassoux’s analysis has some weaknesses. He did not consider migrant families reunited in the receiving countries. Meillassoux’s analysis also suffers from an emphasis on a dual mode of production (pre-capitalist and capitalist) instead of considering the interdependence that exists in a unique and dynamic “capitalist world economy” (Wallerstein, 1979).4 Tzintzuntzeño families, both transnational and reunited, share similar economic strategies. I argue that the similarities reduce the differentiation one might expect given their position in different national economies. The transference of surplus from these families to the capitalist enterprises reproduces and exploits the domestic unit. This transfer of surplus out of the family is larger when families are left in the place of origin. Yet, this surplus does not stop when families are reunited in the United States. I argue that Tzintzuntzeño women working in both wage labor and non-salaried labor at home allow Tzintzuntzeño participation in flexible labor markets in the Unites

Tzintzuntzeño Women and Income-generating Strategies 147 States, in Tijuana, and in Tzintzuntzan, mainly by reproducing a Tzintzuntzeño labor force at little or no cost to employers or government agencies.5 As we observed in the previous sections, the forms of labor market participation among Tzintzuntzeño migrants in Southern California, Tijuana, and Washington are characterized by similar labor conditions: flexible schedules, irregular or few hours of work each week, lack of benefits, and relaxation of work safety codes. Tzintzuntzeño women’s work at home very often subsidizes low salaries, flexible hiring and minimal subsidized social services of men and other members in their families. These working conditions force women to seek secondary occupations at home, increasing domestic work, not just for women but also for other family members. The role of housewives and children, -sons and daughters-- (Valenzuela, 1998), has been of outmost importance in supplementing the family income.6 Researchers have done an excellent job in explaining the effects of migration on families (Hondagneu, 1994, Mummert, 1994; P esquera1993). But their concentration on migrants’ dependency on wage income limits an understanding of the complex economic arrangements of migrant households, particularly, the ways in which they reproduce themselves by participating in domestic economic activities very often without direct remuneration.

TZINTZUNTZEÑO WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT Women’s labor has been of the outmost importance in complementing the income of the family, before and after the migratory experience, from the place of origin, and also when the families settle in the United States. Tzintzuntzeño women’s employment has had significant changes in the last decade. Their labor experiences vary from working in craft production back in Tzintzuntzan, to agriculture, factory and service sector jobs after their arrival to the United States. Parallel to these employment experiences, women have been active in the no salaried-domestic labor, which subsidizes poor working conditions, (characterized by low-wages and unstable employment) and keeps the family reproducing and “adjusting” during the continuing changing processes of these families. Tzintzuntzeño women’s employment data used in this section originated from the 35 original families’ ethnographic interviews

148 Making Ends Meet conducted for this study in Orange County, Los Angeles and Tzintzuntzan. The data focuses on the 35 women interviewed in 1997. This included women laboring in Southern California and women who moved to Tijuana, Tzintzuntzan, and Washington. This information shows Tzintzuntzeño women’s participation in the service sector, (40%) as the most important employment for the 35 women interviewed.

Table 1 Tzintzuntzeño Women’s Employment Original Sample Occupations Factory Crafts Services Housewife Garment Farm Worker Total

Number 7 5 14 5 3 1 35

Percentage 20 14 40 14 9 3 100

Another important occupation is factory employment. It accounts for 20% of the Tzintzuntzeño women occupations. The eventualities of factory jobs masquerade the participation in this activity. The same problem is present with women’s participation in agricultural labor, which like factory employment is a highly flexible/seasonal activity. Even though this sample presented just 3% of women employed in the agricultural sector, farm work accounts for a higher percentages when we consider newly arrived women, since this is the employment most commonly chosen by the recent arrived immigrant. Another important job among Tzintzuntzeño women is craft production, 14% of the sample. This activity is significant among transnational families. Women back in Tzintzuntzan use craft production, especially pottery and wheat straw weaving, to complement the family income. This activity is frequently used to assist these families reproduce the labor force while the husbands work in the U.S. The Garment industry’s employment accounts for 9% of the sample and is another activity characterized by periods of unemployment. As in the case of farm industry jobs, it also accounted

Tzintzuntzeño Women and Income-generating Strategies 149 for a higher percentage, since it is among the jobs most commonly chosen by newly arrived Tzintzuntzeños who are not part of the original sample.7 These forms of employment presented flexible and unstable work schedules, which made it difficult to “measure” these activities.

Table 2 1997 Tzintzuntzeño Women’s Occupations, Original Sample 1- Pottery (Tzintzuntzan) 2- Housewife (Santa Ana) 3- Factory worker/Hotel employee (Tijuana and Los Angeles) 4- Factory worker (Santa Ana) 5- Cleaning houses (Los Angeles) 6- Straw (Tzintzuntzan) 7- Pottery (Tzintzuntzan) 8- Factory worker (Los Angeles) 9- Hotel employee (Santa Ana) 10-Taco Bell employee (Santa Ana) 11-Cleaning offices (Los Angeles) 12-Factory worker (Santa Ana) 13-Housewife (Santa Ana) 14-Pottery (Tzintzuntzan) 15-Childcare (Santa Ana) 16-Housewife (Washington) 17-Maintenance employee (Tzintzuntzan) 18-Garment worker (Los Angeles) 19-Cashier (Los Angeles) 20-Factory work (Santa Ana) 21-Garment worker/Factory worker (Los Angeles) 22-Garment worker (Los Angeles) 23-Bakery employee (Washington) 24-Packing employee (Los Angeles) 25-Convalescent home employee (Santa Ana) 26-Housewife (Tzintzuntzan) 27-Housewife (Tzintzuntzan and Los Angeles)

150 Making Ends Meet 28-Pottery/Wheat straw (Tzintzuntzan) 29-Factory worker/Service sector (Tijuana and Los Angeles) 30-Child care (Santa Ana) 31-Pottery/Selling candies at home (Tzintzuntzan and Santa Ana) 32-Farm worker (Washington- Tzintzuntzan) 33-Housewife (Santa Ana) 34-Stylist (Los Angeles) 35-Factory worker (Santa Ana) *a number is used instead of women’s name Women laboring in unstable factory jobs in the U.S. often combine this activity with a job in the service sector. These activities frequently provide social services to the Tzintzuntzeño community. Among these activities, we found jobs related to childcare, nursing, ironing, attending the newly arrived (boarding), cutting hair, cleaning houses, etc. According to the interviews, these services, particularly childcare and medical services are expensive and difficult to obtain. The inaccessibility and high costs lead Tzintzuntzeños to provide them within their group. Providing themselves with “affordable” services, gives Tzintzuntzeños new opportunities for employment. These survival strategies lead Tzintzuntzeños to reproduce situations suitable for the informal economy sector. During 1997, 20 families were interviewed in Tacoma, Washington. The following data focuses on the 20 wives from those families. The data presents important features of their participation in the labor market. Tzintzuntzeño women in Tacoma are highly represented in service and agriculture/nursery employment. Tzintzuntzeño women’s participation in Tacoma’s service sector includes: hotel employees, childcare, employees of second hand stores, etc.

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Table 3 Tzintzuntzeño Women’s Employment: Tacoma, Washington Occupation Nursery Farms Services Craft Housewife Total

Number 8 3 5 2 2 20

Percentage 40 15 25 10 10 100

As Table 3 illustrates, 40% of women employment is located in nurseries, which includes planting, arranging, and cleaning plants, and flowers in the fields and greenhouses. Tzintzuntzeño women work in nurseries is a good example of flexible work arrangements. A closer look at the 20 women interviewed illustrates the dynamics of their employment.

Table 4 1997 Tzintzuntzeño Women’s Occupations Tacoma, Washington * 1-Nursery (Tacoma) 2-Chicken farm employee (Tacoma) 3-Hotel employee (Tacoma) 4-Housewife (Tacoma) 5-Hotel employee (Tacoma) 6-Crafts (Patzcuaro) 7-Nursery (Tacoma) 8-Nursery/Chicken farm (Tacoma) 9-Chicken farm/Nursery (Tacoma) 10-Nursery (Tacoma) 11-Hotel employee (Tacoma) 12-Child care (Tacoma) 13-Farm employee (Tacoma- Tzintzuntzan) 14-Employee (Tacoma)

152 15-Housewife (Tijuana) 16-Nursery (Tacoma) 17-Nursery/Hotel employee (Tacoma) 18-Nursery (Tacoma) 19-Nursery (Tacoma) 20-Craft (Tzintzuntzan) *a number is used instead of women’s name

Making Ends Meet

A common characteristic of all these jobs is its temporality. Sara, with a permanent resident immigration status and as long time resident of Tacoma is one of the few Tzintzuntzeñas who is able to count with all year employment. As she states: During some seasons, I cut flowers. There are always three types of flowers. The flowers are planted. From there we go to the “hob.” Are you familiar with rhubarbs? They make bread, wine. It is like some sort of root, that is, squashes leaves. Are you familiar with them? They are just like that. That's what's useful, because one must cut the leaves, and clean the little stub. And I work another season over in the rhubarbs. At that time, they start taking out all the bulbs of the flowers that were planted and they take us inside (greenhouse) to clean them. We also cut other types of flowers, called ‘lajadios’ or ‘piris’. After the rhubarbs ends, they take us inside to clean all the bulbs of the flowers that were planted, and there we start another season. I stayed only until then, after cleaning the bulbs. But now, I know all of the production at that place. Yes, after all the production of the bulbs, the greenhouse gets planted again, and then we clean. I did not stay for the planting. Contrary to Sara’s experience, other Tzintzuntzeño women are hired by this firm only during the busy season (up to 300 hundred people). According to Sara, there are close to 60 Tzintzuntzeños working in this firm during peak season. But after the work ends, the majority is laid off. Sara is one of the 70 workers who keep their jobs after the season ends. She points out that most of these workers are legal immigrants. Tzintzuntzeño women laboring in nurseries stressed the constant change of companies and the flexible hiring practices. They pointed to the different kinds of work problems and their reasons for being in this

Tzintzuntzeño Women and Income-generating Strategies 153 type of work. The fast coordination of the organization of production is in part due to the well-established Tzintzuntzeño women’s social network. Having family connections is one of the best ways to locate employment and is highly valued among employers who require quick, fast, and reliable labor force. As Maricela and Ana explained: When I arrived here in ‘91, I just stayed 3 months in Santa Ana with my parents-in-law and then I came to Washington. My husband was already working here and was waiting for me. I was pregnant, and so was not able to work right away. I started working in ’93. I had some relatives working on different farms. First, I was working in a nursery making "coronas de navidad" (Christmas wreaths) but I just worked for 3 months, because the work was temporary, and it finished. From there, I went to work at another farm. Those types of jobs are seasonal, especially when the weather is bad. They are only temporary because many jobs are needed when it's very cold. From the crowns, I went to a farm named Hanks. The work there was cleaning and trimming strawberry and raspberry roots. It's seasonal, and I only worked 3 _ months. These jobs were also in ‘93; from there I went to work at the Mariposa farms. Most of the people at the ranch are from Tzintzuntzan. About 60 families and I worked there. I was there for 5 months. It is very easy to work there because the contractor is from Tzintzuntzan and there are always jobs for people from Tzintzuntzan (Maricela). I didn't care if they were temporary, and at the Mariposa farm I went to work another 5 months because at that farm, the first people they hired were the first people they fired. The season lasted longer the second year. Last year I worked 8 months. I left because I was pregnant. Then I went back to Mexico. When I came back I worked in Spuner again for a month and a half and after that they called me again from Mariposa farm and again I worked for 8 months. After that I went back to Mexico, and now for example I know that if I want to work, I can, but I am not going to work for another year I think, because of my pregnancy. But they’ll wait for me, and they’ll give me the job when they need me (Ana).

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Making Ends Meet Even though Tzintzuntzeño women seem to have plenty of employment opportunities in the nursery production, these occupations don’t offer them the security of a permanent employment. Women are laid off after the work ends. The continued change of employers infrequently gives these women employment for the year or a 40 hour workweek. Few hours, low wages, and the lack of security have a strong influence in the forms in which these women organize their income-generating strategies. Very often during a good seasonal period, women may have plenty of job offers, which cannot all be accepted. After the “season” ends most, if not all job offers end also, and women are left again with the difficulties of obtaining the family income without a permanent employment. Kemper’s census of the population in Tijuana showed the occupations of 104 economically active Tzintzuntzeños in Tijuana. The following data focuses on the 51 women’s occupations.

Table 5 Tzintzuntzeño Women’s Employment: Tijuana, Baja California Occupation Agriculture Factory Services Housewife Clerical Self-Employed Professional Total

Number 1 10 10 21 6 2 1 51

Percentage 2 20 20 41 12 4 2 100

In addition to this data, a total of 15 families were interviewed in Tijuana in 1997. From the interviews, this section shows the occupations of the 13 Tzintzuntzeño women in Tijuana.

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Table 6 1997 Tzintzuntzeño Women’s Occupations Tijuana, Baja California* 1-Housewife and childcare (Tijuana) 2-Work at a restaurant (Tijuana) 3-Housewife and work at a restaurant (Tijuana) 4-Housewife and attending “tiendita” 5-Housewife and factory 6-Housework and fruit, juice vendor 7-Housewife 8-Housewife 9- Housewife 10-Hotel employee 11-Housewife 12-Housewife and factory 13- Housewife and factory *a number is used instead of women’s name The table shows a large number of women as housewives (41%). The 13 ethnographic interviews, however, showed that women, who had reported “housewife” as their main occupation, also had other occupations. From the 13 women interviewed, 8 were doing “another activity” apart from housework. Activities such as child care, attending a “tiendita,” and juice vendor (at home) gave women the opportunities to earn extra money and at the “same time attend the family” High levels of poverty and economic restructuring in both Southern California and Tijuana have accelerated the formation of an informal economy. Comparing Tzintzuntzeño salaried experiences on both sides of the border, especially the role that women play in the formal and informal sectors of the economy, women in Tijuana have lower participation in the formal sector than those in Southern California. Contrary to what was expected Tzintzuntzeño women in the sample are not extensively working in industries such as the maquiladoras, garment, and electronic. However, recent informal conversations with younger and newly arrived Tzintzuntzeños in Tijuana presented a more active participation in the “maquila”

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WOMEN’S LABOR IN THE FORMAL AND INFORMAL SECTOR OF THE ECONOMY According to the interviews, one of the most salient problems confronting Tzintzuntzeños in Southern California, Tacoma, Washington and Tijuana is the high degree of unemployment and underemployment found in the group. Tzintzuntzeño families develop strategies to confront periods of unemployment. Since these households require more than one wage earner in order to survive, women’s economic contributions play an important role in the survival of the household. Women often work a second part-time job in the service sector such as, hotels, restaurants, and other service oriented jobs. Between the most important "second jobs" mentioned was women’s participation in the garment industry, which very often-meant working out of their own home. The data showed that in most cases the second job women where employed in required them to perform the work within their homes. Male second job occupations, such as street vendors and other service employment, have a more varied employment location. Tzintzuntzeño women who work in service sector jobs are often paid in cash, do not always have control of their working hours, and work where labor codes are not enforced. The strong intertwinding of both formal and informal activities, where companies combine both practices and employ these women in both sectors, complicates the analysis of these women’s economic participation.8 Rosalinda’s case exemplifies how the combination of unstable “formal” occupations and a secondary job is a frequent strategy needed to cover daily expenses. Rosalinda sews children’s clothing for Korean employers in Los Angeles. She combines her sewing work at home with her unstable factory employment in a food-processing firm. As she explains: I worked from 7 or 6 in the morning, depending the job I had to do, to 4 to 5 in the evening. I worked at different places. In some places they do the cutting and they just give you the pieces that are already cut and you can bring them to your house and sew them here. You sew the collar, the sleeves, the lace and another person applies the ornaments with another machine. I also worked in La Alondra where we were sewing uniforms and in Florence in a comforter factory. From there I started working in

Tzintzuntzeño Women and Income-generating Strategies 157 Norwalk with another Chinese person, sewing children’s clothing. But the work was really hard, and was paid badly. Then my husband got a job for me at the factory where he works packing tuna, where I’ve been working for 6 years already. (Rosalinda was wearing a T-shirt from the company, with a bumblebee logo). But because I don’t work full time, I still can continue working in the sewing jobs where I always have work. I can do this job with the Korean at my house. I like it because it gives me time to go to the other job in the factory and take care of my grandchildren and to go see what is going on in my house. Another example of “second job” among Tzintzuntzeño women is working as a stylist. The “beauty salon” is often located in the woman’s garage or living room. They provide these services to friends and neighbors. María charges almost half the price charged in a commercial salon for the same services (haircuts, tints, skin care). María combines this sporadic job at home with other temporary jobs at “established” beauty salons and factory jobs gained through an employment agency. As she pointed out: I have been working here in my garage for several years, especially, when I don’t have enough work in the factory or when I don’t have a job. I don’t do it every day, just when they come looking for me for a haircut, or a tint. Several people from Tzintzuntzan come to get haircuts with me. Another woman gave the chair that we are using to me from Tzintzuntzan that also does the same work, but in Los Angeles. When we can we help each other, we do. I started studying to become a beautician when I was fired from the hotel. I found a job in a factory in the night shift. I started my shift at 11-o clock at night, and then I took classes during the evening from 5 to 10 at night. I had to pay for the course, but it was worth it, it was a good idea (to take the course). In the morning, I had time to send the children to school, clean the house, prepare lunch, sleep some hours and be ready to go to my classes. My husband used to pick the kids up from school, feed them, prepare me some food and take it to the beauty school where I was studying. It was a lot of work, but now it has helped us a lot.

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Making Ends Meet Other secondary jobs found among Tzintzuntzeños is preparing food for the recently arrived immigrants (boarding), and selling products in their houses to neighbors and other family members. Even when these jobs appeared to be unimportant to Tzitzuntzeño women, they constitute an important source of family income. “Second jobs,” mainly in the informal sector, complement low wages earned in unstable working conditions by husbands and other family members in the “formal” sector.

CHILDCARE AND WOMEN’S WORK Tzintzuntzeño women’s labor participation in wage employment in Southern California, Tacoma and Tijuana is to a great extent conditioned by family situations such as marriage, maternity, childcare, and sickness of some member of the family. The lack of institutions dedicated to childcare for the “low wage working class” and the constant priority women give to family activities force women to select jobs, which facilitate the combination of both non-salaried and wage labor. Most Tzintzuntzeño women’s labor combines domestic labor and salaried activities. This combination forces Tzintzuntzeño women to change jobs more frequently than men and to have multiple occupations. This “duality” results in an ideal labor force for employers looking for flexible hiring arrangements. As Herlinda’s experience illustrates: When we came over here, I had one of our children, the chubby one, and then after forty days, I started working in Los Angeles. This was around 1985. I started working in a factory ironing and attaching stickers, but not sewing. I used to work every day for a while, I worked every day from 8 to 5. It lasted about 8 months. I left this job because of the birth of another one of my children. After that, it was a while before I worked again. Really it was about 8 months without working ...and later I started working at a hotel, I cleaned the bathrooms and sleeping areas. This was a small hotel. I did not stay their long, about four months. After that, I started working nights at the factory. It was a comforter and sheet factory. I sewed sheets. No, I haven't stopped. Lack of affordable childcare makes it more difficult to combine these activities. As the case of Julia, who has three children ages 3, 5 and

Tzintzuntzeño Women and Income-generating Strategies 159 7. Julia emphasized, in the interview, the difficulties she had in “completando lo del gasto” (meeting all the expenses) and the difficulties she had leaving the children with a baby sitter. She calculated that by the time she paid for a week of childcare, the baby sitter would take most of her minimum wage. “It is not worth it to leave the children for the few dollars that are left…” Julia also showed her concern about leaving her children in the care of another person. As she explained: Not now, well, I can’t work because of the children, but once they are in school… Well, it will be difficult, but at any rate, one has to commit oneself. They get used to it. I know a lot of people work here and it’s very hard for the children and for you. But you still have to leave them with someone who doesn’t work. You have to tell them (baby sitter), ‘look, you will take them to school. When they get out, you will pick them up.’ When we arrive home, we have to pay them some money. And because the children have someone to take care of him or her, you will need to work more. Someone has to take care of them in case something happens…. But I’m afraid to leave them According to women interviewed, working at home helps resolve the problems associated with childcare. Women with small children, either take care of relatives or other Tzintzuntzeños in the neighborhood, or find Tzintzuntzeño paisanos and family members for childcare. Although, often offered "free" to close family members, today, Tzintzuntzeño women use this as a strategy to complement their family income, especially when they have small children. Women find it more economically worthwhile to "stay at home” with their children and charge to take care of other children than working in the formal sector of the economy and paying for "baby sitters." Most of the women with small children point out that no les convenia (it’s not worth it) to work outside the home because they had no money left over after paying the baby sitter, rites, lunch and other expenses. The selection of a job is strongly affected by the need to combine lowwages, labor and childcare. As Consuelo stated: I tell my husband that I have done this because I can look out for the children, because these days, the way things are, we cannot leave the children alone. I tell him I could get another job. I

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Making Ends Meet don’t like the work I do, but there’s a lot of work there…but I do it because the factory is close to the girl’s school and I can check up on them. So if I look for work, then it will be more responsibility because it will be for 8 hours. But here, I have time to take them to school and take our son to the baby-sitters. If something were to happen, they know where I am because it’s closer. I feel better in that way.

NO REGULAR JOB, NO REGULAR BENEFITS The demands of laboring as salaried workers and attending the family lead these women to strong contradictions. The flexibility of their employment gives them a major part of the domestic work. It seems as if “flexible hiring practices” are their strategy to cope with both family responsibilities and salaried job. But on the other hand these contradictions are “capitalized” by their employers and are felt in Tzintzuntzeño women’s working conditions. Even though Tzintzuntzeño men are also affected by similar working conditions, particularly unstable employment, when we compare the work histories of men and women in Southern California, Tacoma Washington and Tijuana, we observe that Tzintzuntzeño women are less likely to have fringe benefits than men because of their lack of full time employment. As one Tzintzuntzeño woman interviewed put it, No, I don’t work 8 hours every day. Sometimes I work 5 hours, sometimes more, depending on how much work there is. Depending on the work. It is a problem because, for example, that’s what’s happening, because they haven’t given me vacation, and they have not paid me for extra time, or complete hours, as it should be. I don’t complete the 40 hours because they don't give them to me (Eloisa). Tzintzuntzeño women’s working experiences with subcontractors of these small firms frequently presented a more direct type of employee control than Tzintzuntzeñas working in larger firms. Rosalinda, complaining about the labor situation with the subcontractor, pointed out: I think that by not giving us full time they are avoiding giving people any guarantees. You see, I believe this because I had

Tzintzuntzeño Women and Income-generating Strategies 161 never worked like this until now. If we don’t do it, they (subcontractors) are the one’s who do this type of work (sew). That’s why they pay such low wages. Herlinda also complains about the working relationship with the subcontractor: They are the ones who hire you and they collect the money to pay you. Ok. But they aren’t the owners of the hotel, but I don’t know, they don’t have their own businesses. I have wanted to go. I have wanted to investigate because this has never happened to me before. I have worked at a factory before and one knows that they’re supposed to give you vacation. I have been here for 4 years and they have not given me any vacation nor have they paid me for them. That’s what I want to find out. At first they said it was supposedly because I didn’t work 8 hours. But how can I work them if there is no work? María who works in a factory with non- regular hourly schedule also complained about the lack of fringe benefits: No, we don’t receive benefits in this company, none. No health insurance, no paid vacation. We have nothing. We are always desperate to get more working hours or to have a more regular job. In that way they (employers) will be forced to give us more benefits. One clear example of control and the “taking advantage” of the flexibility of this labor is the “employment agency” where some Tzintzuntzeños gather to look for employment. This agency provides factories, small business, with temporal workers. 80 per cent of the agency’s clientele are immigrants from Mexico. The agency negotiates wages, schedules, very often independently from the workers. As María points out: The agency and the employer control our work, you just go, and they do blood and urine tests on you. They ask you for papers and then they quickly find you a job. They just charge you $10.00. But they really have a business with us. The company where I was working was paying $10.00 to the agency and the

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Making Ends Meet agency was paying me $5.50 per hour. The manager told us. For example if we work during weekends they should be paying us extra. But here, if we work overtime, they (employers) have to pay to the agency. This benefits the agency but not the company. This is why when they have overtime on Saturdays, the company just hires their own people, people that work there permanently.

WOMAN’S LABOR IN THE DOMESTIC ARENA Moore (1988) points out an important criticism to Meillassoux’s work. She argues against his omission of women’ domestic labor. Moore argues how Meillassoux presents an analysis of reproduction in which the domestic community is absolutely essential, but he does not include women’s domestic work. “We have returned again to the invisibility of women’s domestic labor, an invisibility which operates at both the empirical and the theoretical level” (Moore, 1988:52). Women’s contributions to the family income cannot be measured only in terms of their participation in the wage labor force. Preparing meals, childcare, cleaning, feeding the family, and taking care of the sick and organizing family expenses, particularly stretching low-wages are all activities related to the reproduction of labor (Moore, 1988, Fernandez-Kelly, 1983). In the Tzintzuntzeño case, these activities are important part of women’s work, at all sites, Tijuana, Washington and Southern California. Women develop a number of strategies to stretch the family income to hacer rendir el gasto (make ends meet). Tzintzuntzeño women explained some strategies used in their homes to meet their daily expenses. Well there are a lot of ways “to make ends meet“ (para que me alcance el gasto). Well, what I do is, I buy this way, things to feed five persons, like eggs, beef, chicken, right? Then, I do a lot of things with vegetables, flour and other things. If there’s enough for five persons, then there will be enough for eight persons or more (Josefina). I can tell that we are limited, so what I do is this, I include vegetables or serve small portions, or whatever, or if there are any leftovers, I add something different so they can tell it’s not

Tzintzuntzeño Women and Income-generating Strategies 163 the same dish. That’s how I do it, that’ how I manage at home (María). Women’s participation in organizing forms of consumption, especially food consumption and care of children illustrates important income- generating strategies, which depend on women’s work. Tzintzuntzeño families have been able to protect their food consumption from low and unstable salaries by reducing the consumption of goods and services and by intensifying the women’s burden of work, both paid and unpaid. Migrant women, have often had to participate in a variety of activities to complement unstable working conditions and low-wages and at the same time attending to house labor. These conditions have situated women in a “double burden.” 9 The role women’s work plays in subsidizing unfavorable working conditions are important to consider. Kearney discusses the importance of women’s labor as non-salaried producers of value, which reproduces households labor force. Because of gender-linked characteristics, women migrant workers are especially attractive to employers. Even from capital’s point of view, the cost-benefit ratio of circular migration is superior to that of immigrants (Kearney, 1986:345). Both parts, cost of reproduction and retirement, are borne by the domestic economy (Kearney, 1986: 344). However, when migrants transport their domestic unit to the core country, new forms of control of reproduction and working conditions take place. By emphasizing the utilization of social services, especially health care and education, politicians are denying and disguising women’s contributions to family income under flexible labor arrangements. This relationship between production and reproduction is revealed most clearly in the actual immigration policies, which attempt to have a direct control in the reproduction of immigrant labor (Chavez, 1996a)10. In order for these labor conditions to be reproduced, (unstable employment, flexible production) it is necessary that a strong political apparatus assist the reproduction of these practices. Migration policies’ control of migrant’s conditions of labor, illustrates the relationship that exists between economic and political issues. The effects that these “new forms of production” have on the migrant’ family are rarely questioned in the migration policies’ debates. The lack of stable employment with “decent working conditions” is also rarely brought into question. The consideration of poor working conditions, particularly unstable and flexible employment, may present an objective way of “attacking” the forms in which these workers

164 Making Ends Meet reproduce their labor. Women’s non-salaried work, especially forms of consumption and childcare, illustrates important ways to subsidize low wages, flexible and unstable employment. Lamphere (1987) discusses working women potential resistance to exploitation and explains how “women’s resistance grows out of concrete conditions of women’ productive work.” She points out a different approach. Tentler (1979) states that women’s commitment to marriage and family leads them to see themselves as temporary workers and therefore remain complacent about their working conditions. Lamphere’s criticism of this approach suggests, “the presence or absence of resistance has more to do with the particular conditions on the shop floor and with management’s strategies for controlling labor than with women's family ties. Attitudes and values that come out of women’s family or ethnic background often change as women are socialized by more experienced workers and learn the tricks of resistance practiced by other women…”(Lamphere, 1987: 290). The above discussion suggest a stronger attention to women’s participation in the flexible labor market. Women, their husbands and their children face low-wages, unstable employment and flexible hiring practices in Tzintzuntzan as well as in the United States. However, women bear the cost of these conditions by providing unpaid labor to meet the needs of their families. This study describes women’s work in both countries. Women’s work includes paid employment and more importantly it also takes into account the work that women perform on an everyday basis such as child care and domestic work. These latter activities, of utmost importance in the reproduction of the labor force, continue to be provided mostly by women. As indicated, we then need to consider the subsidizing of flexible labor market, particularly, low wages, unstable employment and flexible hiring practices by women’ work in Tzintzuntzan as well as in the United States. The lack of attention to the reproduction of immigrant labor force make Tzintzuntzan women’ work invisible both salaried and non-salaried, in their place of origin and/or in the receiving country. It will remain important to highlight these gendered dynamic in future research.

CHAPTER 8

El Gasto: Social And Economic Strategies For Survival

El gasto1 is a term used by Mexican working people to refer to the amount of money required to obtain what is necessary to sustain the family. These expenses include rent, food, and clothing, basically all the costs necessary to survive. The original title of this work, Buscando el Gasto (looking for), aims to study the connections between Tzintzuntzeño families and the political and economic structures within which Tzintzuntzeños live and work. In order to achieve this goal, this work treats the socio-economic behavior of immigrant families as central in explaining the income-generating strategies and migration itself. This chapter focuses on the ways parents battle and cope in acquiring the family’s income. It further examines the effects stable and flexible employment has on the family’s budget. The contextualization of these strategies within a transnational region led these families to transcend and restructure their relationship with the actual political economy. As will be observed in this chapter, Tzintzuntzeño’s practices of combining wages from both the formal and informal sector in the same household weakens the boundaries between these two sectors. The presence of families with mixed immigration status, undocumented parents have U.S. citizen children, challenges static and/or dualist analysis of immigrant family’s structures (Kearney, 1996; Chavez, 1992). This chapter examines the effects that Tzintzuntzeño families’ working conditions have on the economic strategies of this group. Lamphere (1987) and Fernandez-Kelly (1983) underscore a social structural context rather than just ethnic or gender differences affecting women’s employment after migration. Fernandez-Kelly’s (1983: 13) 165

166 Making Ends Meet analysis of Lamphere’s work acknowledges the fact that decisions regarding employment occur in the household and are determined by the costs needed to reproduce daily what is essential for the long-term existence of its members. In the case of Tzintzuntzeño immigrant families, the allocation of household members’ employment is to a great extent influenced by labor market conditions. Migration experience, as a survival strategy (Massey, 1987), affects all members of the family and not just one family member. Hondagneu-Sotelo (1994) points out that while immigrant men have been largely studied, they have not been examined in immigration literature as men i.e., as gendered persons. She states that an exception would be Rouse’s study (1992) which argues that Mexican immigrant men, especially those who are undocumented, experience limited spatial mobility in their daily lives which compromises some of their patriarchal privileges (Hondagneu-Sotelo, 1994:193). Studies incorporating economic participation of immigrant children in family strategies are also important (Valenzuela, 1998). These studies are of utmost importance in the understanding of problems confronting this population. Concentrating just on the effect migration has on one family member results in a unilateral perspective on a complex reality. For example, the evaluation of high school dropout rates should take into account the multi-faceted phenomena that may affect an adolescent’s ability to successfully graduate from high school. Likewise, ethnographic interviews with married men living in the U.S. without their families testified against generalizations which portray male immigrants as depictions of patriarchal privileges: irresponsible fathers, husbands or sons, leaving their families in their places of origin. These interviews, done in Mexico and in the U.S., consistently showed the problems and conflicts that Mexican men have when forced to live most of their lives apart from their families. As Juan observed: When you are working in the U.S. you spend most of the time thinking about your family, and in going back to see your children. You are working here for them. Living in an overcrowded house that is not yours. Eating 'Twinkies' for lunch and living with a bunch of other men. And when you go back, you realize that your children do not love you any more, they do not know you ... the hard part is that you will again come back to the U.S. and continue living in this way. There is nothing you can do to change this situation...

El Gasto: Social and Economic Strategies for Survival 167 Studies that focus on the effects immigration has on women are important in understanding a significant component of the domestic unit’s power relationship.2 Yet, the concentration on one side of the problem limits the perspective to a single component of the dynamic and contradictory interaction between gender and migration. Wiest (1973) examines the relationship between wage-labor migration and household composition and economic organization. He emphasizes the reciprocity of these relationships. Wiest explains: "This relationship is viewed as reciprocal, inasmuch as wage-labor migration may contribute to the formation of certain households types, and certain household types may condition certain kinds of migration as well" (Wiest, 1973:24). Fernandez-Kelly (1983) also emphasizes the importance of family strategies in the decisionmaking processes. “These strategies (conscious or subconscious, tacit or deliberate) are mediated between individual choices and the constraints imposed by larger labor markets.” Fernandez-Kelly stresses the importance of the household needs and organization, factors that also influence the supply of labor (Fernandez-Kelly, 1992:17).

INCOME-GENERATING STRATEGIES AND THE “WEAK” DIVISION BETWEEN FORMAL AND INFORMAL SECTORS The economic survival strategies and Tzintzuntzeños household organization challenges mechanical schemes of family structure. Classifying Tzintzuntzeño family’s participation in one or another sector of the economy presents us with a series of problems that must be considered. Tzintzuntzeño families very often include workers in both the formal and informal sectors. The fact that some Tzintzuntzeños’ employment in the formal sector is found in the bottom of the occupational scale where “informal practices” dominate makes both workers from the formal and informal sector utilize similar strategies in managing the family income. The “overlapping” positions Tzintzuntzeños have in particular sectors of the labor market and household organization are illustrated in the following examples. As with Tzintzuntzeños in Southern California, Tzintzuntzeño families in Tijuana also present a combination of wages from formal and informal practices. These wage

168 Making Ends Meet combinations are important in understanding the economic strategies of these families. The case of Roberto and Marta (no. 4 from Tijuana sample) well illustrates the combination of workers participating within the informal economy and workers laboring in the formal sector.

Roberto ==== Marta Ø construction Rosa Ø supermarket

Rito Ø factory

Ø “tiendita”

Miguel Ø fieldwork

Daniel Ø fieldwork

Lilia Ø factory

This family experience of low wages and unstable working conditions leads them to pool their wages to complement their family’s income. Roberto’s wages as a construction worker in Tijuana are not enough to sustain his family of 10 children living at home. Marta has been living for 9 years in Tijuana, (before a transnational family), and does not have the intention of crossing the border to live or work in the United States. She points out that the number of children is a main factor in her decision. “We have too many children and it is very difficult to move everybody to California or Washington where my son is working. It saddens me that I have my house in Tzintzuntzan and that it’s unattended. But I tell my children that I don’t want to desacomodarlos (inconvenience them) we don’t pay rent here, and we are all here together. Now that I want to take them back with me, they don’t want to return any more.” Roberto’s construction wages and his older children’s wages are complemented with the income from the tiendita3 (family run store) which is organized and attended by Marta with the help of her children after school or when they are out of work or unemployed. Marta points out how la tiendita helps them sacar lo del gasto, (to complete the family income) especially when Roberto does not have a job, or when her older children have financial problems or when things get slow in their jobs. Marta’s family combines construction wages from Roberto’s job, maquiladora wages from two of her children, and some unstable wages from her daughter working as Calimax’s employee (supermarket), where she only sometimes secures employment. Marta also receives some remittances from Raul, her son, working in Washington. None of

El Gasto: Social and Economic Strategies for Survival 169 these jobs are permanent, including the factory employment. It seems la tiendita is the only secure income generator. The tiendita, situated within the informal sector of the economy, helps the family avoid the downs of other informal activities and from occupations within the “formal” economy (i.e., the maquiladora). Another Tijuana case, which illustrates this phenomenon, is that of Rigoberto and Yolanda (no. 5 from Tijuana sample). Here, the combination of wages from both the formal and informal sector within the same family includes older children employed in a highly flexible job in the maquiladora and Yolanda’s informal employment cleaning homes.

Rigoberto === Yolanda

Gregorio Ø factory

Ø construction

Ø housewife

Arturo Ø factory

Mariana Ø cleaning houses

Luis Ø factory

Rigoberto and Yolanda example, illustrate how the regional economic restructuring process through flexible employment affects the dynamics of the family structure. I interviewed this family in their home in one of Tijuana’s colonias. An important part of our interview was concentrated on what the family considered to be its most important problem: unstable employment. The experiences of the family with the labor market are constantly changing and influencing the family. Rigoberto’s labor history points out the dynamics of the labor market and how they have affected family decisions to migrate, to stay in Tijuana and how to organize the family’s income. Rigoberto came with his father Cruz, the first Tzintzuntzeño to work in Tijuana. Rigoberto remembers working as a vendedor ambulante (street vendor) with his father for several years before starting to work in construction. After Rigoberto got married, he continued working and alternated between his jobs as a street vendor and in construction. Years later, Rigoberto worked in the United States for 8 months. He points out the difficulties he confronted while living in the U.S. Among the most important problems were the uncertainty of

170 Making Ends Meet finding a regular job, the difficulties from being separated from his family and the obstacles of bringing his family to the United States. According to Rigoberto, these reasons forced him to stop working in the U.S. and to establish a residence in Tijuana. Rigoberto explained: “Here at least I don’t have to pay rent. I feel more comfortable working here watching how my children grow up.” For Rigoberto, Yolanda and their older children, their family’s living condition highlights the difficulties of meeting daily expenses, even with the maquiladora wages from three members of the family. Rigoberto’s son, Luis, works in the maquiladora. When asked to define his job, he strongly emphasized, “el trabajo va muy despacio” (the job’s slow pace) which is the main reason why he thinks that working in the maquila is not as advantageous as it looks. Luis combines school with factory work. At the time of the interview, Gregorio, his brother, had just been fired from a maquiladora making pens. He showed the last pen they were fabricating at the factory; one for Disneyland, with the Disney designs that are so popular in California and around the world. The oldest brother, who used to work at the maquiladora, was also unemployed at the moment of the last interview. He also underlined the lack of security in his jobs. These experiences with the labor market were reflected in the family’s living conditions. The family lives in a one-bedroom house, constructed by Rigoberto himself in one of the colonias in Tijuana. Rigoberto and Yolanda have 7 children. The youngest was only 2 years old. Even though 6 of Rosario’s 11 brothers work in Washington, she also shares her husband’s opinion that it is too difficult to "move the family to another state, much less to another country.” Rigoberto explained that even with his brother-in-law’s contacts for jobs in Washington, the family has decided not to separate. Rigoberto’s family income is the result of the pooling of his older children’s wages and the wages from his construction work. The extremely flexible working conditions meant considerable shifting from job to job, or unemployment. Both conditions have a decisive effect on the way in which this family is organized.

El Gasto: Social and Economic Strategies for Survival

171

INCOME-GENERATING STRATEGIES AND THE “WEAK” DIVISION BETWEEN CITIZENS AND MIGRANTS Although they only suggest broader generalizations, the following cases show particular ways in which Tzintzuntzeño families are organized to adjust to economic constraints. These adaptations result in modified household structures. Families with mixed immigration status, where undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants and U.S. citizens combine resources to obtain the family income, present important issues in the understanding of these processes. Household composition does not follow a uniform model. As Fernandez points out; “ In a relatively small physical space, many forms of family and household organization exist. The factors that explain such differences must ultimately be related to labor market conditions” (Fernandez: 1983: 153). Tzintzuntzeño families not only combine wages from different sectors of the economy in the same household, but also they combine income from old and new immigrants. There are often different migration statuses in the same household. A good example is the case of Patricio and Graciela (no. 31 from the original sample). I met Patricio and Graciela in Tzintzuntzan in 1990. I interviewed them at their house while they worked making pottery. On that occasion, they told me their two daughters were working in Santa Ana, California. Carlota was working in the Southern Company, and Paula was cleaning houses. Both daughters were able to legalize their immigration status. In 1985, Patricio came to work to Santa Ana, stayed for eight months and returned to Tzintzuntzan. Afterwards, Patricio came several times and went back to Tzintzuntzan after his seasonal employment ended. This did not permit him to qualify for the legalization process. In 1996, while attempting to cross the border, he got lost. For months nobody knew his whereabouts. I met several times with different Tzintzuntzeño groups, in Santa Ana and Tijuana, where we tried to find someone that could assist us in locating Patricio. During these meetings, I realized the importance he had in the community. From the first time I met Patricio, I was aware of the respect he had in Tzintzuntzan. Though he was not one of the wealthiest men in Tzintzuntzan, he had a great amount of prestige due to his involvement with the religious ceremonies in Tzintzuntzan,

172 Making Ends Meet especially in the preparation of the ceremonial dances. His attempt to cross in 1996 was directly related to his knowledge, he was coming to assist in the organization of the religious dance in Tacoma Washington.4 Thus, Tzintzuntzeños in Washington were aware of his disappearance. I also met with the rest of the family that was with Patricio at the moment of his disappearance: his wife, Graciela, who came with her husband for the first time and their daughter Raquel with her 3 small children. Raquel’s pregnant daughter-in-law was also part of the group. Raquel’ s son was already in Santa Ana living with Carlota and Rigoberta. One of the granddaughters, a ten year old girl named Lucia, told me how, while crossing the border with a “coyote,” the “coyote” asked the group to “run” and then meet him at a certain place. The entire group ran ahead, leaving Patricio and this girl behind. The girl related the story of how her grandfather was too tired to continue and she didn’t want to leave him, but because he insisted she went and caught up to the rest of the family. At the moment of the interview, Lucia was feeling tremendously guilty for having left her grandfather behind. This event demonstrated the dangerous situations the family have to confront and the strong solidarity that exists not just among the members of the extended family, but also among Tzintzuntzeños in Washington, Tijuana and Santa Ana. They asked me to accompany them to the Mexican consulate in Santa Ana, where different consulates in the border area were consulted. Also, in Tijuana, we spoke to several organization leaders, including former Immigrant Human Rights’ director Victor Clark. But nobody knew anything concerning the whereabouts of Patricio. Months after Patricio’s disappearance, his family established itself in Santa Ana.5 The family, living together in one household, had the following immigration status and employment: a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

Carlota (permanent resident) agriculture Rigoberta (permanent resident) cleaning houses Rigoberta’s husband (permanent resident) factory worker Raquel (undocumented immigrant) agriculture Raquel’s son (undocumented immigrant) agriculture Raquel’s daughter in law (undocumented immigrant) agriculture Graciela, Patricio’s wife (undocumented immigrant) childcare (taking care of four grandchildren ages, 10, 6, 2 and six months), preparing food for the family, and cleaning.

El Gasto: Social and Economic Strategies for Survival 173 An important complement to this family’s expenses was a small family run store inside their own apartment. Family members were in charge of “la tiendita.” They mainly sold soda and candy in the “little store.” Even though all adult members help with the selling, la tiendita is mainly the responsibility of the women who stay at home. In this case, it was Graciela’s responsibility. Fortunately, Patricio appeared almost a year later in Tzintzuntzan. Some Tzintzuntzeños told me he arrived weak and sick. One said, “he arrived by walking, catching rides, and whatever he could to get back to Tzintzuntzan, and he did it.” Patricio’s case is a clear illustration of the difficulties a family has to confront in order to obtain a family income, and stay together. Patricio’s story shows aspects of Tzintzuntzeños income-generating strategies, important in the understanding of these processes. Tzintzuntzeño families interviewed underlined the obstacles they confronted when they crossed the border. The main reasons Tzintzuntzeños gave for crossing the border, risking their families’ security and themselves, are related to the family’s ability to increase the opportunities of obtaining the family’s income and staying together. As shown in Patricio’s case, not all members of the family were “undocumented.” Patricio’s family had three family members who were permanent residents. This case demonstrates the dynamics and complexity related to immigrant households where mixed immigration status exists. Another aspect exemplified in this case is the ability of the family to combine wages from different sectors. Patricio’s household included “legalized” members working in permanent jobs and undocumented Tzintzuntzeños working in unstable, flexible agriculture employment. This family also supplemented expenses by their engagement in “la tiendita” which presented activities related to the informal economy sector. The case of Jacinto and Silvia (no. 2 from Washington sample) illustrates how an extended family confronts and copes with "informal relations of production" in order to secure the family income. According to the labor history of the family, before coming to the Washington area, Jacinto worked as a factory worker in Mexico City for seven years. His wife accompanied him to Mexico City but when they decided Jacinto would go work in the United States, she moved back to Tzintzuntzan. She sold pottery to local markets to “conseguir el gasto” (to obtain sufficient income) when Jacinto left to the United

174 Making Ends Meet States. Jacinto relates how "easy" it was to get a job after his arrival in Washington: "We arrived and the next day, we started working. But there was too much rain and the work slowed down. Then I went back to Tzintzuntzan." In 1990, Jacinto decided to come back to the Washington, but this time accompanied by his family. He spoke of the difficulties crossing the border with the whole family including his youngest son. His first job in Washington was with the Mariposa Farm in Puyallup. It lasted only one month, followed by seven months of "cutting trees." In 1991, Jacinto started working in the farm where he still labors. During the first year, Jacinto learned the different jobs that took place on the farm. Soon the employer decided the former manager was "charging too much." Jacinto was able to organize the farm production and do all the different farm chores. The employer fired the former manager and left Jacinto the whole responsibility of the farm, which included cleaning the hen house, fixing the machines, feeding the chickens, collecting and sorting the eggs and packing. When the farm needed extra labor, Jacinto "hired" Sivia, Silvia’s newly arrived nephew, her brother, and her sister as temporary workers. Jacinto’s employer rented a house to the family for $200.00 a month. This is located on the farm’s land, which permitted Jacinto to supervise the production around the clock. Jacinto started with a wage of $5.50 per hour and in 1997, he earned $10.50 per hour, while his wife and family continued working for the same minimum wage. All of these workers earned from $4.50 to $5.50 per hour. Jacinto and Silvia complained about the wages, the living conditions, and the family health. As Jacinto explained: As you can see, every day we live with this odor, now I think we are getting used to it. I'm worried about the children’s health because the chickens release a kind of dust. I asked my employer for an increase in my salary because I have not received one for a long time, but he says he is barely making it, but he says that my family and me can eat all the eggs that we want. He doesn’t imagine that that’s the only thing we don’t want to think about. Even though Jacinto faces a difficult situation, his position has an advantage: permanent employment. The labor on this farm is completely composed of Tzintzuntzan workers. Most of these employees, Silvia, Silvia’s brother, sister and nephew (all the workers in the farm) work in the farm in a flexible way when the production requires extra labor. This situation forces Rafael, Silvia’s brother, and

El Gasto: Social and Economic Strategies for Survival 175 his wife to work in other places, such as in nurseries and cleaning in the service sector, to meet their expenses. During difficult moments of unemployment, they are forced to return to Tzintzuntzan. The aforementioned labor histories illustrate the dynamics and complexity of the Tzintzuntzeño’s family structures within the context of their income generating strategies. These case studies demonstrate how “permanent employment,” characterized by flexible arrangements, very often goes together with the informal employment of newly arrived, undocumented, Tzintzuntzeños. Frequently, these undocumented migrants are either members of the community of origin and/or part of the extended family of the “legalized, permanently employed” migrant.

FLEXIBLE PRODUCTION AND CHANGES IN THE DOMESTIC DIVISION OF LABOR Tzintzuntzeño parents, like other working parents, consider caring and supporting their children a priority. Tzintzuntzeños’ frequent participation in unstable employment strongly influences how Tzintzuntzeños organize domestic activities. Hondagneu-Sotelo underlines the role of permanent employment as an important variable affecting immigrant families. She states: My ethnographic materials suggest that immigrant women advance settlement along three structural dimensions that constitute and define it. These are the construction of a community-wide social tie; employment in relatively stable, year-round jobs; and the utilization of private and public institutional forms of assistance, including credit (HondagneuSotelo, 1994:199). The experiences of Tzintzuntzeños in this case differ from Hondagneu-Sotelo’s findings in two ways. First, a good proportion of Tzintzuntzeños have been affected by their participation in unstable and flexible employment. And second, according to my interviews and contrary to common belief, Tzintzuntzeño families rarely receive governmental assistance. Only one family reported receiving welfare assistance, and assistance for children (WIC program). Most of these

176 Making Ends Meet families have not received and are not thinking of receiving these forms of support, as Julia explained: Once I went and didn’t know how to fill out the papers Actually, I got very angry and they didn’t give me anything. They have too many requirements. I didn’t feel good with the entire situation … rather than go asking I prefer to work, because I don’t like being investigated. They have you going here and there, and then the papers aren’t ready. Josefina also recalled her experiences with public assistance institutions: Recently, I went to request Medicare because my son had a lump here. He was born with a part a bit larger here and he says it hurts a lot. We went with my husband. They asked us for some letters from work and they would not give them to us, so nothing else happened. (Josefina worked in the field with the same company for 15 years). We didn’t do anything. That’s why it is so hard, we have no luck in receiving help, or maybe we don’t know how to fill out forms, or I really don’t know what it could be. Tzintzuntzeños’ lack of public forms of assistance and their experiences with unstable and flexible employment, force most of the wives to work outside the home. This participation has had important consequences in the allocation of reproductive labor within the household. Tzintzuntzeño husbands frequently take an active role in childcare and housework, and balance child-care needs with their wife’s employment. The division of labor within Tzintzuntzeño family needs a close analysis. The activities of wives and husbands very often are determined by work schedules and family needs. Ethnographic questions related to internal division of labor reported both husbands and wives sharing certain chores such as buying groceries and taking and picking the children up from school. Before the wife worked outside the home, the wife and extended family (husband and wife’s parents) performed duties. Today, the major responsibility for these duties is reallocated among immediate household members. According to the ethnographic interviews, even though Tzintzuntzeño women still experience a “double day” and remain responsible for a major share of

El Gasto: Social and Economic Strategies for Survival 177 housework and childcare, the behavior of husbands have changed from what it was before immigration. Husbands take their children to school; husbands look after their children after school or help with household shores. Tzintzuntzeños show significant changes in the behavior of men and women in relation to work done in the home, as both women and men have come to see women’s employment as a necessity (Pesquera, 1993). The case of Maricela and Roberto illustrates these changes. Roberto spent a good portion of the week at home waiting to get a call to work at his factory job. Maricela worked at night at her factory job and at the same time attended a beauty school. While Maricela worked or went to school, Roberto took care of the household responsibilities. Maricela explained how much her husband’s behavior changed after she started working, “when I was studying in beauty school, my husband used to bring me food to the school everyday.”

WITHDRAWAL FROM THE ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN GOODS AND SERVICES: WORK MORE AND CONSUME LESS Gonzalez de la Rocha points out how families and households have been crucial in defending the standard of living when families are confronted with an “economic crisis.”6 Gonzalez de la Rocha concludes that important strategies used by families to prevent food consumption levels from falling are “to withdraw from the market, especially in the acquisition of certain goods and services and to decrease the portion of income dedicated to other areas of consumption, such as health care and education, with detrimental consequences in non-food areas of family well-being (Gonzalez de la Rocha, 1991:125). Similar approaches are found among Tzintzuntzeño’s income generating strategies. Rocha’s “economic crisis” situation due to the drop in individual salaries is similar to the Tzintzuntzeño families’ conditions employed in flexible and unstable working conditions.7 The reduction in personal income, the individual who is not contributing to the family budget, limits the amount that Tzintzuntzeños spend on education, entertainment, and health care. These limitations are reflected in the ways the families enjoy their “free time.” As Margarito explained:

178

Making Ends Meet Well, when we go out on Sundays, we go out for a while. I really don’t want to because I spend about 10, 15 or 20 dollars! Which would buy food for 1-3 days. Sometimes I don’t want to go out, but we do it anyway because she doesn’t work and she is home all week taking care of the children. They are indoors all week, and they’re bored and want to go out. So it’s hard, and I have to take them out for a while, so that’s what I do.

Tzintzuntzeño children whose parents experience flexible and unstable employment have a higher propensity to dropout of high school. Tzintzuntzeños have a significant dropout rate. From 20 young men and women (10 men and 10 women) from the original sample, nine Tzintzuntzeño male teenagers dropped out and are working. Teenage girls, however, differ from their male counterparts; five young women have continued their studies. An example of this group is Teresa. I met Teresa (Martin and Josefina’s daughter, no. 15 from the original sample) 9 years ago, when she was finishing high school. She continued her studies and today she is in college and working in a lawyer’s office. But this is not the case for all Tzintzuntzeños, especially new arrival children. In Patricio’s case, mentioned above, two of the children were not attending school at the moment of the interview. This chapter illustrated how the labor market participation of these families affects the dynamic of the Tzintzuntzeño family structure. One can observe the interplay between formal and informal sectors of the economy, the mixed immigrant status within a family unit, and the constant changes in the internal division of family labor. All come together acknowledging the complexity and dynamics encountered in the Tzintzuntzeño’s income generating strategies. The first two case studies, Rodolfo/María and Rogelio/Rosario, live in Tijuana, Baja California. Patricio and Graciela’s family is divided and located in Santa Ana and Tzintzuntzan, and the third case, Jacinto and Silvia are actually living in Washington. Even though these families are located in different states/countries, they present important similarities in the way they organize their families to maximize their income. Household composition does not follow a uniformed model, still the strong influence employment patterns have on the structure and organization of these families is evident.

CHAPTER 9

Concluding Observations on the Tzintzuntzeños’ IncomeGenerating Strategies, Settlement and Transnationalism

As we have seen, families’ experiences with binational labor markets are important factors shaping the multiple ways families organize their lives through their income-generating strategies. Contemporary global economic restructuring, with its intense mobilization of both capital and labor, among other factors, are fundamental causes of flexible labor markets. But what does this mean for migrants? It means that a considerable number of low-wage migrant workers employed under these conditions, of flexibility, find it more difficult to live permanently in one place. Tzintzuntzeño families are often transnational, divided between Mexico and the United States. Permanent employment, among other factors, is an important factor that allows families to settle. Families may settle either in the United States or in Mexico with some relatives dispersed across multiple geographic sites. As was discussed earlier, settlement in a locality is strongly affected by the stage of the family’s developmental cycle (e.g., married, age of children) and working conditions (Alarcón, 1994; Chavez, 1994). Immigration status also plays an important role in migration and settlement patterns. Immigration status has a direct impact on the ways in which migrants are incorporated in the labor market (“documented” vs. “undocumented”). It also has a strong effect on immigrant responses to labor conditions and family organization of income strategies. Even though participation in the labor market is an 179

180 Making Ends Meet important factor in family decision making, this is not a mechanical relationship, important socio-cultural aspects are also considered by the family. This last chapter analyzes family mobility as a response to new situations, especially new opportunities of employment. The labor experiences of Tzintzuntzeño families force them to re-structure their family units. As we have observed, labor market experiences allowed Tzintzuntzeño families to reunite in Southern California and in Washington State. Permanent employment enabled Tzintzuntzeño families to “settle” in these regions. Parallel to these experiences, some Tzintzuntzeño families, also influenced by their experiences with the labor market, have been unable to bring their families to United States or reunite with them in Mexico. These families continue to have transnational arrangements. New forms of employment implant Tzintzuntzeños with new relationships with their place of origin and with their families. Employment in Dutch Harbor, Alaska is an excellent example of their new relationships with the labor market. This study presents the labor history experiences of Tzintzuntzeños in order to analyze how the relationship with labor markets influnced families to settle in the U.S. or in Mexico, to construct transnational families, and/or to disperse across multiple sites.

TZINTZUNTZEÑO FAMILIES AND SETTLEMENT Of the 35 families interviewed, 17 families had, at least one member, who had experienced a relatively stable job, which permitted them to stay in the Santa Ana-Los Angeles region, since their first migration from Mexico. Most of these families stayed in Santa Ana even when settlements of Tzintzuntzeños started to occurr in Tacoma, Washington. The labor market experiences of these settled Tzintzuntzeños present similar features: most of these workers are legal immigrants, have seniority in their place of employment, regular working hours, and an average wage of $8.00 per hour. These working conditions “allowed” them a more “relaxed” economical situation. In these cases, immigration status had a strong effect in the forms of employment in which these Tzintzuntzeños labored. When Tzintzuntzeños “fixed” their papers, they changed to relatively stable jobs (factories). As the following case studies illustrate, changes in the relationship with the

Concluding Observations 181 labor market had a strong effect in the ways these families organized their income. Juan Luis y Rosa, (no. 20 from original sample) interviewed in 1990 lived in a small one-bedroom apartment in Santa Ana. Their family faced many difficulties since Juan Luis started working in California in 1976. During the first 9 years, Rosa and her children stayed in Mexico. Juan Luis would go back after his seasonal work in the agricultural sector ended. Rosa complemented their income by sewing women’s clothing in Tzintzuntzan. Tired of being separated from his family, Juan Luis decided to return to Tzintzuntzan permanently with some savings, but it was not possible. As his wife Rosa related, “It was so difficult to find a job in Mexico. There was nowhere to work. We really wanted to stay in Tzintzuntzan. During all the years that my husband worked in the U.S., we had our plan to reunite in Tzintzuntzan. We didn’t want to live here [U.S.] but after all the problems to stay in Tzintzuntzan, we decided to move back to California.” When Juan Luis first arrived, he got a job in agriculture but thereafter obtained employment with the Frost Company. He was one of the first Tzintzuntzeños to change employment from agriculture to factory work, and one of the first able to legalize his immigration status. When Rosa arrived with their children in California, she also started working in the same factory, wherein she has been working for the last 10 years. Their two children started attending local public schools. By 1991, they were ready to move out of their apartment and into a rented house and two years later, they bought their own home. Rosa and Juan Luis are one of the most “successful” Tzintzuntzeño couples living in Santa Ana. Maricela and Roberto (no. 4 from the original sample) are another example of the effect stable employment has on settlement patterns. Roberto arrived in California in 1975. He started working in seasonal agricultural jobs, alternating living in Tzintzuntzan and California. In 1981, he returned to Mexico to marry Maricela. After their marriage, Maricela stayed in Mexico, where she worked making pottery to earn money to complement her husband’s remittances. During 1990, Roberto “fixed” his papers through IRCA, which allowed him to change employment to a factory job with the assistance of his brotherin- law (Maricela’s brother). Maricela reunited with her husband in California in 1990, and thereafter also fixed her immigration status. She started working as a maid in a hotel where she had an accident and

182 Making Ends Meet injured her back. This injury does not permit her to engage in heavy jobs. Since then, Maricela has worked in several temporary factory jobs. In recent years, she worked with an employment agency, where she did a variety of jobs. During 1997, she started working for a packing company. The flexibility of Maricela’s employment forced her to do several secondary jobs throughout these years. These jobs include giving medical injections at home and selling Avon, and other cosmetic products. Finally, she studied to become a beautician and now she combines both her work at the packing company with beautician work in her house. Roberto has been employed by the same company for the last ten years. Even though the company has economic highs and lows, Roberto related how very often he is given fewer hours and is in constantly danger of being laid off. Roberto and Maricela by combining their incomes have been able to stay in Santa Ana, buy a house, and send their four children to school. Maricela’s multiple jobs have been essential in their continued stay. In 1998, I had the opportunity to attend Maricela’s eldest daughter’s “quinceañera” (15th year birthday party). The invitees came from a variety of locations, Tijuana, Washington, Tzintzuntzan. The number of attendees and the success of the celebration demonstrated the family’s prestige in the Tzintzuntzeño community. They are recognized as one of the oldest established Tzintzuntzeño families in Orange County. Enrique y Ana (no. 30 from the original sample) are another example where at least one member of the family, the husband, has a regular secure job. When I first interviewed Enrique in 1990, his family was transnational. Ana, his wife, and his four youngest daughters arrived in Santa Ana a few months after the interview. When Enrique started coming to the U.S. in 1981, his 4 oldest children came with him and were employed in seasonal agricultural work with the Southern Company. For years, Enrique and the older children migrated between Tzintzuntzan and California. Ana’s job making pottery complemented her husband and children’s remittances. With IRCA, Enrique and his sons fixed their immigration status, which allowed Enrique to start another employment in a lamp factory, where he continues working. This new job allowed him to rent his own apartment and to pay the expenses neede to reunite with his wife and all his 8 children in Santa Ana. Since then, their two oldest children have married and moved to Washington. Enrique’s job is far from perfect, but the fact that he at least has constant employment has made a difference for his family. His wages have been complemented by the jobs Ana takes. As Ana points out: “You know, the work at home

Concluding Observations 183 never ends. I need to clean, wash clothes, prepare food, and help a little with some extra money “para el gasto” (for the family expenses). I take care of these children. They (the parents) bring them to my apartment when they leave to work, early in the morning, and they pick them up when they finish their job. They do not have an exact time. Sometimes they work more, sometimes they work less hours, but this really helps us make it, because we are so many and every thing is so expensive.” Enrique and Ana are buying a condominium in Santa Ana. An important factor in reuniting the family in the U.S. was their oldest son’s economic contribution, as observed in Dante and Eloisa’s case. (No.12 from the Washington sample) Dante arrived in the United States with his father, Enrique. He stayed in Santa Ana for 10 years. Dante alternated between working with his father in the Southern Company in Santa Ana and living with his mother back in Tzintzuntzan. In 1990 his family reunited in California and in 1991 he went to Tzintzuntzan to get married. Eloisa, his wife, soon reunited with him in Santa Ana and she also started working with the Southern Company. Dante had already legalized his legal status, and since his working conditions at the Southern Company were not getting better, he decided to look for a job in Washington State. Eloisa decided to stay in Santa Ana, living with Dante’s family and continued working for the Southern Company until Dante could find a job and get settle in Washington. Dante took a different avenue from other Tzintzuntzeños by looking for an agency to assist him in finding employment. It helped him get a job at the Nabisco Company, where Dante started earning $6.00 per hour. Eloisa and Dante reunited in Washington, where Eloisa started working in a fishery. After their first child was born, Eloisa decided to stay at home. As she explained: “I didn’t earn enough to pay for the baby sitter. I was practically working to give all my check to her. I also had to take my son early in the morning and it was too cold, too many problems and anyway I would prefer to spend time with my baby.” Dante has worked as a janitor in the same company for five years, earns $9.00 per hour, and has benefits, such as paid vacation and pension. It is a unionized job. At the time of the interview, one of the important goals for the family was to buy a house. This was possible because the firm assisted employees with home loans. Dante confirms that without this job it would be impossible to purchase a house, much less to get established in Washington. These cases illustrates how changes in migration status influence the settlement process. Tzintzuntzeños were able to apply for better jobs.

184 Making Ends Meet Dante’s participation in an union improved the living conditions of his family. Contrary to Dante and his family’s experiences, Rogelio’s long time employment with the same employer, has not resulted in better working conditions, which has impacted Rogelio and his wife Rosaura’s living conditions (no. 2 from the original sample). Rogelio has had the same job in a restaurant in Santa Ana for 15 years. He started working there in 1982, as a bus boy, cleaning tables, assisting in the kitchen, doing “lo que haga falta,” (whatever is needed). He stills earns minimum salary of $5.80 per hour. The main reason he has been able to support his wife and 6 children was the assistance provided by his two oldest children. As in the former case, the family experienced years of transnational living. Rosaura stayed in Tzintzuntzan with the rest of the family and worked making wheat straw figures and pottery to complement her husband’s remittances. When the oldest two children joined Rogelio at the restaurant, Rosaura and the rest of the family were able to reunite in Santa Ana in 1990. After their two oldest sons married and moved to another apartment, the following two children stopped going to school and took jobs in landscaping and a packing company. Both children are in their early twenties and their wages are pooled with their parents’ low wages. These young men do not have any time or incentives to continue their education. They seem to continue with the same pattern their father had of low wages and unskilled labor. Both, Enrique’s and Rogelio’s, cases demonstrate the importance of incorporating the economic contributions of older children to the family and the family’s stage in the developmental cycle in the analysis of family settlement. The common denominator of these families was the stable employment of at least one of its members and the pooling of all family members’ income.

TZINTZUNTZEÑO FAMILIES AND TRANSNATIONALITY IRCA has had a dual effect on the conditions of Tzintzuntzeño immigrants. On one hand, the newly legalized, can seek for better employment and have more options for mobility. On the other hand, IRCA has increased the vulnerability of new arrivals. Newly arrived undocumented immigrants present an advantage to employers, who prefer the unprotected, new arrived to the newly legalized workers. Tzintzuntzeños ineligible for “legalization” of their immigration status confront working conditions characterized by low wages, no benefits,

Concluding Observations 185 less than 40 hours workweek, and flexible hours. Newly legalized Tzintzuntzeños complained of employers preferring younger undocumented workers. As Julian, a newly legalized immigrant pointed out: Now I don’t know how things are, but I’ve noticed that all those who were here previously were of advanced age and they started getting rid of them little by little because they no longer wanted older people because this caused them problems, I think. Now there are all new people. But the truth is that older people are the ones that obtain papers. The ‘patrones’ are afraid that they are going to start asking for better wages and some benefits. That is why they prefer to fire them and employ the new, the young guys without papers. Tzintzuntzeño men with low wages and unstable working conditions very often are unable to bring their families to United States. Some of these men continue working in California while their families continued to reside in Tzintzuntzan or Tijuana. Other Tzintzuntzeños opted to return with their families to Mexico, either to Tzintzuntzan or Tijuana. The following cases illustrate transnational family arrangements and their relationship with labor market experience. The first example is that of Fernando and Zoila (no. 15 from the Washington sample). In 1996, I interviewed Fernando in Washington. Before arriving in Washington, Fernando was laid off from his job in Tijuana and without any other opportunity for employment, he decided to “try“ in Washington State. Fernando’s paisanos helped him locate a job in Tacoma. At the time of the interview, Fernando was working planting and transplanting trees with a landscape company. His job, in Tacoma, was characterized by a high degree of instability. During the interview, he explained the difficulties he had in obtaining constant employment in the company. To make matters worse, the same day of the interview, his wife, who was residing in Tijuana, was having her third child. Fernando was worried and depressed. He was separated from his family without permanent employment and unable to assist them in any fashion. He explained that the main reason he made the trip all the way to Washington was for work. At that time, he was waiting to be called by the company. He complained about the scarcity of employment and how the INS and police made the problem more complicated. As he

186 Making Ends Meet stated: “They (the police) harass us all the time just for the simple act of looking for a work.” Fernando was not planning to stay in Washington and was preparing to return to Tijuana as soon as he "saved some money,” but his situation was “unpredictable and unstable.” As he said, “I know that it will be difficult to find a job in Tijuana and I don’t know what I am going to do but it could be easier if at least I could be with my family. I miss them a lot” Another example of a transnational family relationship is the case of Carlos and Hilda (no. 10, from the Tijuana sample). Carlos was born in Los Angeles. His parents took him back to Tzintzuntzan where the family lived several years. Later, the family moved to Tijuana where they established a residence. When Carlos was old enough to work, he decided to look for a job in Los Angeles. For several years he worked in a factory, but the factory closed its production in California and Carlos was laid off. Carlos’ brother worked in construction and helped him obtain a construction job in Los Angeles. Since the job was not permanent, Carlos also worked part of the year in Tijuana. Carlos’ wife and 6 children, who still reside in Tijuana, share one room constructed in the back yard patio of her brother’s house. His wife points out that it is difficult for them to move to California because of the instability of her husband’s jobs. Hilda adds that it is difficult for her to find a job in Tijuana or some other place since her children are too small to take care of themselves and they earn too little to pay for adequate childcare. These cases exemplify the difficulties families have with employment insecurity. Even though Carlos is an U.S. citizen it still is very difficult for his family to be reunited and reside in one residence. He and his wife decided that they should live in Tijuana, where "housing expenses" are low and other family members assist them with all other “gastos” (expenses). The closeness of Tijuana to Los Angeles allows these families to reunite more frequently. Still, these families are good examples of the ways family labor force reproduction is accomplished either in Tzintzuntzan or Tijuana, where costs of living may be more affordable and the productive labor force is left to the employers in California. While conducting interviews in Washington State, 12 Tzintzuntzeño construction workers were interviewed and videotaped at their working sites in Seattle, Washington. The following experience of one of these workers reflects the complexity found in settlement/transnational processes.

Concluding Observations 187 Mario is 19 years old. Mario and his parents reside in San Angel in Mexico City. His father left Tzintzuntzan after Mario’s birth and returns to Tzintzuntzan only to participate in civil and religious activities and during vacations. Mario’s father has never been in the United States. Mario’s brother also works in Mexico City selling baskets and ceramic in the Mercado de San Angel. Before coming to United States, Mario worked and attended high school in Mexico City. In April of 1995, his uncle Armando visited Mexico City. Mario asked Armando to take him to the United States where he was residing. Armando had a good construction job in Washington. He was the contractor. Mario points out: "I arrived Friday evening and on Monday I started working right away in construction. I didn’t have problems finding a job. Two days after I arrived, I was already installing concrete walls and floors, here in Seattle.” At the time of the interview, he was planing to go back to Mexico to continue his studies in Mexico City. When Mario started working, he earned $5.60 to $6.00 dollars per hour and is now earning $7.50 per hour. He indicated that employees with more seniority in the company had medical insurance. However, this was not the case for the majority of Tzintzuntzeños becuase they had to work with other companies or at different jobs when their contractor didn’t have enough jobs to hire them. For these workers, it was difficult to obtain regular construction jobs. As Mario explained: Last week, I worked 11 hours on two different days and they paid me over time! I could send some money to my mother. The money that I send is divided in two, one part for me, that my mother is saving for me (maybe I can start constructing my house), and the other part is for my mother, for the household expenses. Now, I am very happy here, but I would like to go and continue studying and here it is very difficult, mainly for the instability of these jobs. You never know when the contractor is going to call you. It would be easier in Mexico. Mario’s case illustrates the difficult decisions Tzintzuntzeños confront in deciding to stay or to go back to Mexico. Construction employment, in this case, seems a good option with somewhat reasonable wages and opportunities of continued employment. But, this form of employment also presents a high degree of irregularity, which presents problems in attempting to make future plans. For

188 Making Ends Meet example, Mario explained the difficulties he had in continuing his education, mainly by the irregularity of jobs and working schedules. (In addition to the fact that his immediate family still resides in Mexico City.) As mentioned before, there are 11 additional people from Tzintzuntzan working in this company all contracted by Armando. These workers are mainly single men, with their families residing in Mexico. Mario explained: “I notice that in these jobs there are many single men who can afford not having a permanent job because they are not married. They do not need to support families. They can afford to be without employment, but I don’t know if I could work in a job like this if I was married.”

Back to Tzintzuntzan A transnational family wherein we can observe the relationship between the lack of stable employment and immigration status is seen in the case of Carlos and Carmen (no. 14 from the original sample). Carlos came to Santa Ana with his brothers and sister in 1980. He started working as a seasonal employee for the Southern Company. Carlos would leave his wife and children with his parents in Tzintzuntzan, while he was alternating between his agricultural employment in Santa Ana and pottery work in Tzintzuntzan. His temporary visits to California did not permit Carlos to legalize his immigration status, even though all his brothers and sister successfully completed the process. During these years his wife, Carmen, lived and worked in Tzintzuntzan. She produced and sold pottery in the local market with Carlos’s family. The lack of a permanent job and the inability to bring his family to the U.S. forced Carlos to return to Tzintzuntzan. Both, Carlos and Carmen, continued to work in Tzintzuntzan in the production of pottery for the local markets. The last interview with Carlos (he had not returned to California in the last eight years) confirmed that he is not thinking of returning to California. He points to the difficulties he had in obtaining stable employment, but he argues that being with his family was the main reason he remained in Tzintzuntzan. According to Carlos, another reason to stay in Tzintzuntzan is their ability to afford a home wherein his wife, children and he can live in. As Carlos explained,

Concluding Observations 189 Well, this is not my own house. I live with my parents. When I returned my parents were alone and they had the house with three rooms, (Carlos’s brothers and sister are in U.S.). As we are all scattered and the others are here and there, they have a place to live and I don’t. Since I came over here, I built two additional rooms. Well yes, I would like to build something for us so that at least one has a place to live. One does not have to go here and there, one goes directly to one’s home. Similar to Carlos’s response, Tzintzuntzeños interviewed agreed that having a house to live in Mexico was an important incentive to return. Especially when a large percentage proportion of their wages are used to pay rents for crowded apartments in the U.S.

Back to Tijuana The above-mentioned cases were not isolated. Other families also moved to Tijuana after they found it difficult to locate permanent employment in Los Angeles. This is the case of Rodolfo and María (No.3 from the original sample). This couple was interviewed in 1991. At that time they were living and working in Los Angeles. Rodolfo and María were a transnational family. The couple was alternating between their service sector jobs in Tijuana, where their children lived, and their seasonally work in a nursery in Los Angeles. During the time of the interview, they were residing with another Tzintzuntzeño family, Jacinto and Sofia in Los Angeles (No. 29 from the original sample). María explained how the wages earned in Los Angeles were not enough to support the family. She had to do other jobs, such as “ironing” for other Tzintzuntzeño families, to complement their income. When the family is living in Tijuana, they are employed in the service sector. Their experiences working in the States have not yet ended. There is always the possibility of obtaining another temporary job in California. María and Rodolfo’s reasons for staying in Tijuana are the possibility of keeping the family together, educating their children and owning a home. Also, the couple agreed that they feel more agusto (comfortable) living in Tijuana. According to María “the children have major possibilities to advance their education in Tijuana, since they do not have to confront the ‘racism’ that exists in California.”

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Making Ends Meet Jacinto and Sofia (No. 29 from the original sample), are another example of unstable employment and its effects on family structure. This family is a good example of a bi-national family living in Tijuana. Jacinto’s father was one of the first Tzintzuntzeños to arrive to Tijuana. His father, along with most of Jacinto’s brothers and sisters still live in Tijuana and work as fruit vendors and construction workers. Five of Jacinto’s eight children were born in Tijuana and three were born in the United States. Their oldest children, at the moment of the interview, were 15, 14 and 10 years old and were born in Tijuana. Irma, 6 years old, was born in Los Angeles. The 5 and 4 years old were born in Tijuana. At the time of the interview in 1991, they had a 2-year-old and a 9-month-old who had been born in Los Angeles. Because of the informality and uncertainty of the employment available in Tijuana, Jacinto and Sofia decided to look for a job in Norwalk, California. In the meantime, they would leave their children with family in Tijuana and share an apartment with María and Rodolfo to save expenses (above cited). These cases illustrate the strong relationship that exists between Tzintzuntzeño employment and its effects on family structure. The irregularity of employment on both sides of the border has had a clear effect on the “transnationality” and the ways in which these families organize their income-generating strategies.

Binational Families and Decision Making Even though Raul and Martina (no. 2 from the Washington sample) plan to return to Mexico, their plans are plagued with difficulties that make the return a distant illusion. Raul explained that he wouldn’t go back unless he returns with some savings to start a business in Mexico, but he admits that saving is almost impossible under the circumstances. The idea of going back to Mexico also has mixed responses in his family. Even though Martina agrees with Raul on his plans of returning to Mexico, they do not receive the same reaction from their three children. Raul's children, 15, 11 and 8 years old, have mixed reactions about leaving the United States. The oldest son doesn’t want to go back to Mexico. He argues that he would stay in the States with his uncles instead of going back to Mexico. The daughter, on the other hand, encourages her parents to go back to Mexico (even though she does not have experience living in Mexico). Martina thinks the reason is her daughter’s isolation, and the problems she has had in school,

Concluding Observations 191 where she is the only Mexican. Martina relates that her daughter very often comes home crying from the school. When I asked the girl about the reasons, she pointed out: "Kids in the school make fun of me, telling me things like ‘fat Mexican.’ Very often I don't want to go back to school. I like to stay at home with my mother, but she doesn’t let me” (Patricia). Their son, Raul, has had similar problems at school, but his reaction has been to “fight back,” which has resulted in his being expelled from school. Raul is very concerned about his son and gives credit to the assistance that they have received from the principal, who, "even knowing that we are undocumented,” has supported my son and ha sacado la cara por nosotros (he has taken our side). Raul and Martina’s case demonstrates how the decisions about future migration or settlement very often are in constant process, and are strongly contested by family members. The complexity in the analysis of "decision making" challenges linear behavior patterns. Even though the final decisions are strongly influenced by the possibility of obtaining a formal fixed way of sustenance, socio-cultural aspects of the problem, such as the family every day social interaction with their surroundings, also influence the final outcomes. We observe this same process in Margarito and Julia, (no. 16 from original sample). They seemed to disagree about their future plans in the following conversation where they discussed their future plans while residing in the U.S. Julia: “But I think we are going to live here.” Margarito: “Well, we still don’t know. It’s like I told you. I am here, and when I first arrived, I told myself, I am leaving (to Tzintzuntzan), I will just build myself a little room, it will be my home, that’s all I want. But now that I am over here, I now have papers, which took a long time, and I’ve been forgetting about the house. I’ve built two rooms and they are there, although the place is not mine, but anyway, I built them. So in case they give me another place there, well, it’s fine then, or if not, then I am not using them for anything at this time. I am here, now, this is where I am living, paying. But it’s good to have a place to live in Mexico because if we don’t have job or get sick you always have a house where you can go.”

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Making Ends Meet As observed in the last two cases with Margarito-Julia and Martina-Raul, the decision to settle or go back to the place of origin is a complex, dynamic process where family decisions are interrelated with economic, political and socio-cultural factors. To impose one model, reunited families or transnational, results in an overgeneralization which masquerades the complexity of these processes. The decision to stay or move is a decision taken within the family. These decisions have, as the main objective to maximize the possibilities of obtaining the material and social resources needed for the family’s subsistence. These movements are conditioned by the forms of employment of both wife and husband and their position in the family cycle.

TZINTZUNTZEÑOS IN DUTCH HARBOR, ALASKA As we have noticed, Tzintzuntzeño income generating strategies take them to multiple places. In Mexico, they labor in Tzintzuntzan and Mexico City, and in the United States they have employment experiences in Southern California and Washington. Though at first unbelievable, their jobs take them to places as remote as Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Dutch Harbor is located on the island of Unalaska, which is found 800 miles off the coast of Alaska. It is part of the Aleutian Islands found in the Bering Sea. The municipality of Unalaska includes the international Port of Dutch Harbor within its city limits.

Concluding Observations

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Figure 1 Map of Dutch Harbor, Alaska

Dutch Harbor presents important features of contemporary economic restructuring that should be considered. Incorporated in 1942 as a "first-class” municipality, Unalaska now has a population of 4,300 and ranks as the 11th most populous community in the State. Between 1980 and 1990, Unalaska was the fastest growing community in the state, with an average annual population growth of 9% (three times the statewide average). Since 1988, the port ranked first in the nation for volume of seafood processed. In 1992 and 1993, Unalaska/Dutch Harbor led the nation in both volume and value of seafood processed. In 1993, 793.9 million pounds of fish with an ex-vessel value of $161.2 million, was processed in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor for export to domestic and foreign markets. These figures do not include the vast amount of fish that was processed at sea and landed or transferred within the city limits of Unalaska. (All information regarding Unalaska was obtained during a personal visit to the island from the Unalaska/Dutch Harbor Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 833, Dutch Harbor, Alaska).

194

Making Ends Meet The increase in production in Dutch Harbor is due in part to the global capital investments, mainly Japanese and American, the use of sophisticated and advanced technology and their ability to control a flexible international labor market. While flying over Dutch Harbor and looking through the plane’s windows you realize the inhospitable of the place. Ice surrounds the island. The majority of the small airplane’s passengers were workers from all over the world. You realize the distance the workers have traveled to arrive to the island, the magnitude of the distance and the ability of capital to obtain workers from all over the world in a flexible and efficient manner. An important factor that makes this possible is the ability of these companies to mobilize a great amount of workers at the moment that production requires it. Interviews with Tzintzuntzeño’s laboring in Dutch Harbor pointed out that these companies contract workers in their place of origin. In the case of Tzintzuntzeño workers and according to the interviews, Tzintzuntzeños were hired in Patzcuaro, just kilometers from Tzintzuntzan. The companies pre-paid workers’ travel expenses, from Patzcuaro to Seattle, wherein they board the fishing ship. Tzintzuntzeños work on contracts that last from two to three months. Because these forms of contracting very often are processed by "employment agencies," workers need to have a regularized migratory status in order to participate in the fish companies’ contracts. Martina, the wife of one of these workers, explained Tzintzuntzeño men’s contracting experiences: So then they come. They call the fishing offices from Mexico [to find out] when and where the entrances will be. Because when they leave the boats [by the end of their last job], they are told to report on the first of May. So then they phone from Mexico to Seattle and the office might say, ‘we will leave on such a date’, so they buy their airline tickets if they want. For example, when they are going to be needed by January 14th, they reserve their ticket for January 10th, so they leave the 11th or the 12th, because they receive a check, and another on credit. So they finish that, [the preparation for their trip] and they go to Alaska. When they finish their job, then they ask a relative to reserve a ticket to Seattle for a certain date, others are flown to Seattle by the company. They stay one day, or that same day they depart or after two days fly to Mexico, and so there they are. They come and go, and their wives remain in Tzintzuntzan.

Concluding Observations 195 Interviews with wives in Tzintzuntzan, whose husbands were laboring in Alaska, emphasized the importance of social networks in obtaining these jobs. As Regina, the wife of a man working in Alaska explained: Yes, there are lots of people going. My husband [started going] through his brother who has been going for about 6 years, I think. And my older brother helped him, along with Beto, my sister Mary’s husband, who lives in Tzintzuntzan. Regina related how these men very often go together as a group: "Beto is over there also, so they leave together, and they come and go, like a family, just like that.”

The Significance of This Form of Employment on the Tzintzuntzeño Family A difference was observed in Alaska that was not noted in the rest of the “Daughter Communities” (Santa Ana, Los Angeles and Tacoma). In Dutch Harbor, Tzintzuntzeño employment is male concentrated. Also, Dutch Harbor is not a place where families could reunite. Most of the people employed in fisheries have their families living in their place of origin. The weather characteristics and the working conditions present important disadvantages, which make it impossible for families to establish residence and live in the island. As pointed out by the interviewees, Dutch Harbor, or Alaska, as the Tzintzuntzeños named it, is just a place "para trabajar" (to work). It is precisely this factor that implants specific and unique ways in the forms Tzintzuntzeños relate to their families. Tzintzuntzeños laboring in these conditions pointed out at the advantages and disadvantages they found laboring at these enterprises. Tzintzuntzeños interviewed agreed that wages were an important factor in their decision to work in Alaska. Tzintzuntzeños interviewed concurred that even when the "temporada de trabajo" (seasonal employment) was short, during this period they obtained more earnings from their employment in Alaska than for larger periods of time working in Santa Ana, Los Angeles or Tacoma. As Alejandro explained:

196

Making Ends Meet In August I stayed for two or three months also, depending on how the season is. In November and December, there are hardly any contracts because they ban all fishing, but with those months of working, I obtain more (earnings) than what I used to earn before.

This is an important factor explaining the increasing of Tzintzuntzeños laboring in these companies. According to the interviews there are approximately 20 Tzintzuntzeño men laboring in the Alaska fisheries. The families of these workers are back in Tzintzuntzan and Washington State. These included two men, from the original sample, who after legalizing their immigration status, were able to reunited the family in Santa Ana. After the husbands started working in Dutch Harbor, one of the wives, Matilde, decided to go back to Tzintzuntzan and the other, Martina, alternates between living in Washington and Tzintzuntzan. Even though just two Tzintzuntzeño men from my original sample participated in this form of employment, interviews in Tzintzuntzan, Tacoma and Southern California, found other Tzintzuntzeño families used this form of employment as their main source of family income. Some Tzintzuntzeños living in Washington used this form of employment just in a temporary basis. Tzintzuntzeño’s occupations during periods of unemployment in the Unalaska’s fishery industry, are located in seasonal employment in field and service sector in Washington and Tzintzuntzan. As Rogelio explained: Well, we work there (in Washington), For example, we look for work in the mean time, sometimes in the fields, because when we are in Washington, one or two months, we look for work wherever, in the yards or in the stores, wherever. The important thing is to work. Tzintzuntzeños sometimes prefer to just go back directly to Tzintzuntzan during periods of unemployment. As Mauricio explained, "Well, for example, now, it is really ugly because the bad weather starts in November. In December, January, February, and part of March the weather is ugly. It snows, rains, and most people who have other opportunities leave to Tzintzuntzan.” Some Tzintzuntzeños go back to Tzintzuntzan once a year; others, like Beto, go about three times a year. He goes every time his contracts end and then returns when his contract starts again. According to Martina, his wife, most of the

Concluding Observations 197 Tzintzuntzeños travel frequently to Tzintzuntzan, “Yes, they come and go. For example, the majority of those from Tzintzuntzan who go to Alaska have their wives in Mexico. I think there are about 20. But some of the wives are in Washington. But most are here in Mexico.” Even though, Martina travels extensively from Tzintzuntzan to Tacoma. Most of the year, she lives and works in Washington. Martina explained the advantages families, with husbands working in Alaska, have when wives stay in Tzintzuntzan; They can afford to live better. All those who go to Alaska have more, they are better off in Tzintzuntzan. They have better homes, they have stores, they have livestock, for example, my brother, he left to Alaska about two years ago and he bought about 30 cows, good quality livestock. Because there is no agriculture in Tzintzuntzan, right? So then what do people do when they want to start a larger business? Well its more practical for them because in Alaska (husbands) they don't pay rent, lunches, nothing, they pay nothing. This is an advantage when the wives are over there (in Tzintzuntzan), because their (wives) do not pay rent, childcare, as we do in the U.S., and then, they can save some money. An important effect of the legalization of the immigration status is to maximize the options for Tzintzuntzeño employment. Among the advantages with the new legal status, Tzintzuntzeños are not dependent of an employer in a fixed locality. They can change employment and look for better working conditions. These new conditions allow Tzintzuntzeños to have a margin of decision about where they prefer the families to settle. Very often these choices have a strong relation with cultural preferences. Among the benefits Tzintzuntzeños cited is that with these forms of temporal employment and their regularized migratory status, Tzintzuntzeños are able to go back to Tzintzuntzan at important religious and/or family events. As Mauricio explained: One of the most important things for me is to be in Tzintzuntzan in the religious fiestas. Before when I was working in Santa Ana, in the Southern Company, one had to take advantage of the times there was work. Then I didn’t come to the fiestas, Holy Week, the Day of the Dead, La Fiesta del Señor del Rescate, and Christmas. Seldom was I able to coincide with any of these

198

Making Ends Meet festivities. Now in the three months since I started working in Alaska, I earn almost the same or more than one year of working in Santa Ana, and most importantly, now I am able to spend more time with my family and to participate more in all these town fiestas. If not then what is the purpose of work? don’t you think so? (si no, para que trabaja uno no?)

Difficult and dangerous working conditions were very often mentioned, as the disadvantages of working in Alaska. As Ricardo explained: The only place where you have your belongings is the place where you sleep; where your bunk beds are, or rather in front of the bunk beds, you have a small locker and there you can have all your things. On your bed you can have nothing because there is one bed at the top and another behind. I had the pictures of my family close to my bed, on the wall, but these were all the personal things that you could have close to you. It is very sad, very often I am telling myself ‘what am I doing here?’ And that is it, you don’t have any other place where you can be, to rest, by yourself. And you spend 2, 3 months, sometimes more in those conditions. Another disadvantage is the great danger that exists in this type of work. As Mauricio explained: I am really scared to go back. It is really dangerous. This is the only reason why I don’t want to continue working in this job any more. I am planing to save some money and to stop going because it is really dangerous. Sometimes the sea can become very rough. Many people have died in accidents related to this work. At times, the fear would make me quiver. It almost makes me sick. It is amazing everything I gain from this work. I built the second floor of my house, and I do very well. Yet, I fear it [the work] so much that I don’t want to go back. Another disadvantage is the separation of the family during periods of employment. Ricardo used to go to Alaska, but stopped because his wife wanted to spend more time together as a family. Ricardo was interviewed in Washington, while he was taking care of his 3 months old baby. His wife was at work and he related the reasons why he

Concluding Observations 199 stopped working at Dutch Harbor. Ricardo explained the problems of being separated from his family, the harsh working conditions and intense, long working hours. Tzintzuntzeños working in Dutch Harbor seem to have more options, but once they decide to travel to Alaska a new family relationship is established. Families, who were once reunited in the United States after years of separation, are separated again. For example, Matilde went back to Tzintzuntzan. According to Matilde, since she was to be separated from her husband while he was employed in Alaska, she preferred to go back to Tzintzuntzan than stay in Orange County. Matilde explains that part of her decision was due to the fact that family members of both spouses (Matilde’s and Mauricio’s both set of parents) lived in Tzintzuntzan. She still can work in the pottery at home. This case is important to illustrate the constant changing of family structure. The case of Matilde, who is part of the original sample, presents us with an opportunity to observe the long and dynamic process these families have confronted in the last 10 years. During Matilde’s migratory experience, the family first experienced transnational arrangements. Mauricio started working in the U.S. and Matilde stayed in Tzintzuntzan with her children. After Mauricio obtained legal status and changed jobs, Matilde reunited with her husband in California, leaving her children back in Tzintzuntzan. Finally, with Mauricio’s job in Alaska, Matilde decided to return to Tzintzuntzan, which caused new periods of family separation These changes are strongly affected by the characteristics of Tzintzuntzeño employment. The relationship between jobs and family structure is not static. The case of Matilde is a good example to illustrate the different family structures a family may encounter during their migratory experience. Kearney argues that in order to capture the changes of these migrant movements over time, the analysis should be situated in concrete historical moments where different stages in the migratory experience can be considered (Kearney, 1986). This historical perspective highlights the dynamics of the immigration process and permits us to observe both settlement and transnational movements. This chapter illustrates how the constant Tzintzuntzeño migrant movements across border lines (economical and cultural) and a variety of immigrant relationships with the labor market, poses a challenge to a restricted conception of the immigrant family structure. The variety of family structures undermined the notion of a singular family social organization.

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Making Ends Meet

General Conclusions As demonstrated herein, this work places Tzintzuntzeño income generating strategies as part of a broader context of analysis. It places Tzintzuntzeño families within the changing contemporary political economy. Tzintzuntzeños are not isolated from changes in the international economy. Their forms of integration shape their characteristics as a migrant group. Tzintzuntzeño families in Mexico and United States are not only affected by their changing relationship with their employment, but respond to it. In providing for their own sustenance, Tzintzuntzeño families re-organize their family structure to optimize their income. This study illustrates important reasons behind the decisions of members to stay in Santa Ana, Tijuana, or Tzintzuntzan, going back to Mexico, or go further north in the United States. The work illustrated how the Tzintzuntzeño’s social organization developed in these process, maybe useful at specific moments and under specific circumstances. According to the interviews, the most significant problems Tzintzuntzeños encountered in their migratory experience were the low wages and the lack of a permanent employment on both sides of the border. The study further showed that Tzintzuntzeño migrants have increased their participation in flexible and unstable employment, which is characterized by lack of fringe benefits, underemployment (working less than 40 hours per week) and low wages. These irregularhiring practices produce unbalanced employer-employee relationships, with employees not having any form of protection. Tzintzuntzeños’ frequent participation in these forms of employment strongly affects the manner in which families organize their income generating strategies. Tzintzuntzeños’ permanent family settlement in the United States, the families’ temporary settlement in the United States or Mexico, or the families’ constant restructuring across both national boundaries or regions are all strongly affected by the type of employment (or lack thereof) obtained by members of the family. This work demonstrates how being employed in relatively permanent occupations (factory employment) in Santa Ana and Los Angeles affected Tzintzuntzeño relationships with their families (Chapter 9). Of the 35 families interviewed, 17 families have experienced permanent employment, which has permitted them to stay in the Santa Ana/Los Angeles region. Similarly, in the case of Washington State, permanent employment was also an important factor for family settlement. The labor

Concluding Observations 201 market experiences of these Tzintzuntzeño migrants presented similar features: most of these workers were legal migrants, had seniority in their places of employment with regular working hours and an average wage of $8.00 per hour. In these cases, immigration status had a strong effect on the types of employment in which these Tzintzuntzeños were employed. These families presented an advanced stage on the developmental family cycle where the eldest children are an important source in complementing family income, as observed in the Alonso-Juana and Rogelio-Rosario’s cases (chapter 9). As a result of the interviews, this work emphasizes the cases of Tzintzuntzeños working in unstable and flexible employment. The lack of or non-enforcement of state regulations and supervision of labor conditions was very often observed at their work place. A good example of these labor conditions are Tzintzuntzeños who have not legalized their status, (these includes old residents and newly arrived), working for farms, construction, and nursery subcontractors in Tacoma, Washington and the garment industry in Los Angeles. Tzintzuntzeño nursery employment in Tacoma presented a high degree of seasonality, the “expansion-contraction” of the production in this type of employment greatly affects Tzintzuntzeño participation in this labor market. This form of production requires labor to be available and ready to work at the moment production requires it and to disappear and become almost invisible when the production slows down. Tzintzuntzeño immigrant working in these activities constituted an ideal labor force. The lack of political power, formal education, language barriers, made them a favorite labor for these employers. As we observed in the Tacoma’s worker interviews, employers hire the workers when the production requires it and dismiss them when the production period is over. This leaves the ex-employees responsible for their family’s material reproduction at times of unemployment. An important employer strategy to rapidly obtain workers when the production requires it is the use of Tzintzuntzeño contractors who use the well situated Tzintzuntzeño social networks to quickly recruit or lay-off workers, according to the demands of the production. Tzintzuntzeños employed under these conditions develop incomeproducing strategies that would best benefit their circumstances. Tzintzuntzeños working under difficult labor conditions “respond” with family income strategies that supplemented their income. Their actions, to complement their income, were often activities characterized by informal job practices. Childcare, bakeries at home, attending new arrivals,

202 Making Ends Meet musicians and car-mechanics were all activities Tzintzuntzeños used to complement their family expenses. Flexible and unstable employment are characteristics permeating almost one-half of Tzintzuntzeño employment. Unstable and flexible working relationships were found, yet it should be noted that they are not unique to undocumented workers (especially newly arrived Tzintzuntzeños). Similar working situations were also found in Tijuana. A high percentage of Tzintzuntzeños interviewed were laboring in the highly unstable mason work (“albañileria”). In the same way, interviews with Tzintzuntzeños laboring in factory work, in “maquiladoras,” also illustrated unstable and flexible employment. These observations lead us to conclude that these working conditions are affecting Tzintzuntzeños on both sides of the border. Tzintzuntzeños in Santa Ana, Los Angeles, Tacoma and Tijuana, under the conditions of unstable and flexible employment, share similar strategies to complement their income. Families, on both sides of the border, showed particular forms in which families group and regroup in order to adjust to their actual economic constraints. The combination of wages from both formal and informal sectors in the same household was a “favorite” strategy to increase the family income. Also observed were Tzintzuntzeño families who presented a combination of immigration status. Documented and undocumented, old and new immigrants sharing family expenses. This was the case of “la tiendita” in Santa Ana. We noted that the income generating strategy was not just carried out by the household’s agriculture documented workers, but also by the new arrivals that were in charge of selling products at the tiendita. They were involved in childcare or employed as unstable agriculture employees. Another example was Artemio’s family who worked in the chicken farm. New and old migrants also worked in the farm. Similarly, in Tijuana we found households with American citizens and legal residents sharing expenses with other Tzintzuntzeños who had never been in the United States. Another important consequence of unstable and flexible working arrangements, that have a direct consequence in complementing “el gasto,” is the withdrawal from the acquisition of certain goods and services. According to the interviews, Tzintzuntzeños worked more and consumed less. A good example is the lack of medical insurance for many Tzintzuntzeños whose employment would not allow them the 40-hour work schedule required to obtain these benefits. The comparison of Tzintzuntzeños’ income generating strategies at both sides of the border showed that comparable patterns are present in

Concluding Observations 203 both labor markets. Similar employment conditions, particularly unstable and flexible employment, had as consequence lack of benefits, medical insurance, paid vacations and retirement. These characteristics of Tzintzuntzeños’ working conditions highlight the role of women in the families’ income generating strategies. Not all Tzintzuntzeño women shared the same experiences in relation to their income generating-strategies. Socioeconomic status determines the kind of economic and political options available to Tzintzuntzeño women. The characteristics of the family members’ employment are also an important factor inducing women to work for a wage, particularly, when members of the family were located in unstable and flexible employment. The fact that most of these women at the same time attended domestic labor (specially women’s participation in organizing forms of consumption -food consumption- and childcare) illustrated important income generating strategies which as observed, placed women in a “double bind” situation. The importance of women’s labor in the domestic arena was manifested in the Tzintzuntzeño women’s strategy to “stretch the family income,” or “making ends meet.” This strategy continues to be the same for all women and continues to be an important aspect of today’s strategies of survival. This work also focused on the effects immigration status has on the reorganization of the Tzintzuntzeño families. Observations were on the type of employment and migratory status (political position) these families have had over time. The work started with an analysis of the employment these families had before and after the passing of IRCA and the effects this law had on the family structure. Particularly, the impact that legalization had on the labor experiences and how these new relationships with the labor market affected their family relationship. The study found that after the passage of IRCA, Tzintzuntzeño families re-united in the United States. The "legalization" allowed wives to join their husbands, but this was not the end of the Tzintzuntzeño families' migratory experiences. Post IRCA interviews showed that newly legalized immigrants (reunited families) were presented with new ways to relate to the labor market. These new experiences affected these families in dissimilar ways. Some moved "up" to jobs in other geographic areas: Northern California, Washington and even Dutch Harbor, Alaska. While other families, with more unstable and flexible working conditions, decided to return to Tijuana and Tzintzuntzan. Even though changes in labor market participation and legal status are important factors affecting migrants, Tzintzuntzeño families are not just “passive actors,” whose fate is being determined by the macro structural

204 Making Ends Meet changes. An important finding of this work demonstrated the active and dynamic arrangements that migrants planned as responses to economic/political changes. This study showed that Tzintzuntzeño income generating strategies lead them to multiple localities. Interviews in California and Mexico underlined the constant migratory movements toward Washington. Tzintzuntzeño social networks in Orange County and Los Angeles assisted in relocating immigrants to Washington State. Recent interviews showed that important new networks are developing in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Features of the labor market at these new locations have continued affecting the forms in which Tzintzuntzeño families organize their income. Labor conditions at these localities have a strong effect on family structure, division of labor and settlement. An important conclusion of this work is that in the case of Tzintzuntzeño families, their income generating strategies are more strongly determined by their political-economic situations (immigration status and characteristics of their employment) than by different cultural values and gender positions within the family power structure. Local and international opportunities of employment very often pulled men and women into diverse positions. The living conditions of women working as maids in private residences and men working in the fishing industry in Dutch Harbor, Alaska have strong influences in the ways in which families organize their income strategies. Following the paths of Tzintzuntzeño male employment at Dutch Harbor has been a rich experience which exposed me to new sites, new forms of employment, and changing working conditions. All of these factors give families new ways to organize their family incomes. Since men work out at sea for long periods of time and the working conditions in the fish industry are very hazardous, women's participation in this labor market is restrained. This again forces these workers to form new relationships with their families and forces the families to develop new strategies to obtain their income. Again the fact that some of these families were former residents in Southern California raises new questions about settlement and transnational arrangements. In the Tzintzuntzeño case, an effect of this household restructuring resulted in serial migration where households not only combine members at each side of the border, but also at different localities within the United States. The existence of large and well-established

Concluding Observations 205 communities and extensive family networks in the "daughter communities" in Santa Ana and Washington provides a good example of these processes. As discussed in my literature review section, families are temporary or permanently restructured across national boundaries or regions, and in line with changes in opportunities that the labor market offers them. In their influential book, Nations Unbound, Bash, Glick Schiller and Szanton Blanc (1994:242-243) examine important questions related to the limits of these processes. In responding to the question “is transnationalism reproduced?” the authors note: Because family networks underline the dense intertwining of transnational connections, we think that transnationalism will continue as an arena of social relations. Families of immigrants are continually being reconstituted across generations as well as borders. The fact that family strategizing is often intergenerational is an important indication that transnational processes reflect more than the experience of first generation immigrants. It is likely that transnational relationships will continue as long as conditions in both locations remain insecure and the flow of migration to the United States is unimpeded (Bash, Glick Schiller and Szanton Blanc (1994: 242-243). The effects of economic restructuring, which has made the labor market at both sides of the border increasingly unfavorable to workers, strongly influence the composition of transnational families. In the face of flexible and unstable working conditions, new and old forms of survival strategies are used by families—i.e. complex household arrangements, greater participation of women in formal and informal labor markets. These strategies often mean that the cost of reproducing labor is subsidized by family members. In turn, these arrangements affect contemporary immigrant families and their future generations. As observed in the case presented here, the social conditions brought on by unemployment and underemployment, have a strong impact on immigrants’ living conditions, particularly pertaining to social services, immigrants’ physical and mental health, and education. This ethnographic work focuses on important concepts in the dynamic of transnational families and their economic strategies. It does not suggest generalizability. The migrant experiences of the

206 Making Ends Meet Tzintzuntzeños are multidimensional. This book focuses on their relationship to the labor market, which is a dynamic entity. The work may permit future comparisons of these Tzintzunetzeño labor experiences with other transnational social networks with statistically controlled samples, within a broader analytical context. This will lead us to a better understanding of the interdependence between immigrant enclaves in sending and receiving communities, the processes developed in the new sites in the United States and the migrants’ responses to the constant changing global economy.

Notes

INTRODUCTION 1

See “Status of Southwest Border Strategy Implementation.” U.S General Accounting Office Report published on May 19, 1999, as number GAO/GGD99-44. The report can be located on the Internet at ‘http://www.gao.gov.’

CHAPTER 1 1

Massey’s concepts of social networks and migration are extensively used in this work. As Massey et al., points out: “Mexican migration to the United States is based on an underlying social organization that supports and sustains it. International migration is an inherently social process that is organized through networks forged from everyday interpersonal connections that characterize all human groups. These connections include the common bond of kinship, friendship and paisanaje, which have been adapted to the new reality of mass migration. Together they compose a web of interconnecting social relationships that support the movements of people, goods, and information back and forth between Mexican sending communities and the United States” (Massey et al 1987:169). 2

Grasmuck and Pessar’s definition of social networks also emphasize transnational relationships. The authors define social networks as social relations directing “the circulation of labor, capital, goods, services, information, and ideologies between migrant sending and receiving communities” (Grasmuck and Pessar, 1991: 13). Also, the authors, drawing from Portes and Bach, argue how migration itself has been described as a “process of network building, which depends on, and in turn reinforces social relations across space” (Portes and Bach 1985: 10). This work highlights the

207

208

Notes

use of social and kinship networks in the Tzintzuntzeño income generating strategies. 3

Sassen (1988:21-25) points out how the concentration of service sector and downgraded manufacturing have contributed to conditions for the demand of immigrants in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Houston. 4

This perspective originated as a critique to modernization theories. By using historical-structural analysis, it emphasizes that underdevelopment is not a consequence of “traditional culture patterns” which need to change, but rather the result of the forms in which Third World Countries were incorporated to the world economy. Burns, (1993) uses Theotonio Dos Santos’s, (one of the earliest theorist of dependency), “classic” definition of dependency: “situation in which the economy of certain countries is conditioned by the development and expansion of another economy to which the former is subjected” (Dos Santos, 1970, as cited in Burns 1993:163). Also see, Frank (1970); Cardoso and Faletto (1971). On the world economy perspective, see Immannuel Wallerstein (1979); Kearney (1996).

5

For example, Morales and Bonilla (1993:55-84) examine important features of economic restructuring in Los Angeles and its effects on the Latino population. Also see, Chapter 5 for further discussion of the concept.

6

Moore notes women’s reproductive labor involves more than giving birth to children, it also includes activities related to domestic work such as cooking, cleaning, childcare, looking after the old and the sick, running the household, etc. (Moore, 1988:52). Stephen (1991:37) discusses the Marxist concept of reproduction, drawing from Harris and Young, states: “They suggest (Harris, and Young, 1977: 105-116) that the subordination of women and the nature of their participation in the labor force cannot be understood unless distinctions are made among biological reproduction, reproduction of the labor force, and social reproduction. Biological or human reproduction refers to childbearing or procreation. Reproduction of the labor force refers to both the maintenance of the labor force here and now and the allocation of individuals to positions within the labor process over time. Social reproduction refers to the reproduction of conditions necessary for the continued existence of a particular mode of production” (Stephen, 1991:37).

7

For a review of important criticisms of Meillasoux’s work, see Moore (1988:50-54).

Notes

209

8

Sassen (1988: 38-39) explains how labor importing countries in Western Europe have achieved important savings on social services and infrastructure as a result of their access to foreign labor. 9

See Grasmmuck and Pessar (1991:133-161) for a discussion of the hierarchies of power internal to the household, especially those based on generation and gender.

CHAPTER 2 1

Network or snowball sampling has been successfully used by Chavez , (1988, 1992) and Cornelius (1988). From Kemper’s contacts, I asked migrant Tzintzuntzeños in Santa Ana, Tzintzuntzan and Tijuana to introduce me to a friend or relatives. This nonprobability sampling technique assisted me in locating well-established transnational social networks and in identifying a number of undocumented immigrants, who are frequently underrepresented. This population has a high level of mobility and is difficult to count with more conventional samplings

2

This ethnographic material was used in my 1991 “second year paper” for the School of Social Sciences at UCI. The title of that project was “The Effects of the Immigration Law on Family Structure: The Case of Tzintzuntzeños in California.” 3

Los Lugares del Colibri (The Place of the Hummingbirds) is a 20 minute video showing the different places where Tzintzuntzeños labor, the cultural manifestations that take place and how these processes transcend national boundaries.

4

See Yanagiasako (1979) for an analysis of the family and household conceptions. Also, Moore (1988:55) recognizes that although recruitment to households is often through kingship and marriages, these units are not necessarily the same things as families.

5

An “interview guide” is a list of questions or issues that are to be explored in the course of an interview. Denzin (1970: 106-107) points out how this interview with a list of questions to each respondent allows a great deal of “exploratory” work. Denzin explains “the nonstandardize schedule interview

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Notes

indicates an awareness that individuals have unique ways of defining their world…this interview strategy assumes that not fixed sequence of questions is satisfactory to all respondents, the most effective sequence for any respondent is determine by his readiness and willingness to take up a topic as it comes up.” 6

Tzintzuntzeños in Tacoma, Washington organize the religious celebration of “El Señor del Santo Rescate.” This festival takes place each February and is one of the most important Tzintzuntzeño’s festivities in the United States.

CHAPTER 3 1

INEGI, Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Geografica e Informativa.

2

INEGI, XI Censo General de Poblacion y Vivienda.

3

Rendon (1996:360). INEGI, XI Censo General de Poblacion y Vivienda. Final Results. Data by Localities.

4

From this population, approximately half are considered migrants to the U.S. Important clusters are located in Washington, California and Chicago (Kemper, personal communication). Also, see Kemper (1994:125-127). 5

For important demographic and ethnographic information about Tzintzuntzan and the Tzintzuntzeño extended community, see “The Tzintzuntzan Longitudinal Fieldsite Documentation” (under construction) by Robert V. Kemper, Eric Widmer and Douglas R. White

CHAPTER 4 1

The names of those interviewed and of companies employing Tzintzuntzeños mentioned in this work are all pseudonyms.

2

These interviews focused on marriage couples in 1991. Some of these men started their first trip as single men and later married. The table refers to the last occupation men and women had in Tzintzuntzan, before their first migratory experience. 3

See Hondagneu-Sotelo, (1994: 53-56) for a critique of the “Household Strategy Model”

Notes

211

4

Crummert’s study (1993:149-165) examines Dinerman’s (1982), Arizpe’s (1985) and Young (1978) case studies. She notes how economic pressures cause multiple strategies of survival and reproduction. For example, the family decisions to migrate are grounded in the household’s productive base, which may affect particular individuals within households in different ways. Crummert’s work underlines the role of women in the peasant community and the impact of migration on the household division of labor. 5

The term respet as used by Stephen, (1991:29) is the Zapotec adoption of the Hispanic term respeto (respect). She notes how ethnographers have used it as a characteristic of social relationships. Stephen draws the concept in part from O’Nell’s definition; “individuals merit respect because of the kinds of relationships they developed and because of the ways they behave toward others in these definitions” (O’Nell, 1979:184). 6

Similar to this situation is the role that “ejido” played in other communities. It secures a low level of maintenance for the domestic unit. The small ejido provides access to food production, (corn, beans) to the migrant’s family, while men “adventure” in unpredictable situations, once they start laboring as migrants. See Meillassoux (1981).

CHAPTER 5 1

Manuel Pastor (1998:21) examines how in the United States, Latinos have been strongly affected by the process of economic internationalization. He points out two processes that result from international competition and multinational mobility: deindustrialization, the closing of old industries (automobile and steel factories) and reindustrialization, characterized by the opening in the United States of industries based on the extensive use of “newer and cheaper immigrant labor” (Pastor, 1998:21).

2

Morales and Ong (1993:71-73) examine one of the most important effects of restructuring in the Los Angeles area: the formation of impoverished barrios and the role of Mexican immigrants as low-wage labor perpetuating these conditions.

3

For example, Sassen (1994, 176-185) examines how large-scale migration has originated in countries with an increase of foreign investment. Also, Jorge

212

Notes

Chapa (1998:72) argues how under NAFTA, U.S. exports will undermine broad sectors of the Mexican economy, dislocating millions of workers. Chapa notes how these structural changes will increase the motivation for emigration and will continue intensifying Mexican immigration to the United States 4

Morales and Ong (1993: 63) also underline the fact that compared to Anglos, Mexican workers in general are younger. The authors cite immigration, particularly by younger, newly arrived men who are of working age, as one of the causes. Also Pastor (1998:26) notes the high rate of male labor force participation. He examines how the 1990 census demonstrated that in South Central Los Angeles, 82 percent of the Latino males were actively participating in the labor market.

5

Sassen (1991: 203) examines important characteristics of the service industries. She notes a growing polarization of earnings and occupations; with a growing share of high income jobs and also an increased unprotected lowwage employment, and labor market casualization.

CHAPTER 6 1

See Pedraza-Bailey (1979:79-97).

2

Portes and Rumbaut (1990); Portes and Bach (1985); Portes and Stepick (1997) examine the relationship between political economy and immigrant incorporation to the host country. 3

Tzintzuntzeño’s working conditions are not direct consequences of the Tzintzuntzeño immigrant profile, as the “culture of poverty” approach attempts to explain. This work emphasizes Tzintzuntzeño’s incorporation and conditions in the labor market as results of contemporary trends in advanced stages of globalization. As Morales (1993:11) points out: “ Latinos in the United States display several distinct characteristics: high rates of immigration and reproduction, low levels of education, high rates of urbanization, concentration in low-paying jobs, and high levels of poverty. These traits are both cause and consequence of the restructuring.” Also, Sassen (1988: 68-84) examines immigrant, especially undocumented, workers’ basic characteristics, and the role they play in economic restructuring, particularly in low-wage jobs.

Notes

213

4

Pesquera’s study (1993: 181-195) of professional, clerical, and blue-collar Chicana workers notes that women’s employment changes the distribution of domestic labor, but it does not lead to an egalitarian redistribution of chores. However, when work demands increase, greater male involvement in households tasks is required, especially if these women are to handle both work and family.

CHAPTER 7 1

See Rosaldo (1974) for a discussion of the public/private model.

2

As formulated by Stephen, (1991:34) the concept of social reproduction “allows us to address not only women’s role in the reproduction of the labor force, but also their importance in the reproduction of social adults, incorporating both the class-based and kin- and ethnically based dimensions of their identity.” Stephen’s work on the Zapotec women is an excellent example of an analysis in which the interconnection of class, ethnicity, and gender is clearly observed.

3

Sassen (1988:39) examines important advantages to capitalist enterprises, when the process of reproduction takes place in the country of origin. For example, she argues how “some of the foreign workers can be repatriated when they are no longer needed or when their physical or mental health prevents them from working. The costs associated with unemployment, workers’disability, and medical care can at least be partly exported.” See also, Burawoy (1976)

4

Kearney (1996: 113) argues that even when world economy perspective continues presenting analysis of dualist relationships, such as “core and peripheral,” the theory itself challenges this approach by introducing the concept of “semiperiphery,” which is situated within the two opposite conditions.

5

See Chapter 1 for further discussion on the role of the state in shaping the process of informalization.

6

Contrary to what was expected, economically active Tzintzuntzeño teenagers, both sons and daughters, not only played an active role in the income generating strategies but also participated in important family decisions,

214

Notes

particularly those related to the allocation of a family’s resources (such as whether to buy a car, to move into a house or an apartment, or to move to another state or country). 7

Because the original sample is that of families with a longer migratory history, their experiences differ from those of more current immigrants. Information from newly arrived immigrants was of utmost importance, since it allowed the study to reveal a new set of contradictions not obtained from the original group. These two groups allowed me to compare first jobs of undocumented immigrants with those of “older” immigrants in the United States. The combination of resources from both groups in the same household is an important feature of the Tzintzuntzeño’s income generating strategies.

8

Roberts (1989: 41) underlines the loose boundaries of these sectors. “By informal sector, I mean the set of economic activities often, but not exclusively, carried out in small firms or by the self-employed, which elude government requirements such as registration, tax and social security obligations, and health and safety rules. Informal sector activities are often illegal, but not ncessarily clandestine since lack of coordination between state agencies, lax enforcement, and other types of official connivance, as Fernandez-Kelly and Garcia points out in this volume, can permit informally run enterprices to flourish openly.” Also, Fortuna and Prates (1989: 79) discuss how shifts from formality to informality are frequent. They argue this phenomenon emphasizes the changing character of the relations of production as well as their complexity.

9

Moore (1988: 142-143) discusses the challenges to alleviate women’s “double burden” of productive and reproductive labor in socialist countries. 10

Chavez (1997: 13) examines how the arguments behind supporters of Proposition 187 emphasized the high costs of women and children’s services. He argues how the target of immigration reform has been predominantly directed at women and children, that is, the reproduction of the immigrant labor force.

CHAPTER 8 1.

The original title of this work was “Buscando el Gasto,” as descibed in Chapter 8.

Notes 2

215

See Gramuck and Pessar (1991); Hondagneu-Sotelo (1994).

3

“La tiendita” is a small store that sells candy, sodas, cigarettes, tortillas, cookies, and items that you may need at home. It is usually located in someone’s residence. These “small businesses,” have become very popular among low-income immigrants. It provides employment for immigrants unable to find employment or assists them at moments of unemployment. “La tiendita” also assists immigrants who do not have a car to buy what is needed faster and closer to home.

4

Every year, Tzintzuntzeños in Tacoma, Washington celebrate “El Señor del Santo Rescate.” This fiesta presents a good example of binational cultural elements. 5

These individuals do not form part of the original study sample. Their occupations reflect the increase of Tzintzuntzeños working in agriculture and other labor suitable to the informal sector. 6

See Gonzalez de la Rocha (1991).

7

See Adela de la Torre (1993).

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Index

economic cushion, 81 economic restructuring, 3, 13, 16, 28, 34, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 107, 111, 142, 155, 169, 208 extended population, 46

albañileria, 144, 202 Binational families, 28 Bonilla and Morales, 123 border enforcement, 21 Bracero Program, 4, 67, 68, 69, 80, 127

Flexibility, 4, 17, 19, 20, 28, 33, 93, 123, 143, 160, 161, 182 flexible hiring, 117, 123, 147, 152, 158, 160, 164 flexible labor market, 19 flexible production, 16, 17, 28, 163 flexible schedule, 122, 147

Calpulli, 51 cargo system, 48, 53, 54, 55 Celebrations Celebracion del Señor del Santo Rescate, 34 Dia de los Muertos, 34, 56, 197 quinceañera, 182 Chavez, Leo, 8, 10, 11, 14, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 34, 36, 114, 163, 165, 179, 209, 214 cleaning homes, 169 construction, 10, 19, 38, 49, 52, 55, 66, 107, 133, 137, 141, 142, 143, 168, 169, 170, 175, 186, 187, 190, 201 context of reception, 11 contracting experiences, 194

garment industry, 18, 19, 26, 94, 148, 156, 201 global restructuring, 13 guest worker, 4, 69 household restructuring, 28, 204 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), 2, 3, 26, 29, 38, 71, 85, 88, 90, 91, 117, 181, 182, 184, 203 Informal Economy, 12, 13, 21, 23, 32, 150, 155, 168, 173 informal hiring practices, 112 informalization, 94 unpaid family workers, 23

daughter communities, 8, 15, 16, 32, 132, 205 decision-making processes, 80, 167 developmental cycle, 146, 179, 184 domestic activities, 175 Dutch Harbor, Alaska, 2, 5, 32, 35, 180, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 199, 203, 204

legalization, 32, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 91, 117, 140, 171, 184, 203 maquiladora, 168, 169, 170 Meillassoux, Claude, 22

economic crisis, 29, 177, 215

233

234 microeconomic theories, 22 Migration cyclical, 10 seasonal, 10 temporary, 10, 11, 68 Modernization, 8, 66 nortenization, 68 nurseries, 134, 138, 140, 152, 175 part-time jobs, 156 pottery, 58, 59, 60, 62, 64, 77, 78, 84, 114, 148, 171, 173, 181, 182, 184, 188, 199 powerlessness, 19, 25 productive labor, 186 Proposition 187, 4, 27, 69, 214 reproduction of labor, 23, 115, 145, 155, 162 retirement pension, 127 Santa Ana, California, xix, 2, 4, 32, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 41, 56, 57, 61, 71, 99, 107, 108, 113, 115, 116, 118, 119, 126, 127, 129, 149, 150, 153, 171, 172, 178, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 188, 195, 196, 197, 200, 202, 205, 209 Sassen, Saskia, 13, 16, 19, 20, 21, 23, 93, 94, 95, 110, 142, 208, 209, 212 seasonal employment, 69, 139, 171, 195 second jobs, 59, 79, 135, 136, 144, 147, 155, 156, 157, 158, 182 service sector, 61, 93, 95, 102, 103, 104, 106, 111, 112, 117, 119, 120, 121, 125, 134, 135, 143, 147, 148, 150, 156, 175, 189

Index settlement, 4, 8, 9, 21, 29, 30, 38, 175, 179, 181, 183, 184, 186, 191, 199, 200, 204 social networks, 8, 11, 15, 16, 32, 69, 86, 92, 113, 115, 116, 118, 140, 195, 201, 204, 206, 207 straw weaving, 60, 62, 82, 114, 148 subcontracting, 17, 20 subcontractors, 13, 123, 161, 201 Tacoma, Washington, xx, 2, 4, 35, 56, 113, 114, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 138, 142, 144, 146, 150, 151, 152, 156, 158, 160, 172, 180, 185, 195, 196, 197, 201, 202, 210 Target Migrants, 11 temporada de trabajo, 195 tiendita, 155, 168, 169, 173, 202, 215 Transnationality, 190 transnational communities, 7, 16, 29 underemployment, 94, 107, 111, 156, 200 unemployment, 10, 12, 33, 62, 82, 94, 107, 108, 109, 111, 115, 121, 125, 128, 136, 138, 140, 144, 148, 156, 175, 196, 201, 215 unstable employment, 62, 63, 119, 160, 163, 164, 169, 175, 178, 190, 200, 202 unstable working conditions, 121, 158, 177, 185 vendedor ambulante, 144, 169 work safety codes, relaxation of, 147 world economy, 7, 13, 43, 146, 208 Yacatas, 48, 50, 52