Young Mexican boy cutting spinach. Child labor is an accepted condition in the spinach fields/ Lee, Russel . Courtesy of Library of Congress.

The exploitation of workers by their employers is a universal issue, yet in Mexico, a country whose history of political strife and government corruption – Mexico has a corruption index, which ranges from 10 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt), of 3.1 according to Transparency International’s report which measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption – workers’ rights are constantly violated.

The American Center for International Labor Solidarity, a non-profit organization that helps workers around the world build democratic unions, notes that one of the principal causes that lead to the worsening of Mexican workers’ rights’ was NAFTA, which gave “maximum protection for companies and investors and minimal concern for human rights, worker rights, the environment, and other social needs” ().

Children are a significant target for exploitation in Mexico.  According to the country’s constitution, children until 14 years of age cannot work, while children between the ages of 14 and 15 can only work in “non-hazardous daytime jobs” with their parents’ permission and a certificate from the labor department.  In the formal sector, with large to medium-sized companies, child labor exploitation is not so common, with the inspection system being able to operate effectively.  The real problem lies in the agricultural regions, where enforcement is more difficult and so child labor remains relatively rampant.  A 2000 UNICEF survey estimates that approximately 1.5 million children work in Mexico’s agricultural sector.

Perhaps the most direct and crudest form of labor exploitation, forced labor is another issue in Mexico’s agricultural regions.  The trafficking of child, migrant, and sex workers remains a serious problem today.  Some reports indicate that police and other officials were in some way involved in the trafficking of such persons.