The f o r m o f e x p a n s i o n w i t h i n t h e huarache s e c t o r was f u n d a m e n t a l l y a f f e c t e d by t h e n a t u r e o f i t s m a r k e t s . The demand was f o r s a n d a l s w hi c h were s o l d as a u t h e n t i c a r t e f a c t s o f Mexi can c u l t u r e , b u t w h i c h
n e v e r t h e l e s s met c e r t a i n s t a n d a r d s o f q u a l i t y and f i n i s h . W h i l e f a c t o r y o r g a n i z a t i o n r e s o l v e d pr obl ems o f q u a l i t y c o n t r o l , t h e much more
e x t e n s i v e , and l a b o u r - i n t e n s i v e work o f p r e p a r i n g t h e l a s t s and we a vi ng c o n t i n u e d t o be c a r r i e d o u t o u t s i de t h e f a c t o r y w a l l s , i n m a q u i l a s
D a v id had been t o u n i v e r s i t y and q u a l i f i e d as a m e d i c a l d o c t o r i n 1983, b u t t u r n e d t o hua ra ch e p r o d u c t i o n because " t h e m e d i c a l p r o f e s s i o n i s s a t u r a t e d and I a l w a y s wanted t o run a w e l l o r g a n i z e d b u s i n e s s " . In so d o i n g Da vi d was f o l l o w i n g t h e example o f numerous o t h e r s . I ndeed t h e r e was a p a t t e r n o f p r o f e s s i o n a l l y - q u a l i f i e d p e o p l e t u r n i n g t o s ma l l b u s i n e s s as a more p r o f i t a b l e way o f making a l i v i n g t h r o u g h o u t t h e r e g i o n d u r i n g t h e 1980s.
s u b c o n t r a c t e d by t h e f a c t o r y owners and by f e m al e l a b o u r e r s w o r k i n g a t home. I ndeed f a c t o r y l a b o u r r e p r e s e n t e d o n l y 12 t o 22 p e r c e n t o f t h e l a b o u r i n v o l v e d i n t h e p r o d u c t i v e p r o c e s s (see T a b l e 6 ) .
The way i n w h i c h p r o d u c t i o n i n El A g u i l a was o r g a n i z e d p r o v i d e s a c l e a r i l l u s t r a t i o n o f t h e r e l a t i v e i m p o r t a n c e o f f a c t o r y p r o d u c t i o n w i t h i n what was i n f a c t an e x t e n s i v e and g e o g r a p h i c a l l y d i s p e r s e d p r o d u c t i v e o p e r a t i o n . The l a r g e s t o f t h e f a c t o r i e s , El A q u i l a pro du ce d 2 , 0 0 0 p a i r s o f h ua r ac h e each week and 80 p e r c e n t o f t h e s e were e x p o r t e d t o t h e USA, J a pa n , Germany, South A f r i c a and C h i n a , t h r o u g h 350 c l i e n t s . El A q u i l a was t h e most f u l l y mechanized and e f f i c i e n t l y o r g a n i z e d
e n t e r p r i s e i n t h e town and i t had t h e most f a c t o r y - l i k e a p p e a r a n c e . The l a y o u t o f t h e f a c t o r y f l o o r had been d e s i g n e d and p l a n n ed by a b u s i n e s s c o n s u l t a n t s p e c i a l l y employed f o r t h a t p u r p o s e , and an u p p er f l o o r b o a s t ed c a p a c i o u s o f f i c e s .
I n s i d e t h e f a c t o r y p r o d u c t i v e o p e r a t i o n s were d i v i d e d i n t o t h r e e d e p a r t m e n t s : t h e c u t t i n g and sewi ng o f t h e c o r t e s ( p i e c e s o f l e a t h e r ) ; e l a c ab a d o . t h e f i n i s h i n g p r o c e s s ; and t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n and d i s t r i b u t i o n o f m a t e r i a l s . Each d e p a r t m e n t was s u p e r v i s e d by a " d e p a r t m e n t h e a d " . The t o t a l number o f empl oyees w i t h i n t h e f a c t o r y b u i l d i n g was 60, and t h i s f i g u r e i n c l u d e d two d r i v e r s , 12 o f f i c e employees and a s u p e r v i s o r o f m a q u i 1e r o s . There were 20 men and 40 women. Up t o a p o i n t men and women were e v e n l y d i s t r i b u t e d among t h e v a r i o u s d e p a r t m e n t s and b o t h o p e r a t e d a l l t h e m a c h i n e r y e x c e p t f o r t h e heavy c o s e d o r a s . Women were n e v e r employed as d r i v e r s .
However, a f u r t h e r 250 p e o p l e - more t h a n f o u r t i m e s as many as worked i n t h e f a c t o r y b u i l d i n g - were employed by t h e owners o f El A q u i 1 a and worked i n m a q u i 1 as o r a t home. There were 11 m a q u i 1 a s . w i t h each m a q u i 1e r o e m p l o y i n g an a v er a g e o f f i v e p e o p l e and i n a d d i t i o n around 200 w e a v e r s . These f i g u r e s v a r i e d a c c o r d i n g t o season and volume o f demand f o r p r o d u c t i o n . In p r a c t i c e a c o r e o f s u b c o n t r a c t e d
m a q u i 1e r o s were a s s u r e d o f more o r l e s s c o n t i n u o u s wo rk and t h e l a b o u r s o f a more p e r i p h e r a l gr oup o f m a q u i 1e r o s were r e g u l a r l y drawn upon, a l t h o u g h t h i s l a t t e r gr oup f a c e d p e r i o d i c unemployment . The r a t i o o f
f a c t o r y w o r k e r s t o o u t w o r k e r s was t h e same f o r a l l t h e f a c t o r i e s , w i t h one i m p o r t a n t e x c e p t i o n (see T a b l e 6 ) , t h e H u a r a c h e r i a S a n t i a g o , w h i c h had begun t o employ we avers t o work on t h e f a c t o r y f l o o r . The
i m p l i c a t i o n s o f t h i s r a d i c a l d e p a r t u r e f r o m c u s t o m a r y p r a c t i c e w i l l be d i s c u s s e d i n f u r t h e r d e t a i l b e l o w . T a b l e 6 : The l a b o u r f o r c e - f a c t o r y , m a q u i l a and d o m e s t i c l a b o u r F a c t o r y B i g . M a q u i l a Men Women ( we av er s ) Weavers ( a t home) F a c t o r y l a b o u r as % o f t o t a l * El A g u i l a 60 40 20 150-200 2 2 . 2 C a b re r a 28 10-15 - 130-150 1 6. 6 H e r r e r a 18 2 - 130-150 1 2. 0 La D ' C a l e t a 13 - - 90 1 2. 6 S a n t i ago 7 0 * * 3 30 40 4 8 . 9
W h ere num bers varied, the low est figure w a s used in the calculation. * Includes 4 0 w e a ve rs
The s u b c o n t r a c t e d s e c t o r o f t h e l a b o u r f o r c e re ma in ed u n r e g i s t e r e d and i n v i s i b l e t o t h e d e p a r t m e n t o f s o c i a l s e c u r i t y , a l t h o u g h as we have seen, t h e way i n w h i c h i n d i v i d u a l m a q u i 1e r o s were t r e a t e d by t h e f a c t o r y owners depended upon t h e c r e a t i o n o f a more p e r s o n a l , n o n - c o n t r a c t u a l r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h t h e o wn er s. A t b e s t , t h e maqui 1 a.ie a r r a n g e m e n t d i d e n t a i l v a r i o u s f or ms o f a s s i s t a n c e as w e l l as b e i n g a s t e p on t h e road t o i n d e p e n d e n t p r o d u c t i o n . F o r e xam pl e, E n r i q u e , a m a q u i 1e r o who had worked c o n t i n u o u s l y f o r El A q u i l a f o r some y e a r s o bs e r v e d t h a t :
" A t C h r i s t m a s t h e y g i v e us a w e e k s ' s p ay . T h e r e ' s no s o c i a l s e c u r i t y b u t I ' m n o t i n t e r e s t e d . I f anyone i n my f a m i l y i s i l l t h e y pay f o r i t . T h e r e ' s a s a v i n g s scheme t o o . I save 600 pesos e v e r y two weeks, and t h e f a c t o r y i n c r e a s e s i t by 50 p e r c e n t " .