Employment and environmental hazard: women workers and strategies of resistance in northern Thailand.

Abstract

This case study explores women's awareness of health and environmental dangers associated with employment in electronics factories in export processing zones (EPZs) in Thailand. The author illustrates with two examples of alliances between women and two nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) the constraints of formal alliances. Data are obtained from participatory research conducted among women employed in the electronics industry in 1995 in the Northern Regional Industrial Estate (NRIE) in Lamphun in rural northern Thailand. This article discusses whether the emphasis on women's employment in EPZs really results in the greater good for women or whether it is exploitation. Women working in the NRIE were aware of the environmental hazards of their jobs. Many women workers migrated to EPZs from rural areas in order to create income to support a family or pay educational expenses. Another reason for seeking work at NRIE was to earn high wages for a limited period that could be used as capital to start their own business. Although women expressed interest in reducing the environmental hazards of their jobs, women put a stronger priority on not jeopardizing their employment status. Labor is in great supply, and women trouble-makers are likely to lose their jobs. The Center for the Advancement of Lanna Women (CALW) is an NGO that was set up by academics from Chiangmai University. CALW encourages women to speak out about health and working conditions, but workers did not know how far to go in protests before losing their jobs, and this undermined the alliance building and potential for change. It is urged that the Thai government acknowledge NGOs legally and open up dialogue. Civil participation can only be actualized, if there is formal recognition of the role of the state and its relationship to industry and industry's goals of profit.