Resumen

ANEZ HERNANDEZ,, Carmen. Las estrategias de flexibilización laboral en las empresas de confección de ropa*. Revista de Ciencias Sociales [online]. 2006, vol.12, n.3, pp.534-562. ISSN 1315-9518.

Garment manufacturing companies have restructured their traditionally rigid production forms in the framework of the global market, assuming a new paradigm of flexible production, with which the workforce begins to feel the changes related to de-regulation of most of the basic aspects of labor relations. In this context of change, this paper purports to explore theoretically the behavior of said companies faced with the demands of the new world economy, flexibilization strategies applied to labor relations and their repercussion on workers’ benefits. The methodology consisted of a bibliographic review of strategies for making working conditions flexible and identifying their application to foreign garment manufacturing companies, permitting their characterization and prefixing a theoretical position on the object of the study. Results reflect that garment manufacturing companies consolidate and legitimize flexibilization, which means restructuring the work, the length of the workday, pay, the forms of contracts and termination of the labor relationship. Conclusions were that the aforesaid situation propitiates a new way of administering the workforce, adapting it to the demands of the companies’ whose objective is to extract the greatest value from the workers without regard for the quality of working conditions, thereby accentuating exploitation and the creation of precarious circumstances.

Palabras clave : Flexibilization strategies; labor relations; assembly; work at home; precarious circumstances; garment manufacturing companies.