Inequality In The Film Made In L. A.

There are many reasons as to what shapes Latinos/as experiences in the labor force. For example, race is a contributor to the labor. Most people have the mentality that Lationos/as do not know the English language and that they cannot preform certain jobs. It seems like they can only be restricted to preform certain jobs. For example, in the movie Made in L.A. many of the immigrants were facing inequalities when they were working in the garment industries. They were treated unfairly because they were illegal immigrants and the garment industries think that the immigrants do not have any say into their jobs. In the movie, they follow around three woman, Maria, Lupe and Maura. In which they come from different parts of the world. Maria comes

from a ranch in Mexico and Lupe also comes from Mexico, but from the capital. While, Maura comes from El Salvador. They left their homes and they came in search for a job in the city of Los Angeles and they ended up in the garment industry.
Since, in the garment industry they do not normally check for paper work, immigrants end up there in the industry. As mentioned before, race does have to do with finding jobs, since it’s a factor in which it tells people who they are. What I mean by this is, is that when you have a white person who is looking for workers they normally go with the Latinos/as because they have a set of mentality that they are good workers. If white people want their jobs to get done, they would normally call the Latinos/as because they know that they will get a good service and their labor is cheap. This is one of the reasons why the documentary Made in L.A. there are many injustices. The workers were getting paid unfairly and the working conditions were terrible and unsanitary. Just because they are a difference race, does not mean that they have to be treated differently. That should not be the case, everyone should be treated the same and that also should not matter what kind of job the person gets. A person that is a different race experiences many injustices at a job. People who hire immigrants also sometimes have a feeling in which the immigrant might steal some of their products and there’s a sense of distrust.
For example, in the documentary, one of the ladies mentioned a powerful quote “I’m not stealing, I’m working”.

That would mean that they have suffered many injustices and they might know what their boss might be thinking about them. By one of the ladies mentioning this quote it means that some of the people who do not have papers have been accused of stealing some sort of materials from work. But as she mentioned that they are just doing their job and they are not stealing anything. If the boss is from anyother race, and something is missing, they automatically think that their workers are the ones who are stealing their supplies. It’s something that I have seen happen and that’s not okay. No one should be accused of doing something unless they have some sort of proof that they do. People have already sacrificed leaving their family members behind so they can find a job in a new country so they can provide for them. No one in their right mind would sacrifice that much and be reported and be sent to their home country for something as small as a needle with a thread. The immigrants on the contrary would want to continue working here and send money to their family

members.
The reasons that they migrate is to provide their family with better life. For example, Esperanza had to leave her daughter behind in El Salvador and came into the United States with a smuggler. Her daughter could feel that her mother was leaving her behind and she could also sense that it would be a long time since she could ever see her mother again. Leaving a child behind is a worst feeling a parents could ever have, but Esperanza was doing because of the well-being of her daughter. Esperanza put her daughter needs before hers. And when she found a job here in the U.S. and she did whatever she could to provide for her daughter. People who migrate into the U.S. they want to do any kinds of jobs because they are desperate for money, so they can send it back to their families. Even though they are broke, they wouldn’t risk anything to get them deported and having to lose the money that they earn. But most employers now a days, do not see it that way, they think that they are stealing their products. And that’s not the case. Since, the immigrants are just coming into the U.S. they will take any jobs that people offer them. And they will take the lowest paying job just so they can start sending money to their families. Since, they are in desperate need they will settle for anything. Which it also means that the employers would pay their workers very little, because one they are immigrants and also because they do not want to pay a lot.
Also, rendering back to the article of Marta Maldonado, employers focus on the race of the workers because it would also provide information that the worker can work.
“Racial meanings inform and affect employers’ perceptions and evaluations of workers, their judgment regarding which workers are fit for different jobs, their assesments of who are good and bad workers… about jobs themselves”(Maldonado 1018).
The employers themselves also hire people based solely on their race. Because they think that a certain race are a good working force that they could use in their company. That would also mean that the Latinos/as workers are given jobs based on their race and not their preforming abilities. In the book Mexicans in California Abel Valenzuela mentions that most employers give jobs to immigrant workers because they like paying them “under the table,” and that would mean that the workers work in the day labor and they are getting paid in cash. For the reason that the employers do not have to report to the IRS and pay the taxes. They would much rather pay workers “under the table” and save themselves that money that they should be paying to the IRS. That would also make immigrants an ideal work force.
Gender:
Workers are given jobs just for the sake of their race, but they are also affected by sexism. “Men have different kinds of jobs than women, tend to earn an average of $6,000 more per year”(Abrego 101). Even after many years of working woman still earn much less than men. There is inequality in that men an average have higher salaries than woman. Most of the immigrant woman that come to the U.S. have jobs, either in the garment industry as explained earlier or being a house keeper. The ones who are housr keepers are being exploited and they are required to do more jobs than what is initially required. And they earn less money than being in the garment industry. Woman who work in the garment industry have been restricted to working there. It seems that the Latinas favor the garment industry, especially immigrants. Since, in their home country most of them know how to sow or make their own clothing and they have the knowledge for it. But, it’s not like they want to stay in that job forever, but it’s challenging finding a job where they do not need paper (Legal status); so they are forced to stay in the garment industry. Rendering back to the documentary of the garment industry, most immigrant woman go into the garment industry because it very easy to get hired, because they are getting paid under the table.
Males on the other hand have different kinds of jobs. Their jobs consist of “landscaping, dishwashing or painting…construction workers, auto mechanics, waiters, truck drivers, and upholstery workers”(Abrego 107). Abrego explains that the reasons why men earn more than woman is that “occupations traditionally restricted to men”(Abrego 107). In other words they do most of the manual labor that woman cannot do, due to their limited strengths compared to men. Also, some men have a higher educational background and they also having a higher wages. But, even though the men have higher wages, that means that they are at a higher risk at a work related injury. Which, then it would limit their ability to work.
But, not only do illegal immigrants face sexium, but also even legal Latinos/as. In the article, of Jose Angel Guitierez, woman who wanted to make a difference in politics were treated unfairly. In the article, there were a couple of woman who decided to run for congress in their local town and they faced many unpleasant decisions. For example, Severita Lara was running for a judge position in Texas and she won the election by one vote. “The incumbent immediately called for a recount and personally appointed three of the five members of the recount committee”(Guitierrez 182). In which it turned out that the incumbent won by two votes and Lara had lost the election. Years later, it turns out that one of her good friends was bribed to change the vote and they did. The injustice that she faced because the incumbent wanted a recount right away and he did receive it. That would also imply that the recount committee was also in with the corruption that she faced.
Another example from the same article of Gutierrez, is Alicia Chacon from Texas. She won the county judge in the 1990s. The incumbent that she was running against decided to spent the $24 million they had on reserve, so when she entered office there would not be any money left. Chacon was left with no other choice but to impose a tax on it’s residence, which meant that the taxes needed to increase. Chacon felt like they set her up to face the people and made her impose the taxes, either because she was a woman or because she is a Latina.
Class Oppression:
Class oppression is also another inequality that Latinos/as face in everyday situations. in the article of Soldatenko. It mentions that “garment workers not employed by the ILGWU or the Justice Center generally had lower levels of education”(Soldatenko 51). That would mean that even though a person did not have the adequate education, then the Latina organizers thought that the person did not have the ability to pursue their education. Which is not true, anybody can pursue their education if they really wanted to, no one can say that they cannot. Even though there are numerous people working in the garment industry and others are working within some sort of government, it does not mean that they do not face inequality. They do, even within the different classes there is still inequality. As mention earlier, many garment workers have to suffer the injustices at their work. Either, by not getting paid what it was originally thought or by not having appropriate working conditions in the factories. It goes the same was for people who are employed in an government office, they face injustice. As mentioned earlier, the woman who worked in Texas and wanted to be either a judge or a major. Rendering to the article of Gutierrez, one woman in particular also had it hard.
In order for there to be change in society, Latinos/as first have to face the facts that we are being treated unfairly.

Once, we have overcome that then we can start making a difference. The first step is to try to get the illegal immigrants who have suffered some kind of accident or have been treated unfairly to speak up. Illegal immigrants have a much higher number of people who are being treated unfairly. Once, they speak up we can start to move forward; they need to know that by speaking up nothing will happen and the problem will somehow be fixed. The next step is to get people involved in politics. We need to also have our voice heard and we need to organize. Then the following step would be to have unions for the workers and also that all the unions have the same standards throughout the state. That everything should be the same, no matter if the person is legal or illegal. It’s only fair that everybody have the same treatment in the jobs and that would also mean having the same wages in the same company; in the sense that if a person is illegal they should also have the same wages as a legal person. The most crucial factor is that we need to assemble if we want to make a difference and we need as one. We cannot compromise, we deserve the same rights as any other person and we need to fight for equal protection. Now, if employers do not want to meet our demands then we will strike, but in order to strike we all need to assured that we are all going to strike. For the

reason that some one the people might not want to strike and they will continue working and if that does happen then the whole concept of striking is worthless. We need to unite and stick together.
Then afterwards, we need to get involved with politics and petition that all the labor employers have the same requirements of meeting the employees’ needs. Also, that anybody, no matter if female or male should be treated differently, we are all equal and we all deserve the same opportunities.