This article by Sara Lovera originally appeared in the September 19, 2025 edition of El Sol de México.

As if time had stopped, there are sewing workshops in the center of Mexico City where workers are locked up and forced to work , says labor lawyer Manuel Fuentes Muñiz, and one of the survivors of September 19, 1985, Leticia Olvera, says that in 2025 the exploitation, poor wages, lack of social security and exploitation continue.

On the 40th anniversary of the 1985 earthquake , which revealed the exploitation of seamstresses and left 600 of them under the rubble, the Mexico City government declared the monument La Costurera, located on San Antonio Abad and Manuel J. Othón avenues in the Obrera neighborhood, as Cultural and Historical Heritage of Mexico City, as the culmination of a series of “recognitions” in recent years.

The Feminist Circle and the Center for Reflection and Labor Action (CEREAL) maintain that the conditions of those working in the “fashion industry” are identical to those of 40 years ago: more than 600,000 workers are subcontracted, and of the 390,000, 65 percent are women; the workdays are grueling.

Every September 19th, we remember the seamstresses who died in 1985 under the rubble of the building in the Obrera neighborhood. / Photo: Ricardo Castelán/Cuartoscuro.com

CEREAL warns that hundreds of women seamstresses in semi-rural communities in Zapotlanejo, Jalisco, are being exploited; protests recently erupted in Chihuahua, and workshops in Puebla, especially in Tehuacán, are precarious.

In the community of Zapotlanejo, Jalisco, hundreds of women seamstresses face precarious working conditions, characterized by low wages, long hours, and a lack of labor rights. These women are the backbone of the local textile industry, but they constantly struggle to earn a decent living for their families.

Meanwhile, the National Chamber of the Apparel Industry claims that approximately 80,000 jobs have been lost in the last eight quarters due to unfair competition from Asian countries and textile smuggling.

According to INEGI data, there are more than 1,074,026 formally employed female garment workers in the country, representing 1.3% of all formally employed workers in the national manufacturing sector. Their monthly wages are no more than 6,000 pesos, or 1,200 pesos per week.

The 1985 earthquake exposed the degrading and exploitative conditions in which women seamstresses worked, including punishment and torture. On September 19, 2017, the same event was repeated on the streets of Bolívar and Chimalpopoca in the Obrera neighborhood of Mexico City.

According to neighbors, some of the seamstresses were working in a locked basement , so they were unable to evacuate the building in time. Thanks to community efforts, 49 seamstresses were rescued from the rubble.

In 1985, everything became known in stark detail, and although that hasn’t changed, lawyer Fuentes Muñiz said this September 19th, recalling how they died under the rolls of fabric : “No action can claim responsibility for their deaths.” The government was reluctant to inspect these dangerous buildings, both then and now. Some of them were never identified, and the payment that was obtained didn’t compensate for the human losses.

The same story happened for dozens of seamstresses on September 19, 2017, at the building on Bolívar and Chimalpopoca streets in the Obrera neighborhood. / Photo: Tercero Díaz / Cuartoscuro.com

She explained that the employment situation of women remains a critical issue due to the lack of labor oversight to ensure employers comply with the law. In Mexico City alone, there are 440,000 workplaces and only 25 inspectors. 38% of working women—8 million—are affiliated with the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS). Of these, 60% have very low incomes. 80% of working women with children are single mothers, which exposes them to further labor exploitation.

For him, women in difficult situations, like the seamstresses who joined the “September 19” Union in 1985 —that union no longer exists—are on the brink of daily labor injustice. Their situation is almost identical to that then.

On September 19, 1985 , around 600 seamstresses lost their lives between heavy rolls of fabric and the structures that collapsed at 7:19 a.m.

40 years ago, literally, the garment workers rose from the rubble. Forty years ago, the female telephone operators also rose up . The earthquake of September 19th tested not only the response of a government, that of Miguel de la Madrid , but also the workers’ justice system that has yet to be delivered .

Around 600 seamstresses lost their lives amid heavy rolls of fabric and the collapsed structures at 7:19 a.m., just as the first shift of workers had begun . Around ten telephone operators were trapped in the building on Victoria Street, in the heart of the city, where the central telephone service headquarters was located.

To remember them without pity is to see them whole and empowered in the face of a “natural” disaster and, as always, what lies behind it: negligence, irregularity, corruption . The sewing workshops fully revealed the worst forms of labor, now euphemistically called precarious or indecent work. There, it was specified, there was mistreatment, punishment, miserable pay , and a combination of weekly and piecework pay: resulting in 11 or 12 hours per day and what today would be 900 pesos a week at constant prices.

Telephone Operators Have Also Reinvented Themselves

At Teléfonos de México, the definitive gap between technological modernization and structural adjustment has opened. Thirty-eight years later, the operators are a handful among more than 34,000 workers.

The restructuring involved what was also called “early retirement” to hide its meaning. However, the telephone operators’ organizational capacity allowed them to achieve several things: move to other positions, receive training, save their collective bargaining agreement, and maintain a united union. What’s more, the telephone operators managed to introduce what is now called a gender perspective into their employment contract . And they were promoters of a feminist union movement. Not without effort.

The seamstresses founded several cooperatives and a union. They created entirely new labor rules, and only corruption prevented such an important project from growing and expanding , combined with the reality of the garment industry, which had been devastated by trade liberalization and the multi-million dollar influx of clothing from China over the past 35 years.

Members of the “September 19” Seamstresses’ Union, which later became a civil association / Photo: Ricardo Castelán/Cuartoscuro.com

This narrative is simply a reminder, without playing the victim, that it is possible for women’s confidence and ability, faced with extreme situations, to generate change for the future. Among the telephone workers’ leaders, Rosario Ortiz has served as a substitute deputy and federal deputy; she has worked in the Secretariat of Labor and Employment Promotion of the Federal District, convinced of the workers’ struggle as a source of well-being, politicization, and cooperation for democracy, without euphemisms. She is currently a leader of the Network of Women Trade Unionists.

No one had any idea! Eight months ago, a “fashion show” was held in a salon in the Narvarte neighborhood, and those who attended didn’t find beautiful models or spring or fall designs, but rather a group of women who presented, on improvised poster boards, hard data about the exploitation of more than 400,000 workers in this industry that includes footwear, apparel, and accessories, and where 65 percent of those working without pay are still women.

Ten months ago, the first public demonstration of this situation took place, leading to the need to read hard data about the working conditions and precariousness of workers in what is now euphemistically called the garment industry. Forty years ago, the National Union of Workers in the Sewing, Garment, and Related Industries “September 19” denounced, documented, and demonstrated that there, in the garment factories, there was boundless exploitation. Something has changed, but very little.

Today, there is hard data from hundreds of factories, and the Feminist Legal Analysis Circle reported to the Senate of the Republic, in an “analysis” forum, that the conditions of those working in the “fashion industry” are identical to those of 40 years ago : more than 600,000 workers are subcontracted, and of the 390,000 who work without pay, 65 percent are women; that the workdays are grueling, and that this industry, which offers society paradigms of precariousness and social status, is based on precarious, inhumane labor without labor rights.

Evangelina Corona, social activist and icon of the Seamstresses’ Union’s struggle after the 1985 earthquake.

There are dark sides to the seamstresses’ struggle. I spoke with some of the women leaders from that union. Their lives changed. Individually, they were able to grow and see other horizons. Some of them continue to be active in the feminist social movement. Others continued working in factories, paving the way for other workers. Still others, like Lupe Conde , taught dressmaking in technical schools. Evangelina Corona, who headed the national union , was an assemblywoman and, even at an advanced age, continued to work in a public agency. She died on January 5, 2021.

Thousands upon thousands of women lost their jobs over the past 40 years, and their traces were lost. But each one, whether a member or worker in the more than 400 factories that were built for three years in a camp on Tlalpan Avenue, surely contributed to a movement that, 38 years later, has been able to open hundreds of spaces for gender-related political work, where women are aware that working for equality is beginning to make sense.

In 2015, there was a discussion about the 1985 earthquake. It also recalled how dozens and hundreds of downtown residents rose up to rebuild their homes, destroyed by the earthquake. They met other women, continued their urban struggle, built homes, and forged solidarity, and their daughters and sons found other paths.

The seamstresses’ union struggle contributed to a movement that, 38 years later, has opened hundreds of spaces for gender-related political work. Photo: Tercero Día/Cuartoscuro

Among them, Yolanda Tello was a member of parliament; several organizations were created, surviving both time and contradictions. A few weeks ago, they appeared at a meeting of independent unions and reaffirmed their decision to revive collective bargaining. They feel united with what is now called the fashion industry.

The earthquakes of ’85 left more. According to analysts and those who took note and followed the trail of these new consciousnesses, they have agreed that the deep and “natural” rift that occurred on September 19, 1985 , opened a light of democracy and reorganization of groups, workers, and civil associations, and gave birth to a new leftist political alternative . It has borne fruit. You’ll tell me it’s in crisis; yes, of course, crises open new windows and new paths for us; we should make positive contributions to the future.

No Changes Even if a Monument has Been Declared a Historical Heritage Site

On one side of the Amazonas Hotel, on Calzada de Tlalpan , one of the main arteries of the Mexican capital, there is an iron monument still standing representing a seamstress as an inert testimony to the struggle undertaken in September 1985 by the seamstresses of the Federal District, after the surprising and tragic revelation of their deplorable working conditions.

Raised from the rubble after the earthquake trapped more than 600 seamstresses in dozens of buildings on San Antonio Abad Avenue and on the streets of Uruguay, Belisario Domínguez, Perú, and José Ma. Izazaga, where small factories and clothing workshops were concentrated—establishments now desolate—some 800 seamstresses from 40 factories , out of the more than 11,000 affected in 400 establishments by the earthquake of September 19, 1985, fought for more than three years for their rights and their jobs. They protested and marched in the streets; they organized rallies and set up a camp.

With no resources other than courage and reason, on October 22, 1985, they founded the National Union of Sewing, Apparel, Clothing, Similar and Related Workers “September 19”, headed by Evangelina Corona, Alicia Cerezo, Guadalupe Conde, Leticia Olvera and Alejandra Martínez, among many others.

Organized and supported by a wide variety of groups, they filed more than 345 lawsuits with the Conciliation and Arbitration Board ; they obtained settlements for 2,000 workers in nearly 100 companies, with compensation amounts of approximately 429 million pesos. Labour disputes arose in 84 garment and clothing companies, but these disputes were resolved and/or closed with painfully slow resolution.

Back then, there was a surplus of labour. Today, there are layoffs. Seamstresses worked 11 hours a day; they worked piecework, had no meal breaks, were paid pennies per seam, and lived in humiliation and without labour rights.

Hundreds of workshops operated outside the law. The same thing is happening three decades later.

To date, the conditions of some 10,000 workers have not changed. / Photo: Tercero Díaz/Cuartoscuro.com

It took three intense years of struggle, standing firm. They signed new working conditions, formed two cooperatives, created a daycare center, and joined social and feminist organizations, but 30 years later, the union only represents five companies , three of them outside the capital, in Irapuato, Guanajuato.

To date, the conditions of some 10,000 workers have not changed.

This September, as you walk through San Antonio Abad, Izazaga, 20 de Noviembre, Manuel Doblado, Belisario Domínguez, Paraguay, Ecuador and Peru, you can see that the old workshops have disappeared : today they are centers for the sale of imported clothing that sell party dresses and pants, suits, jackets and skirts in dozens from the international maquila.

In May 2015, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) offered the Chamber of Commerce a 450 million peso grant, as 150 million items of clothing imported from abroad entered the country in 2014 alone. Ten years later, businesses continue to complain and fire seamstresses, as in Jalisco and Puebla.

An altar was set up on the lot at Bolívar and Chimalpopoca where the sewing factory collapsed. / Photo: Tercero Díaz/Cuartoscuro.com

Symbols Without Solutions

In recent years, the Mexico City government has sought to vindicate them with actions that fail to resolve their issues , such as the official donation of a plot of land in 2024 and the renaming of a community center as “Evangelina Corona ,” in honor of the first general secretary of the now- defunct “19 de Septiembre” Seamstresses’ Union (Evangelina died in January 2021). The vindication in 2025 remains focused on the need for strong unity to defend their rights, overcoming fear and humiliation.

Actions of alleged vindication:

Recognition and Tribute: The government has recognized the history and struggle of these seamstresses by dedicating spaces and commemorations to remember their colleagues who died after the 1985 earthquake.This day, “the monument called La Costurera, located on San Antonio Abad Avenue and Manuel J. Othón Avenue, in the Obrera neighborhood of Mexico City, in the Cuauhtémoc territorial demarcation, is declared Cultural and Historical Heritage of Mexico City,” reads the decree published in the Official Gazette this Friday.Land donation: In January 2024, the City Government officially donated a plot of land to the “19 de Septiembre” Seamstresses Association, thus concretizing a struggle that began years ago and supporting their work in defending the union.Tribute at a Pilares Center: In 2023, the Pilares community center in San Antonio Abad was renamed “Evangelina Corona,” in honor of this activist who played an important role in the fight for seamstresses’ rights. The Pilares community center in San Antonio Abad was named “Evangelina Corona” in honor of the activist originally from Tlaxcala. Photo: CDMX Government

A Life Change

For Leticia Olvera, the workers’ struggle changed her life. A member of Women in Trade Union Action after the 1985 earthquake, she now looks back with anger.

“Many factories closed as soon as we got organized,” he recalls. Such was the case with the Carnival underwear factory.

Today, Leticia fights to ensure the survival of a productive project organization and has learned that, in addition to labor rights, women need equality and sexual and reproductive rights.

Alicia Cerezo acknowledges that her life took a 90-degree turn . She also became a feminist, but warns that thousands of her colleagues were trapped in deplorable conditions and that the union’s failure is linked to employer interests and spurious unionism.

Citizens pay tribute to the dozens of women killed in the rubble of the Chimalpopoca and Bolívar area following the 2017 earthquake. / Photo: Tercero Díaz/Cuartoscuro

Alejandra Martínez reaffirms that seamstresses paid on payroll earn no more than 1,700 pesos a week , and in 2025, those who work piecework receive only two pesos a day per garment sewn, and their workdays extend to 10 or 12 hours a day.

There was no change, there are no inspectors in the workshops, no protection, no compliance with the professional minimum wage, and no change in the Ministry of Labor.

Today, large department stores hire companies of dubious origin, known as outsourcing , says lawyer Manuel Fuentes, one of the main defenders of seamstresses, who adds that where there are small factories, there are protection contracts, that is, employment contracts proposed by labor unions, without organizing workers into unions and which serve to cover up for employers.

Cartagena lawyer Eduardo Díaz confirms that those who work in sewing do so without rights .

However, sales are estimated to reach $29.6 billion in 2024, with projected growth of 4.9% through 2034. By 2025, the sector is expected to continue expanding, driven by e-commerce and the growing demand for ethical and secondhand fashion.

Popular clothing is either Chinese or comes from outsourcing workshops contracted by El Palacio de Hierro, Liverpool, or Sears , companies that receive clothing cut by designers, with imported fabrics and tailoring paid for at ridiculously low prices, report Eduardo Díaz, Alejandra Martínez, and Manuel Fuentes.

Flowers left at 168 Bolivar Photo: Jay Watts

Stories

One of the defining characteristics of the industry, which has been around for over a century, was its family-run workshops.

In 1985, half of the production was done in these workshops located in the State of Mexico, now in Tlaxcala and the surrounding areas of Mexico City and other capital cities; the employers save millions of pesos in taxes.

For seamstresses in Mexico City, despite the decline in the industry due to international competition, the current situation is similar to that era.

A detailed description of what was happening in small factories can be found in a study conducted by the Ministry of Labor in October 1985. In the unsigned document, the anonymous author noted:

“As the media delved into the seamstresses’ case, the terrible working conditions in the industry as a whole, and the almost total lack of union protection, came to light. It became known that the seamstresses worked days of more than eight hours a day, as their wages were paid on a piece-rate basis , forcing them to comply with very heavy workloads; that there were often very severe penalties for lateness and absences; and that, given the abundance of available labor, threats of dismissal were frequent and the wages paid were often less than the minimum. It was also learned that employers often signed one-week contracts with their workers to avoid registering them with Social Security.”

“To prevent theft from companies, it was reported that in some workshops, workers were subjected to rigorous searches, and in some cases, owners locked the entrances to the workshops while the workers were working. Several accounts from people present during the earthquake claimed that this was the reason many workers were unable to survive.”

“These complaints provoked serious complaints from workers’ organizations and labor authorities . CTM leader Fidel Velázquez stated that the textile industry, particularly clothing manufacturing, was one of the most uncontrollable sectors from a union perspective, as it had been run clandestinely for several years in hidden workshops with marked labor exploitation, where workers were not even paid the minimum wage and denied social benefits. For his part, Adolfo Gott Trujillo, the general secretary of the National Union of Textile Industry Workers, affiliated with the CTM, indicated that the majority of workers in the clothing manufacturing workshops were not affiliated with any union. Only a minority were organized in small, unknown unions.”

This reality gave birth to the Union, whose life has now come to an end.

Labor | News Briefs

40 Years After the 1985 Earthquake, Working Conditions for Seamstresses Remain Unchanged

September 20, 2025

During the earthquake of September 19, 1985, 600 seamstresses were trapped under the rubble. After they formed unions and cooperatives, but nothing changed: working conditions remained horrible, & dozens of seamstresses were trapped in the 2017 earthquake.

News Briefs

DEA Proposed Attacking Cartels in Mexico; White House Rejected Idea

September 19, 2025September 19, 2025

The ostensibly “anti-drug” agency called for attacks on drug trafficking leaders and military strikes on infrastructure, according to the Washington Post.

Mañanera

People’s Mañanera September 19

September 19, 2025

President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on 1985 earthquake remembrance, national lottery, judicial reform, TV Azteca debts, Canada, Amparos & US accusations against Morena deputy.

The post 40 Years After the 1985 Earthquake, Working Conditions for Seamstresses Remain Unchanged appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/post/1284200

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