Systems of labor intermediation in an agro-export region in Northern Mexico

Abstract

Since the 90s there has been a revitalization of labor contractors and other systems of labor intermediation in Latin America’s agro-export sector. Labor intermediation enhances labor flexibility, reduce labor costs, and contribute to increase productivity by using different forms of labor control. This article documents the growth of different types of labor contractors in the San Quintin Valley, a major horticultural enclave in Northern Mexico. I describe a multidimensional system of labor intermediation with a diversity of local contractors, temp-work companies, and the recruitment of temporal migratory workers to the United States. At a time when the agro-export industry in San Quintin relies on sophisticated production technologies and systems to ensure product quality, there is an informalization of the forms of labor intermediation that obscure the employment of the very workers who produce them.