CIUDAD JUAREZ -- Claudia Nevades wasn't about to let the factory shut its doors and stiff her and other employees out of $700,000 they were owed.
Nevades, an accountant, traveled over the border into El Paso the day after the U.S.-owned AMEX textile factory shut down last December with no warning.
Nevades and others who had visas to cross the border didn't want trouble. They asked an El Paso police officer to accompany them as a witness.
No one would see them at the AMEX office on Billy the Kid Lane. The company didn't respond to media phone calls, either.
Nevades said that if the 135 employees didn't get their money, including savings accounts, back in full, they wanted Mexican prosecutors to charge AMEX with theft.
"We will ask, but the authorities here are afraid of being tough. They don't want the maquiladoras to leave and go to China," Nevades said.
She walked around the factory floor, which employees occupied in December as leverage to get their money. Employees were taking turns guarding the gate and the machinery that the company hadn't managed to haul across the border the night it shut down.
By law, authorities in Juarez can auction off the machinery to pay off some of the wages owed. But it won't be enough.
When the factory was in operation, the workers said, it was a typical maquiladora, where workers assembled products for the American market. They stitched together sheets, curtains and items as varied as yoga gloves to petroleum workers' outfits.
Among many clients, according to AMEX's Web site, were Martha Stewart, Mattel, JC Penny, Liz Claiborne, Sears, Bed Bath & Beyond, Wal-Mart, Target and Disney.
"Some of these workers only made $40 a week," Nevades said. "When you make that little, it matters when you don't get paid."
