ety has spent more than twenty years working at Volkswagen’s vast automotive plant in Puebla, Mexico. During that time, she learned different trades, worked across production areas, and discovered what it meant to make her way in a workplace dominated by men.

Her life took an unexpected turn when she was elected to a leadership position in her union. The role brought new responsibilities: learning to defend her own rights and those of her coworkers.

It also meant confronting resistance to a woman holding a position of representation and power within the union. Bety’s experience connects the challenges of daily factory work with the demands of becoming a representative whom others rely on.

Through her story, this episode explores women’s participation in union leadership and the obstacles that persist even after they are elected. What does it take to turn a formal position into an opportunity to defend workers’ rights and make women’s voices heard?

Audio in Spanish. English synopsis below.