Fidel, a relatively new employee on the subway told me that
he had lost several jobs after reporting injustices he had witnessed in the
workplace. After growing tired of the need to remain silent to keep a job, he
began working on the subway so that he could be his own boss. He narrated the
story of a friend who works from 6 AM to 6 PM and has a two-hour commute (many
people live in Buenos Aires
sprawling suburban area but work in the city limits). The man’s only child is
asleep when he leaves for work at 4 in the morning and again when he gets back
at 8 at night. This story is a common one, and it shows what has driven many
into the informal economy, which is more volatile but less cruel than its
counterpart.

Although working in the informal
sector means the loss of benefits such as retirement or sick leave, the subway
vendors have found a way to subsist via self-regulation and support within the
group. Many of them told me that when one vendor gets sick, the rest take up a
small collection to curb his or her losses for the day. Similarly, they help
one another with the necessary capital to begin: a newcomer might be lent money
for that first day’s supply of coloring books. This kind of collaboration is a
relief for those who have had bad experiences in the formal workforce. But if
this body is beginning to assume formal patterns and expectations, what
differentiates it from any other job? The acceptance of formal rules by the
vendors shows that the problem lies not with the inherent nature of the formal
economy, but rather with the harsh labor conditions that have come to be
associated with it. While neither type of jobs come with sufficient labor
protections, at least working in the subway affords a degree of freedom
unavailable in other areas.

As 37-year-old Oscar explained to me, in the formal
sector “The boss is the boss and the peon is the peon.” The independence and
equality of the subway has been more than enough for many to draw them away
from the increasingly oppressive conditions of any legal alternative.