Reflection of the Anti-Electoral Campaign

When I originally heard of the Red Libertaria of Argentina's plans to run an Anti-Electoral Campaign, I simultaneously agreed with the idea and thought it useless. I generally agreed with the premise that electoral politics are so fully corrupt and so lacking authentic representation that they have become useless in the struggle for a just world. Direct organization of the rank and file of society into resistance movements seems the route to achieving any sustainable justice.

It was precisely this belief in organized resistance that made any focus on the elections seem reactionary. If elections are only the illusion of choice and power than why react to them at all? Instead why don't we propose and organize our alternatives while ignoring the charade?

I was also concerned with some strategic logistics of the campaign. What exactly defined victory? From experience in the US it's clear that low voter turn out doesn't dissuade politicians from acting as if they have some grand mandate.

After around 2 months of discussions, parties, postering, and literature distribution I came to realize that the campaign had more value than I had previously thought. A valuable critique was added to this electoral discourse that is so often missing in the US -- a systemic critique. The discussion made the left clearly distinct from liberals. It called into question all of those things that elections don't even claim to change. It provided arguments for why unions and community organizations shouldn't allow themselves to be swept into the electoral arena. More than anything it fought to dispel the illusion that elections can offer a road to serious change.

However, what truly helped me to see the value of the campaign was that it was consistently used as a call to action. In only dispelling the illusion of elections it would seem a campaign to remove what little sense of their own power the people currently have. But instead the campaign offered an alternative that social organizing will bring change. It provided an opportunity to call into question the system before us while offering a vision of direct democratic possibilities and of a society of greater equality. As elections approach in the US a dialogue of this nature should help to remind our movements of how to truly build power.

Educate, Agitate, Vote?

This Sunday, Oct. 28th, the Argentine General Elections will be held, electing a new president for the nation. With the number of social organizations participating in the electoral arena, it's hard to see that this is the same country that only six years ago saw a total collapse of confidence in the political and economic system.

"Que se vayan todos" -- They all must go. That was the chant heard in Buenos Aires during the December uprisings of 2001. Referring to the entire governing class and their ideologies, huge numbers chanted and sang outside of the Argentine Congress and the Casa Rosada. The political and economic crisis caused the country to go through 5 presidents in under one month as the people lost all faith in the institutions that governed their lives.

But today, after 4 years of the center-left Kirchner government, it seems that much of that lost faith has been restored. While the government has demonstrated some progressive attitudes, it has also shown itself to be just as willing to repress the people's will as past governments. Many today see through the "progressive" Kirchner image. They recognize it through the lens of Argentina history as a tool to divide and weaken social movements in an effort to save the same institutions and social structure that was so recently exposed for what it truly is. As the government appears to be friendly, many no longer see the need for an organized and militant people.

In recent months there has been an ongoing campaign by the Red Libertaria of Argentina (http://www.inventati.org/rlba/) to remind the people of Argentina that true change comes from below through organized people and communities not from the electoral battles of politicians. In fact, the current progressive attitude of some parts of government is a response to the level of social organization and mobilization in past years.

Through community discussions and forums, concerts, rallies, postering and literature distrubution the Anti-Electoral Campaign of the Red Libertaria has reminded sections of Buenos Aires that it is their organization in workplaces, communities, and schools that truly forces social change. The hope of these discussions was to dispel the myth that basic participation in elections gives the people any real and lasting power. If the elections aren't capable of changing any of the basic institutions that run our society, then they are only the illusion of power.

I can't help but put this in the context of the movements back in the United States. As the US prepares to enter an electoral year, I can only hope that movements there can learn the same lessons being taught by the Red Libertaria. After the 2006 elections and the supposed anti-war mandate sending the Democratic Parties victory, we have seen very little substantive change concerning the war in Iraq. I desperately hope that the memory of our movements in the United States is longer than 2 years and that they don't fall for the same traps again.

Repression Continues in Argentina

On the night of September 17, 1976 ten students were “disappeared” by the military dictatorship of Argentina in what became known as La Noche de los Lápices (The Night of the Pencils). The same day twenty years later, under the supposedly progressive Kirchner government, Jorge Julio López disappeared just before his final testimony against the senior police officer, Miguel Etchecolatz.

A Heroic Witness

Miguel Etchecolatz was the Director of Investigations for the Buenos Aires Provincial Police from early 1976 until late 1977. His tenure saw the greatest number of disappearances, as students, workers, and activists were kidnapped by the military government. Many of those disappeared were taken for incredibly minor displays of dissent. This was the case during The Night of the Pencils, when 10 high school students were kidnapped in the night for their activism in a campaign asking for free bus passes to school. Of the ten students, six were never seen again and the other 4 were held in illegal detention centers and tortured. These four were released between 1978 and 1980.

In the same city of La Plata, a brick layer, Jorge Julio López was disappeared on October 21, 1976. He was then held without charges until June 25, 1979. Both of these series of kidnappings were under the jurisdiction of Etchecolatz. When the military government was changed in 1983, there were promises that those responsible for the Dirty Wars would be punished. In 1986, Etchecolatz was sentenced to 23 years in prison, but didn’t serve any time due to laws enacted to protect former military and police – the Full Stop Law and the Law of Due Obedience.

In June of 2005, these two laws were voided by the Argentine Supreme Court, allowing for charges to be filed again. In the trial against Etchecolatz, Julio López was one of the key witnesses. Knowing the potential danger of being a witness at this trial he went on to name 62 police and military officers. The day before his final testimony, and the 20^th anniversary of the Night of the Pencils, was the last time Julio López was seen. Despite his disappearance, Etchecolatz was sentenced to life imprisonment, largely based on the testimony of López.

Since the disappearance of López, government officials have been quick to announce their optimism in the search and repeatedly mention their “successes”. But none of this progress has been demonstrated publicly. Kirchner’s faction within the legislature has even gone so far as to block projects aimed at finding López.

A Vigilant People

On another cheerless anniversary, 1 year since the disappearance of López, an estimated twenty thousand marched through Buenos Aires, with thousands more marching in La Plata, the hometown of López. We marched from the Congress building to the Plaza de Mayo with unionists, political parties, human rights organizations, and even three current presidential candidates.

We marched calling for the reappearance of López and the punishment of those involved with his disappearance. But the rally wasn’t only in remembrance of López, it was calling for an end to the state repression that has been common under the Kirchner government. There were a series of demands connecting the disappearance to other tactics currently used by the government reminiscent of the days of the dictatorship. Workers from the Hospital Frances demanded that the military and police occupation of their hospital end, we called for an end to the Anti-Terrorist law (similar to the PATRIOT Act in the US and pushed by the Bush Administration), and punishment to those involved – politically and materially – in the death of Carlos Fuenteabla.

It’s unclear the direction Argentina will take, both in the upcoming presidential elections and in the realm of actual democracy. Will the state continue to exercise power to repress the social movements of the nation or will Argentina begin to practice true democracy?

Defense of the Hotel BAUEN, Pt. 3

In the past week there have been two events to advance the campaign against the eviction of the Hotel BAUEN. Neither were marches. There was no long list of speakers or any political target. They were concerts and block parties – festivals. They could also have been called rallies, except that they were more fun. Organizations brought out their banners and signs, there were chants, and there was media coverage. But each also included live musical performances and barbeque.

On Sunday, we gathered outside of the expropriated factory Gráfrica Patricios, a printing factory in the neighborhood called Barracas. With no permission or permit, the workers and activists taped off a block, built a stage, and began cooking. A few hundred people would arrive to this first concert billed as a “festival in defense of the recuperated factories”. Mostly Argentine folk music was played, people danced, radical documentaries were distributed, photographers displayed their work, and flyers were handed out for the next festival two days later outside of the Hotel BAUEN.

That Tuesday we gathered on Avenida Callao, one of the busiest streets in Buenos Aires, at the doors to the Hotel. As the stage was built, street theatre performances were held and food was sold, with all funds going to the defense campaign. Thousands were in attendance with delegations from dozens of groups – workers from the Hospital Francés and the Subte, socialist and communist parties, anarchists, organizations of the unemployed, the University at Buenos Aires student government and many others.

The diversity of the performances was an incredible achievement to me. There were typical Argentina rock bands, a metal band, a hip hop act, and the closer was an inspirational folk singer. León Gieco has been a politically charged musician in Argentina since the early 70´s. He spent part of the dictatorship living in Los Angeles to escape the censorship of his music.

This blend of culture, music, and political action seems to me something incredibly important for the movements of the United States. We seem to have a simple and formulaic response to the problems within our country. While the importance of rallies and serious, direct discussions is obvious; these are only some of the tools available to our movements. I wish I could point to the place that this separation began in US organizing. Are political organizers not doing what they should to incorporate the activities of artists and musicians? Or, are politically oriented artists and musicians content to say what they feel through their art while not directly supporting specific fights? Whatever the answer, I hope that we can begin to over come this separation and build a closer relationship between organizers and artists. We need to build a culture of revolutionary organizing and activities like this can help to broaden our audiences, provide excellent fundraisers, build people’s inspiration, and are just plain fun.

The block party atmosphere of these events was so important, as they were clearly events for anyone to attend. But this doesn’t mean there was nothing militant about them. While there was no worry about police attacks, as their likely would be in the states, this seemed to come from a true sense of power that the people had. Rather than chanting it, these really were their streets. There was never a need to question it, they controlled their community and they would do with it what they liked. That true sense of autonomy and culture struck me as something more radical and powerful than most of the protests in which I’ve participated. When I asked someone at the first festival if they had obtained a permit for the event, I was laughed at. It did seem more likely however, that the BAUEN event had asked for a permit as they closed down one of the major city streets at rushhour. But it was this willingness and ability to assert control of the city that was so empowering to me.

In the end, these fun and popular events aren’t the end of the fight by any means. Throughout the concert two rallies were announced repeatedly. One rally and march next week in support of the Hotel BAUEN cooperative, and another calling for an end to the occupation of the Hospital Francés. The concert helped to expand the audience that was there to hear those announcements. Not only those in the crowd, but those on TV watching the León Gieco.

For more pictures of the events:

Festival at Gráfica Patricios: http://argentina.indymedia.org/news/2007/08/541155.php

Festival at the BAUEN: http://argentina.indymedia.org/news/2007/08/541688.php

Military and Police Occupy Hospital in Struggle

The Hospital Francés has been struggling for months with political attacks on the public health system of Argentina. Continual efforts have been made to weaken this system, beginning with a number of attacks on the workers of the hospital. In the hospital of 1,200 workers, most are owed some amount of back wages that have not been paid. While officials still receive the same inflated pay. Retirement packages are under attack and recently 8 workers were fired, including an assembly delegate. Workers have recently initiated a struggle demanding pay of their back wages, stabilization of work, greater job security, and the rehiring of past workers.

On Wednesday August 8th the management made a claim that workers had used property destruction as a tactic in their fight. With absolutely no proof of such a claim, the government occupied the hospital with over 100 military and police officers. It’s now almost a week later, and those forces remain.

Immediately after the invasion the workers called a general assembly in which they decided on an indefinite strike until the occupation was ended. At a later assembly and press conference, the workers that this was “a clear misuse of national security forces” and that the Kirchner government was trying to turn labor demands into a national security issue. The same was recently done in the occupation of schools in the province of Santa Cruz. This escalating move on the part of the government has forced the strike that they are now faced with. Workers are now holding regular assemblies to decide on the course of their struggle. The first step is a rally announced for tomorrow (Wednesday August 15th) demanding an immediate end to the occupation in addition to the past demands.

Defense of the Hotel BAUEN, Pt. 2

Today at 11am hundreds of people were gathered outside of the Hotel BAUEN at the first protest in response to the recently received eviction order. While the cooperative workers began the demonstration, delegations began to arrive from other groups throughout the city that have pledged some amount of solidarity with the threatened worker cooperative.

By noon a crowd had gathered and taken over Avenida Callao in front of the hotel. They were playing drums, had a marching band, and were chanting. "Bauen es de los trabajadores, y los que no le gusta, se jode, jode." Or, "Bauen belongs to the workers and those that don't like it can screw themselves."

There were support delegations from a number of political parties, social organizations, and unions. A federation of neighborhood assemblies was well represented along with a number of unemployed and piquetero organizations. There was even a small contingent of members of the Industrial Workers of the World from the US and Canada.

After the delegations had gathered, we marched up Avenida Callao to the judicial offices that had ordered the eviction. With a line of riot police blocking the entrance and wathcing the crowd we sang and danced, demonstrating that we weren't afraid of the police or the judges they protected.

During the march, I had the empowering realization that this great rally was only a building block to further resistance in the coming month.

Defense of the Hotel BAUEN Pt. 1

The workers at the Hotel BAUEN Cooperative recently held a gathering of solidarity activists to announce their plan of struggle against the eviction order and for their full expropriation of the building. For now, I will just post the list of upcoming activities. Later, I will post my thoughts and experiences of the events and the month of struggle as a whole. I will also later be posting an email get-active that people can send to the judges and politicians involved as a statement of solidarity with the cooperative workers. However, before posting the calendar of events there are a few things that immediately struck me that I want to mention.

On the day of this gathering, the workers of the Hotel BAUEN came with announcements and tasks. They had stacks of thousands of leaflets explaining their situation along with a list of important locations in the city to distribute such information. It was the sort of seriousness in organizing that I rarely see in the United States and shows the absolute importance of community support for their struggle. The locations they chose reflected a real diversity in their outreach efforts as well as a general attempt at communication with the public.

Included in the list of events are a number of cultural events as well as typical protest organizing. This is an important element so often left out in organizing in the United States, and it tends to make our organizing dry, boring, and exclusive. Artistic groups are actively doing this sort of solidarity as a means to defend BAUEN and the rest of the cooperative movement.

Lastly, I’m impressed by the strategic organizing being done. The demands are not purely defensive, as they easily could be. Rather than simply calling for the eviction order to be reversed, they are using this mobilizing opportunity to take an offensive stance. They are using this moment to simultaneously call for full expropriation of the building for the cooperative. In the face of state repression they are maintaining an astounding strength and clarity.

Month of activities in defense of the Hotel BAUEN Worker Cooperative:

• July 27^th and 28^th – The band Ataque 77 will play a concert in support of the cooperative.
• August 3^rd – The San Telmo neighborhood assembly is organizing a show with La Covacha and Poder Sikuri as a fundraiser to defend the attack.
• August 6^th – We will meet at the doors of the BAUEN hotel with a murga and theatre group to lead a funeral procession to the office of the judge involved in the eviction order. We will be mourning the loss of the right to work while the cooperative workers present a letter of demands.
• August 9^th – Press conference at the Hotel with the culture committee of the worker cooperative. A social and political atmosphere with artists and musicians.
• August 16^th – The play “Maquinando” will be shown in solidarity with the struggle. The play is the story of the expropriation of printing factory in Buenos Aires.
• August 24^th – In the final day of the eviction notice there will be a large rally outside of the BAUEN Hotel.

I will post more of these events as they come.

Hotel BAUEN: Threatened With Eviction

Once again for solidarity! Time to defend our victories!

The Hotel BAUEN has become one of the most significant symbols of the worker recuperated businesses here in Argentina. It’s exactly this symbol of a worker power and progress that the state is hoping to repress now. This Saturday, July 21^st, the worker cooperative at the Hotel BAUEN was served with an eviction order, giving them one week to leave the building. We cannot allow such an important movement advance to be pushed back.

History

The hotel hasn’t always been a symbol of progress and promise. The 20-story building was built in 1978 with massive state subsidies from the military dictatorship then in power. It quickly became a symbol of upper class luxury in Argentina. During the 1990’s and the failures of the neoliberal model pushed by the International Monetary Fund and President Carlos Menem the business began to fail. With the total lack of imagination consistent of capitalist management, the owners saw no option but to close the hotel. On December 28^th, 2001 – shortly after the neoliberal economic model in Argentina collapsed, and the people revolted – the Hotel BAUEN was closed leaving all of its workers unemployed.

On March 23^rd, 2003 a group of around 30 former hotel workers met with delegates from other recuperated businesses around the country. They headed to the hotel, broke the lock to the entrance, and while occupying the building, began the legal process of applying for cooperative status. Upon arriving they found a nearly destroyed building, no inhabitable rooms, and no electricity. In the following months, the workers began fixing the hotel. They rented out rooms as they became available, and in December 2004 opened up the front café. Today the entire 200 rooms are open for business; there is a convention hall, concert space in the basement, and bookstore in the lobby. The workers have even managed to do what is so rare in Argentina today: create jobs. From the initial 30 cooperative members that took the space, there are now over 160 cooperative members.

Inspiration

All of the accomplishments of reopening the hotel have been done through democratic worker self-management. Decisions are made through assemblies and the workers themselves control all profits of the hotel. This success has been an inspiration to movements throughout the country. The story of their success has been spread in part through the cooperatives consistent solidarity with other movements. Once a week you can find the subway worker assembly delegates organizing their union’s struggle. Activist groups use the space for gatherings and conferences. There are frequent concerts put on by social groups. In the basement the activist media group Alavio has editing space, and there are constant movement discussions happening in the lobby restaurant and bookstore.

The Hotel BAUEN worker cooperative has not only inspired activists in Argentina, but throughout the world. Lessons have been taken from the Hotel BAUEN by worker cooperatives, union movements, and cultural centers throughout the world. They have demonstrated the possibilities of solidarity economics in the face of tremendous pressure, and managed to run a socially conscious business better than many of the exploitative businesses in the city of Buenos Aires.

Threats and Repression

Of course the state of affairs based on exploitative economics can’t allow this model to gain a successful stronghold and continually transmit inspiration throughout the world. During their process of opening the hotel they have been faced with numerous legal challenges and eviction orders. Despite all of their tremendous work the BAUEN cooperative still has not obtained a full legal expropriation. However, the current eviction order represents a considerable escalation against the cooperative on the part of the state. Past evictions have come from relatively minor problems, like possible fire hazards that needed to be fixed. The eviction order received this past Saturday is considerably stronger, saying that the cooperative must leave because they have stolen the building. The local government is showing their true political colors by asserting the property rights of those that gained the building from the military dictatorship and destroyed it over those that have revitalized it.

In the past eviction orders have been fought off in part through massive solidarity efforts. The example of the Hotel BAUEN worker cooperative has provided insight and motivation to many of our movements throughout the world in recent years. It’s our obligation to stand with them now and repay all that they have already given each of us. No, it’s not an obligation; it’s an honor to stand with these courageous people.

Subway Workers Rising!

In relatively short time here in Argentina I have come to find a huge variety of labor struggles. In the past few months there have been actions taken by tire factory workers, casino workers, hospital workers, agricultural workers, subway workers, and more in Buenos Aires. To find a particular place of business on strike at any given moment is a common site. While talking to people about these struggles, what I’ve found hasn’t been very surprising. Those unions that fight are more likely to win. But what is definitely different from so many actions I have seen in the US is that those fights are so often led by worker assemblies. The power of a particular union can be measured by the activity, support, and sustainability of the rank and file assemblies within that union.

Privatization

The best example of an assembly that has sustained constant activity in Buenos Aires is clearly the subte workers. The subte (Buenos Aires’ subway system) was privatized in 1994 and sold to the company Metrovias. This privatization brought about some massive immediate changes. The system went from 4,600 employees to 1,500 – 800 of which were new hires with no previous experience. Wages were lowered and arbitrary firings became common place. At the same time, during the presidency of Carlos Menem, unemployment was growing. After the economic crisis of 2001, unemployment would rise to over 20%, as the policy of privatization of all services grew.


Worker Democracy in Action

With daily exploitation of workers growing and constant arbitrary firings, workers began to organize. Their early demands included recognition of their assembly delegates and an end to all firings. In these early fights, they built the worker assembly, and began to develop a sense of unity between workers. The subte system has a number of different types of workers on 5 different lines. Different sections of workers would often have no contact at all with one another. But today there is constant mobilization by workers. Each line has its own assembly, electing delegates to represent them. Those delegates have weekly coordinating meetings, in the Hotel Bauen (an expropriated hotel in central Buenos Aires). These assemblies and delegates organize negotiations, media, cultural events, strikes, and other worker actions.

Through these mechanisms of self organization, the Subte workers union has consistently been one of the most active and militant of unions in the nation. They have held numerous work stoppages from 1 hour to 2 days long in what they see as an ongoing labor struggle for all workers. In the January of 2005 these methods of organizing saw their true test. After police attacked a rally of workers, an indefinite strike was called by the assembly. In what many here consider to be a prime example of worker organizing, the strike maintained consistent actions. They held numerous marches, built community support, and kept control in the hands of the rank and file. In the end they won a 44% increase in wages and benefits and the 6-hour work day.

Solidarity Struggles

With power in such a clearly strategic industry – transportation, the Subte workers have since organized in solidarity with a number of movements. They are often one of the first unions to take action in regional struggles. Along with the recuperated factory and unemployed worker movements, the Subte workers have called for a national 6-hour work day. The 6-hour day will help to end the crippling unemployment faced by Argentine workers. It will also help to end the exploitative and precarious working conditions of those working; conditions that so often destroy the capacity of labor movements to fight.

They are also working with a number of organizations in Buenos Aires to call for public control of Line H, the subway line currently under construction. These actions are demonstrating the common ground between workers, demanding better employment conditions, and riders, calling for lower fares and community regulatory powers.

As a part of these struggles, or in relation to their own demands, the Subte workers have taken on a number of workplace direct actions. They organize everything from press events and rallies, to short term strikes, and free fare days as methods of their ongoing struggle with the company Metrovías.


The Subte workers have come to represent the real potential of a rank and file led worker movement to many in Argentina. On any given day, delegates from the assembly are on the news talking about a current action or campaign. Their actions have taken a meaning much greater than simply their on the job complaints, they are a beacon of the power that the worker movement can demonstrate in building a different world.

Human rights in Argentina: Where is Julio Lopez? (Reposted)

Written by Marie Trigona

Tuesday, 03 July 2007



Argentina is preparing for a new human rights trial for crimes committed during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. Just days before the start of the latest trial, Argentine police discovered a body thought to be that of a missing witness.


Police early this morning found a body of a man, who they believed to be Julio Lopez the key witness who went missing last year following the land mark conviction of a police official who ran clandestine torture centers. Forensic officials confirmed today that the body, found without its hands or feet, was not that of 78-year-old Julio Lopez. Police followed a tip off that a dismembered body had been found in an unmarked grave about 6 miles from the city of La Plata, where Lopez was last seen on September 18, 2006.


The gruesome discovery could have a chilling effect on witnesses planning to testify in a new trial of an accused torturer. On Thursday, a federal court will open the trial of Catholic priest, Christian Von Wernich, charged with carry out human rights abuses while orking in several of the clandestine detention centers used to disappear 30,000 dissidents during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.


The next individual slated for trial, Catholic Priest Christian Von Wernich, facing charges for kidnapping 45 people, torture, three murders, and the illegal appropriation of a baby born in captivity. Witnesses scheduled to testify in the trial say they won't be scared off. There are currently 200 former military officers lined up for human rights trials—not even one officer for each of the 375 clandestine detention centers that operated during the dictatorship.


Juan Ramon Nazar was kidnapped in 1977 and held in a clandestine detention center for 14 months. While in a two-by-two cell in the detention center's basement, Father Von Wernich visited Nazar to give him "spiritual aid" Nazar, now 75, has agreed to testify to the torture he received at the hands of Von Wernich. He recently stated, "I'm willing to testify before the courts as many times as necessary. I'm not afraid and I'm not going to ask for police protection."

Lopez, a retired construction worker and former political prisoner disappeared just hours before he was slated to give his final testimony on the eve of the conviction of the former police investigator, Miguel Etchecolatz. Human rights groups are pointing to provincial police with ties to the 1976-1983 military dictatorship for kidnapping the witness.


Etchecolatz's sentence for crimes against humanity, genocide, and the murder and torture of political dissidents during the dictatorship represents the first time in the nation's history that the courts have sentenced a military officer to life for crimes against humanity.


This is only the second conviction of a former military officer charged with human rights abuses since 2005 when Argentina's Supreme Court struck down immunity laws for former officers of the military dictatorship as unconstitutional. Etchecolatz was arrested and sentenced to 23 years in 1986, but was later freed when the "full stop" and "due obedience" laws implemented in the early '90s made successful prosecution of ex-military leaders for human rights abuses virtually impossible.


Marie Trigona is a writer, filmmaker and radio reporter for Free Speech Radio News based in Buenos Aires. She can be reached at mtrigona@msn.com. For more information on Argentina's human rights trials visit http://mujereslibres.blogspot.com/


Marie Trigona

Update: Two Recent Victories

In the past two weeks there have been two inspiring victories here in Buenos Aires. Students at Carlos Pellegrini have ended their occupation and the tire workers strike at Fate has also ended. While both struggles made compromises in their current agreements, they also won amazing concessions from those in power and continued to build the strength of their movements.

Student Democracy at Carlos Pellegrini (original report here)

Students at the Carlos Pellegrini university prep school demanded that the recently appointed principal Juan Carlos Viegas be fired with a new principal being chosen through election. On May 25th, after a refusal by the school to hear their demands, students occupied the building. Classes would continue, the occupation quickly gained the support of parents, teachers, and other building employees, but Viegas was refused entry to the school.

After nearly one month of continual occupation and countless assemblies held by students, teachers, and faculty, the occupation has ended and an agreement has been reached. Assemblies of each group spent all of Tuesday June 19th in debate over the proposed deal, eventually agreeing to it. The agreement has 3 major stipulations. 1) A committee of students, teachers, and faculty will be made that will have binding authority over academic, extracurricular, and extension programs at the school. 2) A complete overhaul of Viegas’ intended course for the school, stressing the “universal, humanist, and autonomous” aspects of the schools. 3) Students will gain full control over the school café and copy machine services (so that they can make copied packets of required text, rather than buying text books).

While this agreement does accept that Viegas will still be the principal of the school, it goes beyond simple reaction to his role. The deal pushes the boundaries of student control, while leaving Viegas nearly powerless. Instead of simply reacting to a poor leader, they have changed the institution as a whole.

A Partial Victory at Fate (original report here)

After nearly two weeks of a full and indefinite strike, the workers at Fate decided to partially return to work. They returned to the idea of a 3 hour per shift strike. This would allow workers to continue receiving wages while maintaining their struggle. However, when they tried to return to work the bosses cut the factories power, turning the strike into a lockout. Another deal was then offered to the workers, a 22% raise spread out for months and a one time $1400 peso payment at the signing of the contract. This deal was rejected.

In late May another nearby factory joined the Fate workers in strike. The Fate workers held a number of marches and another picket of the Pan American Highway with these workers. Shortly after their joint action on the highway, Fate workers called for a concert and party at the gates of the factory for all those in solidarity with their struggle. Hundreds gathered for the event and dozens of organizations pledged their support to the new fight. These events gave improved the morale of the Fate workers and gave them the energy to push on in their fight.

In the next 2 weeks the fight at Fate would intensify quickly. After an incredibly complex series of events, debates, and assemblies a deal was finally negotiated and agreed to by the union. However, they then only allowed a yes or no vote on the new deal (rather than the usual assembly discussion) which included a 25% raise, $18,000 peso bonus given at two times, and a renegotiation of the entry level wage. This agreement was passed by the majority of members. While it’s considered a partial victory, a fight continues to ensure the power of the assembly and to elect assembly delegates for each shift. In a fight that began with the miserable offer of an 8% wage increase and no one respecting the power of the assembly, this is an excellent first step.

Argentine Students Demanding Democracy in Education

On Thursday, May 24th, I attended the weekly movie screening series at La Casa de Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo. The movie of the week was about the “Penguin Revolution” – a massive rebellion of high school students that occurred in April and May of 2006 – throughout Chile. As it happened, the movie screening turned out to be prophetic. The next week, there would be a high school student uprising in Buenos Aires.


The Penguin Revolution
On April 24th, 2006 it was announced that fees would be increased for the PSU (university admissions test) and that public transportation passes for high school students would be restricted. Students in Santiago, Chile (whose uniforms gave them the appearance of penguins) immediately took notice of these changes and began to mobilize students in their city. They organized marches, and on April 26th, one of the marches became violent and 47 students were arrested. On May Day, new rallies were held, and again violence broke out. This time 1,024 students were arrested in Santiago and in other cities around the nation. The unrest was spreading. But public opinion was also turning against the students.

Public opinion would begin to change after two prestigious schools took action, simultaneously calling for more long term demands which called for a complete overhaul of the laws around education with the goal of quality education for all Chileans. On May 19th these two schools were occupied by their students. They demanded that the Chilean President would concede to their demands during her traditional May 21st address to the nation. She instead condemned the student movement for provoking violence. By May 26th over 100,000 students and about 100 schools were either on strike or occupied. On May 30th the national student union called for a strike that was supported by the national teachers union and the University student union. The May 30th strike saw an estimated one million people take part. On June 1st, President Michelle Bachelete gave in to the majority of the students demands. On June 7th, she announced a national advisory committee on education that would contain 6 seats reserved for high school students. Shortly afterwards0 the students accepted and called off the occupations and strikes, having won a number of massive changes to national education policy.



In Buenos Aires Today
One year later, on May 25th, in Buenos Aires, students at the two high schools run by the University of Buenos Aires have occupied their schools. The recently chosen principal for the schools, Juan Carlos Viegas, is not someone that the students want as their principal. More important to the students, he is not someone that they have chosen. They are demanding that the principal be chosen by referendum.

After demonstrations of more than half of the student body were ignored repeatedly by the school administration, students held an assembly to consider their direction. They voted for the occupation that has now lasted nearly two weeks. However, classes have continued. The students aren’t refusing to allow the school to function; they are only refusing entrance to the newly chosen principal. Each day they keep watch at the door to stop the principal from entering. The students also have daily assemblies in which they decide the direction they will take with their movement. The students continue to offer dialogue, so long as the new principal doesn’t enter the building. For the most part that offer to dialogue has been refused by an administration that seems to be simultaneously refusing the idea of democratic educational institutions.

Democratizing Education
In the United States, the simple idea of democracy in education is a lesson that we need to learn. With students governments that either don’t exist, or simply exist to plan dances and concerts, we seem to have abandoned the idea of a legitimate student voice in the educational process. To begin organizing students (particularly high school students) to seriously challenge the overtly authoritarian ideals that our school systems uses could help to build a spirit of direct democracy. Students could simultaneously challenge both the school systems that have so miraculously failed them as well as their own lack of power in society at large. Each day I’m reminded of the students’ sense of their own power. I turn on the news and reporters are asking students what will happen at their school today. They respond: “We’ll see what the assembly decides.”

Fate Strike: Worker Assembly Takes Action, Builds Power.

I recently attended my first worker assembly outside the gates of a tire factory called Fate. Fate is just outside of the city of Buenos Aires in the northern industrial zone. Workers there are now engaging in what is becoming an increasingly significant struggle. I had the privilege to attend one of their early and important assemblies. Here is the story so far:

Background:

The struggle at Fate has been going on for months. The factory’s 2,000 employees have been demanding a substantial increase in wages. I say substantial only because their current wages are hideously low. Their central demand is a raise in wages to $2400 pesos per month (about $US 800). The current entry wage is $1100 pesos (less than $US400). Many of them often work 7 days a week for this wage. To put that in perspective, I am currently renting a single room out of a person’s house for $1000 pesos per month. The company initially refused this request, pushing the union to consider further action.

When the union threatened to take action to win their demands, the Ministry of Labor called a 30 day obligatory conciliation period. During this period, neither the union nor the company can take any action against one another. This period is meant as a cool down period where both parties can negotiate. At this point, that negotiation was done between the company, representatives from the factory union SUTNA (Sindicato Unico de Trabajadores Nuematicos de Argentina), and a representative from the union federation CTA. Throughout this period there were a number of large marches on the labor ministry by the workers of Fate. At the end of this process the company had an offer. They were proposing a meager raise in wages that was spread over 6 months. At the same time, workers called a general assembly where they voted to begin a 5 day strike.

During this 5 day strike there were a number of rallies. These took place in the city of Buenos Aires and in the northern industrial zone. The strikes outside of the city are of particular importance, as they are in the heart of Argentina’s manufacturing industry. There are dozens of major factories in the area north of Buenos Aires, and worker actions in those areas are noticed by workers throughout this area of mass production. Many of the workers in the other factories face the same struggles as those at Fate. They also took over the highway in a massive act of disobedience, gaining a great deal of attention in the region. As the 5 day strike ended, the company offered a proposal. They offered the same proposal as before. The next day an assembly was called for at the shift change.

The Assembly:

I woke up early to take a train toward Tigre, a wealthy tourist area along the northern beaches of the Rio de la Plata. I left the train earlier than the packs of tourists that I saw to head away from the beaches, towards the factories and barrios that surround them. I met with a friend that was making short documentaries of the struggle that Fate workers were undertaking. He would later distribute those videos to Fate workers to help excite and unify them in their fight. As we drove into Barrio Fate, it became obvious that the northern industrial district didn’t receive any of the wealth of the neighboring tourist destinations. As we approached the factory, it was clear that workers had a great deal of power here. They had taken over an intersection right outside the factory gates as their meeting space. Burning tires blocked the roads leading to the intersection, and union banners tied between telephone poles created walls. A pack of workers in the center of the intersection were beating drums and singing songs of the struggle. There were maybe 200 hundred employees there; most wearing their blue Fate jackets. More were continually arriving, as they set up the mobile sound truck. Once the assembly started, there were nearly 1,000 workers present.

As the assembly began, there were a number of things to decide. The priority was obviously to decide whether the strike continued, or if they would accept the offer. There were two clear plans introduced. The first was to strike 3 hours of every shift. It would slow, but not stop production. It was also more likely to be accepted by those workers that had not been active in the struggle, and that were not currently attending the assembly. The other offer was to immediately begin a full and indefinite strike. While this tactic is definitely the stronger of the two, there were some questions about whether or not it was something being pushed by a radical minority that would marginalize the rest of the workforce. It quickly seemed as though this was not only the desire of a radical workforce, as the entire crowd seemed to support an immediate and indefinite strike.

It was then necessary to deal with the issue of negotiations. One of the CTA negotiators was known to the rank and file as someone who had recently negotiated the firing of more than 100 workers at another factory. While he is legally required to be there, they didn’t trust him as the sole negotiator. They decided to elect 2 delegates from every shift to take part in the negotiations process as well.

In terms of continuing the strike they needed to consider the actions they would take, and how they would organize. They quickly decided to create two committees to help coordinate their efforts. The first would be a general strike committee and the second a press committee. Spontaneously and very surprising to both me and the friend I was with, they decided to immediately march to the Pan-American Highway and cut it off again!

El Corte:
After doing a couple of quick interviews, we ran to catch up with the march. They marche past a number of other factories, gaining mountains of attention from other workers, then marched into a part of Barrio Fate I hadn’t seen – the bosses’ part. On the opposite side of the factory from the workers community lays the mansions of the bosses. They marched past rows of wildly expensive houses toward the highway. When they arrived at the highways, they began collecting materials to build a few fires. However, they didn’t cut off the entire highway. One lane on either side was left open, and banners were displayed at those positions. It was clear that this wasn’t a tactic meant to stop the highway from running or to simply pressure the bosses. They were cutting off the highway as the shifts were changing at other factories. Hundreds of workers from other factories saw their action, and many were likely inspired by their struggle. They remained there for some three hours before returning to the factory to continue their assembly, with no harassment from the police. When I questioned why the police were not responding with force, it was explained to me that the labor movement here has enough sense of solidarity that to try and force these workers to move would likely cause a national incident, and that the state plans carefully for such confrontations with the labor movement.


After a day spent with these Fate workers, I am amazed by the democratic way the fight is progressing. Decisions are made in assembly, but without pressure from union staff to choose a particular direction. The rank and file themselves decided on a course of action for the strike, and developed their own methods of organizing and leading the strike. They even extended the reach of the rank and file by demanding to be a central part of the negotiation process.


It’s not clear as of now, where this strike is going. Although it is very clear that there will be one serious fight in the heart of Argentine industry. I will continue updating on this struggle as it grows.

For video by Contra Imagen of the assembly and both actions on the highway go to: http://youtube.com/watch?v=d-OrWtGHZaE&mode=related&search=

Check out other documentaries about the social movements of Argentina here (mostly in Spanish):

http://contraimagen.org.ar/
http://agoratv.org/

The Death of Carlos Fuentealba: A Reflection on Solidarity Actions

It has been more than 2 weeks since the death of Carlos Fuentealba. I'm interested in reflecting on the reactions to this event and what it can mean in a larger context for union movements. While this situation is far from resolved, I feel there are some lessons that can be learned from the immediate response.

Those reactions were criticized by many on the left for being too weak and not actively building a larger, more militant worker movement. That may be fair in Argentina, but the reaction was much stronger than I would have expected in the United States. The two major union federations called for limited general strikes. La Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT) called for a 1 hour strike, with the Central de los Trabajadores Argentinos' (CTA) strike being for one day. I believe that these types of limited actions can do a great deal to strengthen a union movement.

There are times, like the killing of school teacher Carlos Fuentealba, when the state or businesses show, in a very powerful way, their hypocrisies -- or even their true intentions. When these events occur, they provoke a popular break from the national myths, allowing communities to truly see where they stand in relation to corporate profit and power. Using this break as a focal point for organizing can help to build popular support for a particular organization or movement. That support can be used not only to bring about national solidarity to win immediate demands, but can also be used to empower the movement and expand its demands.

One piece of empowering a movement is bringing in new support. But actions like a one day strike can help to empower the movement from within. It does so by demonstrating the power that an organization is capable of asserting. It helps to keep the union's methods of mobilization well prepared. Members will become accustomed to coming out for union actions and the union will become accustomed to calling and organizing such actions. With consistent efforts in mobilization a union should gain a better sense of its own power, allowing it to go beyond reacting and begin mobilizing on the offense.

These actions won't only demonstrate power to members of the organization, but also to the movement's targets. Businesses will realize the capacity of union organizing and begin to worry about becoming the active target of the worker movement. This anxiousness can help to bring about easier victories, possibly even preventative victories where organizing isn't happening.

The potential ripple effects of calling a few, relatively simple and well timed actions could build the power and popularity of the union movement by great strides. All we need to do is demonstrate our will to enact the solidarity that we advocate.

Carlos Fuentealba Presente!

Last Thursday, the 5th of April, Carlos Fuentealba was killed by police during a peaceful protest in the province of Neuquén. Fuentealba was a 41 year old school teacher. The teachers union, La Confederación Trabajadores de la Educación de la República Argentina, an affiliate of the Central de los Trabajadores Argentinos (CTERA-CTA), was in the middle of a struggle to improve the wages of hundreds of teachers across the province of Neuquén. As an active part of this struggle, Carlos Fuentealba was in a car taking part in a mobile blockade of Route 22 when police began attacking the blockade. According to the driver, the car was surrounded by approximately 20 police that began to hit the car with their rifles. When the car came to a stop, another officer approached the back of the car and fired a tear-gas canister into the vehicle. He fired from less than 7 meters away and Fuentealba was hit directly in the back of the head with the canister. He fell immediately into a coma from which he would not wake.

The next day, the governor of the province of Neuquén, Jorge Sobisch admitted to ordering the police repression that killed Fuentealba. Calls were immediately made for the resignation of Sobisch and the CTA called a nationwide one-day strike for Monday, April 9th. La Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), the largest union federation in Argentina also called for a one-hour work stoppage. Marches were called for in every major city in the nation.

When Monday arrived, Jorge Sobisch was seen on the news telling people to choose between the rule of law and the constitution or anarchy. As he spoke, tens of thousands of people marched in every major city in the country. In Buenos Aires, every social movement and union sent contingents to the massive demonstration that took over downtown. The offices of the province of Neuquén in Buenos Aires was shut down, and the block on which it was located was closed, filled with police, and surrounded by barricades. At noon, the city came to a standstill when the buses and subways stopped running and schools closed.

April 9th was a day of solidarity with people from all political spectrums coming together to demand an end to the impunity of government officials. But the question of where we go from here still remains. Many are demanding that this be the spark that ignites a broader struggle. There are demands that the CGT call more than a one hour strike, and show a greater deal of solidarity. There are also questions regarding the leadership of Hugo Yasky, the General Secretary of the CTERA and the CTA. Many accuse him of isolating the struggle of the teachers of Neuquén, allowing this attack to happen. At the very least many are demanding that he provide better leadership and offer a strategic plan to broaden the union’s struggle. Dozens of social movements are taking on this fight. The only thing that is clear now is that the strike of April 9th will not be the last we hear of Carlos Fuentealba.

What Is Union Success?

Within the US labor movement there have been a number of debates and conflicts over the last few years. These arguments have hoped to find a way to turn the tide of a dwindling movement. They hoped to shape a “successful” labor movement. To me, these conversations have often left the idea of success lacking a thorough definition. The movement’s success seems to be a matter of membership numbers.

Is a large membership itself successful? The All-China Federation of Trade Unions has an absolutely huge membership. Although most of its members would say that the government union doesn’t actually represent them in any sense. Historically there has been a great deal of unions with large membership that most in the labor movement would not classify as successful unions. These unions have often been corrupt constructions that acted in favor of particular governments of businesses.

Maybe the politics or ideology of the union is the more important element to make a successful union. If the ACFTU wasn’t a tool at the disposal of the state, it wouldn’t be nearly as bad. It’s conceivable that it may even represent its members. There are hundreds of unions in the world that focus much of their attention on forming the “correct” ideology for the worker movement. However, very few of these have enough of a base to be considered anything other than irrelevant.

The conflict between these two tendencies misses, or rather assumes, a point that may seem to obvious to mention. The goal of any union should be the empowerment of its members to take a greater degree of control over their lives. But, empowerment may be an even more difficult concept to measure than success. A balance between the perfect politics and a real focus on building a membership is an important task set before a union that wants to empower its members. There are a few other traits that I believe a union must have to actually empower its members.

· The union must be run democratically. Rank and file members should be the final authority in union decisions. Leadership or even non-elected staff should not be in a position to force a decision upon members.
· Members should be as involved as possible in all areas of union work. Work should be done to ensure that the rank and file is active in organizing, contract negotiation, mobilizing efforts, campaign planning, and any other areas of work the union does. It’s possible that training would be needed to do this. In that case a clear system of leadership development should be established.
· Unions should be willing to represent an entire person rather than only the part of them that goes to a job. In doing this, members should feel that they can use their union as a tool to take on other fights in their lives. Universal health care, education reform, housing reform, immigrant rights, and many other areas become potential targets of the union.
· Of course, a growing membership is essential. Serious organizing drives are critical to all unions. These drives should be well-publicized and well-planned. Most importantly they should be ambitious. Our capacity to organize will grow when we feel it must. New members must be organized and their union membership should have a significant impact on their lives.

Member empowerment becomes both the goal of a union and the tool to further that goal. Helping to create that sense of power should lead to other victories that many in the union movement today are demanding. While I look to different unions in Argentina, these are some of the traits that I am hoping to find. Any union that actively maintains these traits is a union that I hope to learn from.

Why Should Americans Be Concerned About NYPD Spying?

On March 25th, the New York Times published an article about the massive spying operation by the New York Police Department leading up to the Republican National Convention and the protests that were sure to follow. As is becoming increasingly clear, the NYPD infiltrated organizations that had no intent of breaking the law, let alone in a violent manner. Why really should this be cause for concern? Surely, we’ll begin to hear that tired line. “If they didn’t do anything wrong, they have nothing to fear.” Of course, there are people in this world that know better than to trust such a build up of state power.

The day before this article appeared in the Times, hundreds of thousands were gathered in the streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina. They were holding a memorial for the estimated 30,000 people “disappeared” by the military dictatorship that ruled this nation for 7 years. The people in the streets of Buenos Aires were calling for punishment of those that led the killing of unionists, student activists, community leaders, and many that were simply accused of being dissidents. At the front of the march were the mothers of the disappeared, the famed Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, still seeking justice for their children.

Such a situation seems absurd to consider in the United States. Our government doesn’t have the will to violently persecute people based on political or social affiliations. But to say that ignores the US government support for the Argentine military government. It would ignore the Palmer Raids. These raids led to the imprisonment and deportation of over 10,000 labor and social justice leaders in the US. It would ignore McCarthyism. It would ignore COINTELPRO and the assassinations of those in the Black Liberation movement.

When we consider the current state of domestic control and information gathering, do we feel any safer? The PATRIOT Act, Guantánamo, NSA phone tapping, and NYPD spying should worry those in any movement that questions the current political environment. This style of expanding state power needs to be resisted. This is not a road that we can afford to go down. Just ask the Madres in Buenos Aires.