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.