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/