Anyone arriving in Argentina with an interest in the workers movements here will be pointed in the direction of Zanon, if the story about Zanon wasn't already the reason they came to Argentina. The ceramics factory of nearly 500 workers in the western province of Neuquen is one of the shining stars of the factory expropriation movement that swept Argentina in recent years.
A couple friends and I arrived at the factory with barely any advance warning. But, the workers were incredibly open and eager for visitors. We were sent to the press office where we met some of the administrative people. They brought us to a room within the factory that had 4 beds and tile walls covered in posters of their rallies and events. The room was set aside for visitors, and rarely empty. We then spent the next three days at the factory talking to, and eating with, the workers there.
Being from Buffalo, NY I'm not unaccustomed to being around factories. It took me some time to think of what was so different about this factory than those I had wandered in Buffalo. Wait. This factory is moving! As the workers took us through the factory they explained the production process of the tiles. While we walked, I couldn't help but compare to the empty factories of Buffalo -- symbols of decline, joblessness, poverty, and defeat. This factory was moving. This factory was producing.
We were told though that tiles aren't the only think being produced in this factory. They are also maintaining the image and possibility of worker self-management. This is why they produce under the new name FaSinPat (Fabrica Sin Patron or Factory without a Boss). As we went, I became generally interested in the process of tile production and I felt proud to see the cases of tile stacked outside. For even an outsider, the work began to have that sense of pride that capitalist bosses so often demand. But this wasn't pride for making a profit for someone we didn't know. This was a pride of seeing obvious proof that the working class is perfectly capable of running it all ourselves. A pride of knowing that our freedom was possible and that our chains were unnecessary.
How Did They Get Here?
Less than 10 years ago, Zanon was like any other exploitative business. Wages were low, workers had no say in their work lives, production was pushed beyond its maximum -- causing frequent injuries. There was a business friendly union that would inform the company of worker complaints so that those workers could be fired.
There was also the beginning of a radical presence. Social insertion, primarily through the Socialist Workers Party (PTS) had brought socialist ideas to the factory. This early process of radicalizing a small pocket within the factory was essential, but took a long time. However, once there was a militant and class-conscious core, they immediately set to taking back the union from the bureaucrats.
With delegates from Zanon and 3 other ceramics factories in the same area, they voted in a new, combative union leadership. Everyone regarded this as an important first step in their self-organizing. The taking of the union saw a rapid growth in class-consciousness among the workers. They began inddependently organizing a number of internal commissions (solidarity, women's, press, etc.) and having worker assemblies. This experience of self-organization would be incredibly useful in their expropriating of the factory.
In the months before the Argentine economic crisis, a union conflict was intensifying and calling for renewed investment in the factory -- as the management hadn't fixed broken equipment in years, despite consistent state subsidies. They also demanded back wages (some had gone months without pay) and increased safety measures after the death of one worker.
La Toma
This labor conflict quickly turned into a lockout as the boss fought back against the union, hoping to hire a more complacent work force. With the economic collapse in December 2001, management saw their opportunity to announce the temporary closure of the factory. Unfortunately for them the workers also saw this as their opportunity to take the factory. An assembly was called and workers decided to sell the inventory. They then used half of the profits to pay themselves a portion of back wages owed and used the other half to buy raw materials. With the deceivingly simple decision worker self-management began.
Self-Management
Today the factory runs democratically. Once a month one shift is dedicated to an all-factory assembly where important decisions are made by a vote of all members. The factory is divided into 12 sections (production, planning, sales, press, etc.). that each elect a delegate. Each day these 12 delegates meet to decide how to proceed with the necessary tasks of the day. Delegates rotate frequently and every few years administrators are chosen again, with the old administrators returning to the production line.
Has this model of self-management been successful for them? When they took the factory, there were 266 workers involved. Today despite the fact that the government has given them zero subsidies, there are around 470 workers -- many hired from the area unemployed workers movement.
Not only has FaSinPat become a stable source of work during a chaotic economic period, they have used their position to organize in defense of worker self-management throughout the country and in solidarity with a number of other movements. They buy their raw materials from the indigenous Mapuche whose land the previous owners were trying to steal. When the provincial government ignored years of community demands for a hospital, FaSinPat helped to build it in three months. Their workers can be speaking at conferences, at rallies in support of other struggles, or at meetings helping organize further actions. With any luck, we will begin to see more successes in this style of workplace struggle and organization.
A couple friends and I arrived at the factory with barely any advance warning. But, the workers were incredibly open and eager for visitors. We were sent to the press office where we met some of the administrative people. They brought us to a room within the factory that had 4 beds and tile walls covered in posters of their rallies and events. The room was set aside for visitors, and rarely empty. We then spent the next three days at the factory talking to, and eating with, the workers there.
Being from Buffalo, NY I'm not unaccustomed to being around factories. It took me some time to think of what was so different about this factory than those I had wandered in Buffalo. Wait. This factory is moving! As the workers took us through the factory they explained the production process of the tiles. While we walked, I couldn't help but compare to the empty factories of Buffalo -- symbols of decline, joblessness, poverty, and defeat. This factory was moving. This factory was producing.
We were told though that tiles aren't the only think being produced in this factory. They are also maintaining the image and possibility of worker self-management. This is why they produce under the new name FaSinPat (Fabrica Sin Patron or Factory without a Boss). As we went, I became generally interested in the process of tile production and I felt proud to see the cases of tile stacked outside. For even an outsider, the work began to have that sense of pride that capitalist bosses so often demand. But this wasn't pride for making a profit for someone we didn't know. This was a pride of seeing obvious proof that the working class is perfectly capable of running it all ourselves. A pride of knowing that our freedom was possible and that our chains were unnecessary.
How Did They Get Here?
Less than 10 years ago, Zanon was like any other exploitative business. Wages were low, workers had no say in their work lives, production was pushed beyond its maximum -- causing frequent injuries. There was a business friendly union that would inform the company of worker complaints so that those workers could be fired.
There was also the beginning of a radical presence. Social insertion, primarily through the Socialist Workers Party (PTS) had brought socialist ideas to the factory. This early process of radicalizing a small pocket within the factory was essential, but took a long time. However, once there was a militant and class-conscious core, they immediately set to taking back the union from the bureaucrats.
With delegates from Zanon and 3 other ceramics factories in the same area, they voted in a new, combative union leadership. Everyone regarded this as an important first step in their self-organizing. The taking of the union saw a rapid growth in class-consciousness among the workers. They began inddependently organizing a number of internal commissions (solidarity, women's, press, etc.) and having worker assemblies. This experience of self-organization would be incredibly useful in their expropriating of the factory.
In the months before the Argentine economic crisis, a union conflict was intensifying and calling for renewed investment in the factory -- as the management hadn't fixed broken equipment in years, despite consistent state subsidies. They also demanded back wages (some had gone months without pay) and increased safety measures after the death of one worker.
La Toma
This labor conflict quickly turned into a lockout as the boss fought back against the union, hoping to hire a more complacent work force. With the economic collapse in December 2001, management saw their opportunity to announce the temporary closure of the factory. Unfortunately for them the workers also saw this as their opportunity to take the factory. An assembly was called and workers decided to sell the inventory. They then used half of the profits to pay themselves a portion of back wages owed and used the other half to buy raw materials. With the deceivingly simple decision worker self-management began.
Self-Management
Today the factory runs democratically. Once a month one shift is dedicated to an all-factory assembly where important decisions are made by a vote of all members. The factory is divided into 12 sections (production, planning, sales, press, etc.). that each elect a delegate. Each day these 12 delegates meet to decide how to proceed with the necessary tasks of the day. Delegates rotate frequently and every few years administrators are chosen again, with the old administrators returning to the production line.
Has this model of self-management been successful for them? When they took the factory, there were 266 workers involved. Today despite the fact that the government has given them zero subsidies, there are around 470 workers -- many hired from the area unemployed workers movement.
Not only has FaSinPat become a stable source of work during a chaotic economic period, they have used their position to organize in defense of worker self-management throughout the country and in solidarity with a number of other movements. They buy their raw materials from the indigenous Mapuche whose land the previous owners were trying to steal. When the provincial government ignored years of community demands for a hospital, FaSinPat helped to build it in three months. Their workers can be speaking at conferences, at rallies in support of other struggles, or at meetings helping organize further actions. With any luck, we will begin to see more successes in this style of workplace struggle and organization.
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