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.