| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-Misc |
| User: |
"Dan Clore" |
| Date: |
30 Jun 2006 05:01:16 PM |
| Object: |
Zanon Workers Still Waiting for Security |
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
Upside Down World
Zanon Workers in Argentina Still Waiting for Security
Written by Peter Elliot
Tuesday, 27 June 2006
In the city center one encounters a range of boutique
clothing stores that would not be out of place in Paris or
New York City. Traveling up the slopes of the monte one
finds architect designed houses of generous proportions, and
a space age shopping mall replete with a large cinema. All
this wealth suggests that the presence of oil in the
province has been kind to some in Neuquén; the neoliberal
era produced a number of winners, while for the majority of
Argentines it produced devastating consequences, increased
poverty and unemployment.
On the outskirts of the town one is confronted by an
entirely different scene. Neuquén is ringed by tomas,
settlements where the poor and unemployed are forced to eke
out an existence, living in huts made from scrap wood,
sheets of cardboard and plastic, many without access to
basic services such as water, electricity and gas. In
addition, their roads are unpaved and many have no
connection to the sewage system. Out of a population of
250,000, around one-fifth of the population lives in the
tomas. Unemployment has forced many of those living in the
settlements to be cartoneros who recycle the garbage as a
means to augment the meager government subsidy of US$50 a month.
Perhaps owing to the presence of such strong signs of social
inequity, Neuquén province was one of the epicenters of the
protests that swept through Argentina in the 1990s. It was
here that the piqueteros first emerged in the town of
Cutral-Co, around one and a half hours from the capital,
successfully holding off the police from the town for a
whole week, while they demanded real work for a town that
had been ravaged by the lay-offs induced by the
privatization of the state-owned petrol company. When the
provincial government failed to adhere to its promises, the
town repeated its action one year later, the ensuing battle
with the police resulting in the death of a young female
bystander, Teresa Rodriguez.
Here too one finds some of Argentina's most militant trade
unionists, many of them affiliated to the Central de los
Trabajadores de Argentina (CTA). Unlike in most of
Argentina, many of the attempted privatizations of state
owned enterprises were defeated by the efforts of these
unions, with the public sector and the teachers unions being
particularly prominent. Also, the teachers of Neuquén were
the only group in Argentina to successfully defeat the
implementation of Menem’s law of education, and, as recently
as last month won a 40% pay rise following a month long strike.
Yet of all the important ways in which workers have engaged
in acts of resistance in Neuquén, none stands out as much as
the successful takeover of the Zanon tile factory and its
subsequent worker-run management. While the workers of Zanon
seemed to be particularly privileged by Argentine standards
in the 1980s, by the early 90s layoffs began which
particularly targeted older workers and women with families.
Management demands over work rhythms resulted in numerous
injuries (by 2000 the figure was 30 per month). More
seriously there were 12 fatalities, an extremely high number
for a business employing around 300 workers.
Following the death of a worker in 2000 the employees went
on strike demanding increased standards of health and safety
including the provision of a nurse to cover all shifts. The
employer resisted and implemented a lock out. The workers
responded by occupying the factory.
The process of developing the factory under worker control
did not take place immediately. At first the main task was
the consolidation of the occupation as a method of
sustaining the strike. In addition, efforts were made to
coordinate resistance to police attempts to dislodge the
workers from the factory by expanding linkages with other
groups and making regular appearances on the local radio.
In response to the increasing level of public support for
the workers, the management engaged in a new strategy
whereby they claimed that the company was financially
bankrupt, and sought relief from the courts to allow them to
sell the factory. However, analysis of the accounts by the
workers showed that this was a mere construction aimed at
breaking the strike, and that the factory remained a viable
enterprise, which was subsequently borne out by later
developments.
In October 2001, the workers officially declared the factory
to be under worker control and began a process of restarting
production, claiming control of the factory on the basis
that management owed a significant amount in unpaid wages.
In spite of divisions between those who felt that the
dispute would be best pursued through legal avenues, and
those who sought to move outright to self management by the
workers, these issues were worked through by the use of
worker assemblies, which gradually developed into far
reaching debates about the future direction of the
enterprise. By March 2002, the factory fully returned to
production and was able to reestablish itself in the market
place.
In April 2003, the courts ordered the police to forcibly
take the factory out of the hands of the workers. In
response the workers developed a broad based campaign,
working in tandem with the workers of the ADOS cooperative
which ran a local hospital and local piquetero groups. The
CTA threatened a strike, and the students of the University
of Comahue formed an association to give support to the
workers of Zanon. As the police began to move in over 3000
citizens of Neuquén formed a picket in front of the factory
to resist any attempt at forced entry.
During the period of worker control, the achievements have
been remarkable. The number of employees has increased from
300 to 470, and wages have risen by 100 pesos a month, and
the level of production has increased. Just as importantly
accidents have fallen by 90%.
The workers of Zanon are currently demanding that the
provincial and national governments officially recognize the
factory as a workers cooperative under state ownership. This
is being resisted by the MPN leadership of the provincial
government, led by Jorge Sobisch, one of the potential
right-wing candidates in the forthcoming Argentine
presidential elections, and Kirchner´s government has shown
little interest in the resolution of the issue. However, the
proposal has widespread public support in Neuquén, with a
petition achieving 9,000 signatures in support of the
workers proposal, and the issue is due to be debated in the
near future within the provincial congress.
Further information on the Zanon factory can be found at the
web site
http://www.obrerosdezanon.org
--
Dan Clore
Now available: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://amazon.com/o/ASIN/1587154838/ref=nosim/thedanclorenecro
Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://www.geocities.com/clorebeast/
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
"It's a political statement -- or, rather, an
*anti*-political statement. The symbol for *anarchy*!"
-- Batman, explaining the circle-A graffiti, in
_Detective Comics_ #608
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