Argentina's President Loses Power in Mid-Term Elections

What's next for Argentina?

Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner faced a major test in the recent mid-term election in which she lost considerable power and her party's congressional majority vanished. The June 28 mid-term election could be better described as a referendum on Fernandez. As the first woman president elect her party fed the fire, turning the elections into a poll on the President's popularity. More than 70 percent of voters voted for opposition parties, according to official election results - indicator that Fernandez's popularity and support for her Peronist leaning party, Frente Para la Victoria (FPV) may be waning among the 19 million voters who went to the polls.

The Kirchner's have dominated the Argentine political scene since Nestor Kirchner, her husband, was elected in 2003 and credited for the nation's rapid recovery from the 2001 financial crisis which devastated the economy. Opting out of re-election in 2007, his wife Fernandez de Kirchner ran and took office with an 80 percent approval rating. However, the good times for Latin America's "power couple" who have also been described as the Kirchner dynasty were short lived as the economic crisis hindered hopes for continued 2003-2007 economic growth.

President Fernandez de Kirchner called for early elections originally scheduled for October so that her administration and legislative bodies "can focus on how to tackle the economic crisis." But many analysts claim that the government pushed elections up early so that Fernandez could avoid blame on how her government has handled the economic crisis which is beginning to take hold of South America's second largest economy.

The fall was hard for the Kirchner's. Nestor Kirchner lost the high profile political race in Buenos Aires province, the province with the most voters, by a small margin. He was defeated by Francisco de Narvárez, a wealthy heir from the conservative-right coalition Union PRO. Narváez, an unlikely candidate, Columbian-born with a tattoo on his neck and son of a supermarket giant, reveled in his victory as the working-class suburbs of Buenos Aires had long been Kirchner's electoral home turf. The very next day Fernandez abruptly resigned as leader of the Peronist party. Despite the loss, President Fernandez de Kirchner played down the election results citing that it was a close race and diversity in the legislature will help the democratic process.

What caused this fall from grace? And what's next for Argentina?

The center-right candidates from the Union PRO won the most ground in both the nation's autonomous capital district and in the Buenos Aires province. The candidate of the PRO party, Gabriela Michetti, won the congressional elections in Buenos Aires City with 31.08 percent of the votes. Both PRO candidates Michetti and Narváez marketed themselves for voters who "don't like the Kirchners." They called for a regression to policies implemented in the 90's favoring markets, foreign investors, and the privatization of public services, while tackling crime with a hard hand.

However, there are other indicators that voters would like the President to turn more to the left, rather than remain in the center. Fernando "Pino" Solanas, candidate for the leftist leaning Proyecto de Sur coalition and the director of the classic political film The Hour of the Furnaces, came in second winning 24.5 percent of votes in the capital. His campaign focused on the renationalization of natural resources like the nation's mining and oil industries.

Fernandez adopted many policies, which the nation's consolidated press described as unpopular and probably were for the business community which has benefited from decades of government subsidies, but received approval from unions, social movements, and regional partners such as Venezuela and other members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), a regional leftist trade bloc. She nationalized pension funds almost bankrupted by private companies that acquired retirees' pensions in the 1990's. The President also supported the legislative move to renationalize the country's largest airline. The formerly state-owned Aerolinas Argentina was privatized in 1990, but the government said that mismanagement put the carrier into 900 million dollars in debt. These measures, described as erratic and combative, were a move away from the 2001 neoliberal policies, adopted under former neo-conservative Peronist President Carlos Menem (1989-1999), which caused the country to go broke.

The economy, which saw economic growth under her husband topping 8 percent from 2003-2007, has now slowed down to a reported 2 percent, likely an inflated figure. For example, leading up to the elections, the national statistic institute (INDEC) was accused of inflating numbers to show that the country's economy is on track. Independent analysts say that the inflation rate, published at 9.6 percent, is much higher than official statistics. Unemployment figures are relatively low, officially reported at 8 percent. Economists estimate that more than 50,000 people have lost their jobs since the onset of the current economic crisis.

In a positive step, the President has finally spoken in defense of workers who occupy their workplaces in order to keep their jobs. The national government would like to modify the nation's bankruptcy laws, which currently favor creditors and bankrupt businesses rather than workers, to make it easier for workers to start up cooperatives.

Union groupings held numerous protests and even a national strike calling on Fernandez to implement protection measures for job security and wealth redistribution as recession slowly unfolds in the nation's industry. Consumer associations are also demanding price controls on food and consumer products. But following the June 28 election, business community announced price increases. Fernandez has reluctantly imposed price controls, essential with rising inflation so that the majority of the population can access basic goods like milk, meat and bread. In addition to inflation, basic goods have become more expensive since enormous monoculture soy plantations now dominate the countryside.

Argentina's soy farmers tried their hardest to influence the mid-term elections, but failed to win much political ground. Agrarian associations representing the country's soy farmers proved to be the president's biggest challenge since taking office. In 2008 and into 2009, farmers held several paralyzing strikes over the government's decision to increase an export tax on soy, a policy carried over from Nestor Kirchner, who upped the tax to 35% as an emergency measure to revive the economy after the crisis. Many of the provinces where the opposition won votes are precisely the bread-basket producing provinces, where the production of genetically modified soy has invaded more than 42 million acres of fertile land. It's unlikely that the government will reverse its support of the soy tax, as revenue from soy exports topped nearly 16 billion dollars in 2008 alone, crucial income for the government's treasury reserves. One agro-leader and hopeful governor candidate, Alfredo De Angeli received heavy criticisms after he said that in order to defeat the Kirchner's land owners should "find the farmhands on the estates, put them on a truck and tell them who they should vote for." A number of agro-leaders ran for congress hoping to win 17 percent of seats but fell short only winning a Senate seat and lower house seats.

A health crisis is looming due to the spread of the deadly H1N1 "swine flu" virus. As voters went to the polls, many voted wearing surgical masks and registry personnel were instructed not to shake voter's hands. More than 26 have died from the deadly epidemic and more than 1,500 have been infected with the virus. The Southern Hemisphere's winter temperatures are accelerating the spread of the virus. Yet the government has delayed declaration of a health emergency, resulting in the Health Minister Graciel Ocaña's resignation the day after the June 28 elections. It may have been prudent to hold off an election to deal with the deadly epidemic. Like many of the nation's structural problems such as the economy and growing crime the government opted to ignore the dilemma rather than dealing with it. The epidemic may spiral into a real crisis for the already stumbling economy.

What's next? President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and the new legislative representatives taking their posts this December are going to face many challenges as the economy takes an inevitable severe downturn. How they come out of the crisis is part of the game of politics. One of the first challenges for the President post-elections will be to take a strong stance in her foreign policy favoring regional integration and cooperation among progressive governments. Indeed, she is traveling with the OAS commission to escort illegally and forcibly exiled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya back to his country. Fernandez will also have to decide whether to reverse her anti-IMF discourse to gain loans to help meet the nearly 20 billion dollars in debt payments due by the end of 2010. At this point, the President can continue to push forward an alternative agenda or go back to the neoliberal model, but this election, as well as the regional trend in governing, suggests that Argentina and the region are ready for the alternative.

Marie Trigona is an independent journalist and radio producer based in Buenos Aires. www.mujereslibres.blogspot.com

Monsanto soy chemicals could pose health risk

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New research released by Argentina’s top medical school has found that a chemical used in soy farming could be harmful to human health. The study has alarmed policy makers in the South American nation which is one of the world’s largest producers of soy beans. FSRN’s Marie Trigona reports from Buenos Aires.

Argentina's Community Media Fights for Access and Legal Reform

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In response to misinformation and lack of access in the mass media, citizens have created alternative media networks that play a fundamental role in today's Latin America. Together, these community television stations are transforming the media landscape throughout the Americas. This redefined space for independent media has three vital functions: disseminating alternative information; providing a space for popular voice and especially the voice of groups underrepresented in the media; and building community. In Argentina, citizen media groups simultaneously fight for autonomous spaces and for reforms in media laws that will allow them to operate legally.

In Argentina, media concentration dates back to when the 1976-1983 military dictatorship censored most of the press and implemented harsh laws to prevent opposition from being publicly expressed. Media legislation from Argentina's dictatorship is still intact today.

But over the past decades groups have emerged that produce alternative and independent media for television, radio, and video to counter mass media's misinformation. They face legal challenges and a lack of resources, yet the independent media movement continues to grow.

A History of Fighting for Access

Argentina's radio broadcasting law (Ley de Radiodifusión 22.285) dates back to 1980, when the military dictatorship was still in power. Dictator Jorge Rafael Videla sanctioned the law, which guaranteed private media holders large profits, promised support for the dictatorship from media outlets, and silenced journalists from reporting on the systematic genocide taking place in the nation. Commando groups killed more than 100 journalists during the military dictatorship.

Lack of Media Diversity

Corporate concentration of the media has practically eliminated diversity in media and especially TV programming. There's little difference between what is shown on each of the stations. News programs spend more time reporting on petty robberies than actual news events happening throughout the country. A new trend in Argentine television is the rise of shows like "Dancing with the Stars" and "Big Brother," which have been adapted for a South American audience, and have won record ratings among the nearly 30 million Argentine viewers. Even government representatives from the Federal Broadcasting Committee, Argentina's broadcast media regulator, admit that TV programming is filled with junk.

In a recent interview, Claudio De Cousandier, director of the Federal Broadcasting Committee, said that deregulation and media consolidation can be blamed for the current state of TV in Argentina. "Due to further deregulation, media groups can hold newspapers, television broadcast channels, and cable TV stations—leading us to media concentration and even a monopoly. In the past two years the Federal Broadcasting Committee has faced pressure to open negotiations for more access for broadcast licenses for low-broadcast signal stations, but a lot of interests and money is involved."

Citizens Demand New Legislation

For years, community media groups and human rights organizations have fought for new media legislation. Starting in 2008, more than 300 social organizations, union groupings, human rights groups, small business, and some community media organizations formed an official advisory committee to debate a new media law. After nearly 30 years of dictatorship legislation, the law may undergo a reform to include community media and improve access and diversity in TV and radio.

The Coalition for Democratic Broadcast Regulation, made up of hundreds of organizations, led a letter campaign, presenting a formal letter to President Cristina Kirchner providing guidelines for a new bill proposal. The Coalition played an important role in developing the 21 point legislation that has been adopted by the president.

Community groups' efforts have begun to pay off. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner presented a bill to change the current dictatorship law on March 18, 2009. Many journalists, actors, and media figures have supported the president's imitative, called the Audiovisual Communication Service law (SCA, by its Spanish initials). The law states: "Airwaves belong to the community, they are the patrimony of humanity ... they should be administered by the State with democratic criteria."

The SCA law calls for several fundamental changes to media legislation. The most important aspect of the law is the following: The law would reserve 33% of airwaves for non-profit groups. This would ensure that community associations, non-profits, and universities have guaranteed access to broadcast licenses.

Building Alternatives

Media activists in Latin America have dispelled the myth that you can create media only with state-of-the-art equipment and corporate financing. Community television and radio have been around for decades. Argentina had a 24-hour pirate television station called Utopia that aired in the 90s. Brazil is home to Radio Favela, broadcasting radio in the nation's Favela's (marginalized shanty towns) since the late 80s. Many documentary producers in the Southern Cone utilized film and even intercepted TV signals to resist repressive dictatorships during the 70s.

Despite the dictatorship-era law, grassroots groups are fighting to build experiences of community television. The idea is to establish legitimacy and use it as a base to fight for legal recognition. The logic of community television organizers is quite similar to the logic of Argentina's recuperated enterprises. When left with no other option, workers decided to take over factories and take charge of production themselves. Only later, when they had the support of the community and proved that they could run a factory did they demand legality.

Charlie abandoned his chocolate factory: Arrufat Chocolate without a boss

Znet
We all know the childhood tale of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory best emulated in the psychedelic inspired 1971 film. Charlie a poor, well intentioned boy wins the Willy Wonka chocolate factory in a stroke of good fortune - every child's fantasy and utopia. But would what happen if Charlie grew older and greedy against the advice of Willy Wonka? If he ran the chocolate factory into ruins, throwing out the workers and closing up shop? And what if the oompa loompas would take over the plant to demand their unpaid salaries and severance pay? What if they would decide to start up production without Charlie, collectively running the plant and relating to other worker occupied factories? Well, this alternate version of the childhood story is becoming a reality for workers in Argentina.

In Argentina, Charlie did abandon his factory. But in this case, Charlie is Diana Arrufat, heiress to the Arrufat chocolate factory in Buenos Aires. She closed the factory's doors on January 5, 2009. The workers, who are not the imagined oompa loompa refugees in the film, but real workers decided to occupy the plant. And now the workers are producing deliciously sweet delicacies without the supervision and exploitative practices of Charlie.

Factory closure

On January 5, the workers got the news that they were fired. Diana Arrufat left a poster on the gate of the factory to inform the workers they no longer had jobs. The 50 workers still employed hadn't been paid their salaries for much of 2008. "They fired us without having to look at our faces. They abandoned us," says Alberto Cavrico a worker who has worked at the plant for more than 20 years. That they same day they to open the factory gate and remain inside the factory.

Within hours owner went to the police accusing the workers for "usurpation" and trespassing of the plant. Meanwhile, she has been unwilling to meet with the workers and labor ministry to discuss how to normalize the situation.

Arrufat, founded in 1931 had been a national leader in chocolate. The family run business was finally inherited by the original owner's granddaughter, Diana Arrufat in the late 90's. Since she took over the company, the factory took a turn for the worse. Workers describe how the owner would cut corners sacrificing product quality - using hydrogenated oil instead of cocoa butter and imitation cocoa instead of the real beans imported from Ecuador or Brazil. In its heyday, when the company produced high quality chocolate, it employed more than 300 workers. By 2008, the chocolate manufacturer only had 66 employees.

Throughout 2008, the owner was not paying workers their full salary, with the promise that they would be paid at a later date. The workers sent a report to the labor ministry in May 2008 that the owner owed them nearly 6 months in back salaries, was emptying out the plant and hadn't paid the workers' retirement funds for 10 years. By the end of 2008, on Christmas Day the owners gave the workers 50 pesos (less than 20 dollars) and then five days before firing them paid them 50 pesos again on New Year's.

Many of the workers had heard about factory occupations but never thought that they would face a factory closure. "I never thought that I'd have to sleep inside the factory on top of a machine to defend my job post," says Marta Laurino, a stead fast woman with over 30 years working at the plant. Concluding that the owners weren't coming back, at least to open up shop again - the workers decided in an assembly to continue to occupy the plant and form a cooperative.

Chocolate without a boss

Just 30 days after occupying the plant, the workers of Arrufat had already formed a cooperative and sought out the advice from other occupied factories operating since the 2001 financial crisis. They have successfully begun producing, although sporadically because the electricity in the plant has been turned off since Diana Arrufat ran up a $15,000 dollar debt with the privatized electric company Edesur. And the electric company won't turn the lights back on until the debt is paid.

Meanwhile, the workers have invented alternatives in order to produce. For Easter, the cooperative produced more than 10,000 chocolate Easter eggs. They got a loan of $5,000 dollars from the NGO La Base that provides low interest loans to occupied factories and worker cooperatives. They used this money to rent an industrial generator and buy raw materials - cocoa beans, cocoa butter, liquor and sugar needed to make high-quality chocolate. They decided to re-open the store front on the side of the factory. The day that they started producing the government health inspector came to the plant, the same inspector's office which hadn't visited the factory in probably 20 years according to the workers. The police also came because the workers opened the store front.

All of the eggs were sold out of the factory's store front before the end of the Easter season. The workers were able to pay back the loan within a week, sell the entire stock of Easter eggs and each take home around $1,000, no small feat after not getting a full salary for more than a year. With the remaining capital, rented a generator and bought more raw materials.

During much of the occupation before getting the loan and afterward, the workers were producing small quantities of chocolate by hand, unable to use the machinery because the electricity was shut off. A neighbor, a niece of Diana Arrufat, let the workers connect an electric line that way they would at least have lights and a refrigerator in the factory. And in a small space, with a domestic freezer, the workers began producing small batches of bonbons, chocolate bars and chocolate covered delicacies.

Production has helped the workers transform their subjectivity, seeing that they have more power to fight against the owner, judges, private companies and police constantly throwing monkey wrenches at their dreams. "The worker occupied factories insisted that we get back to work giving us the advice that we won't gain anything by sitting around. They're right producing without a boss does change your outlook and ability to believe in yourself," said Marta Laurino.

Now the cooperative hopes that they can gain enough momentum in the market to continue production with regularity. But they are fighting an eviction notice, criminal charges and bureaucratic offices preventing them from accessing a tax number for their cooperative, which they consequentially need to get an account with the electric company. Looking at the business model other worker recuperated enterprises have established, the workers at Arrufat make all their decisions collectively in a weekly assembly. All workers are paid the same wage. And they want to continue to reinvent social relations inside the plant.

New wave of occupations

Arrufat isn't the only factory that has been occupied since the global recession crept up. Since late 2008 there have been several new factory takeovers in Argentina. For example, the owners of Indugraf printing press shut down operations in a similar manner to Arrufat in November 2008. The printing house workers in Buenos Aires occupied their plant on December 5, the same week that workers in Chicago decided to occupy the Republic and Windows Doors Plant - to demand severance pay and benefits after being abruptly fired. Currently, they are fighting to form a cooperative and start up production without a boss. Other occupations include Disco de Oro, a plant producing the pastry dough to make empanadas, a meat filled pastry common in Argentina. Febatex, a textile plant producing thread and Lidercar, a meat packing plant are two more examples of recent worker occupations. These workers have had to collectively fight violent eviction threats and are still struggling to start up production as worker cooperatives.

Many workers from the newly occupied factories say that their bosses saw the crisis as the perfect opportunity to clear their debts by closing up shop, fraudulently liquidate assets, fire workers and later re-start production under a new firm. This was the case in Arrufat, and seems to be a global trend with many companies hoping for a bailout plan to re-open shop.

All of these newly formed cooperatives have said that they were influenced and inspired by the previous experiences of worker self-management in the nation. "The other worker occupied factories bring us hope that we can win this fight," says Mirta Solis, a long time chocolatier. Essentially, the worker run BAUEN Hotel in downtown Buenos Aires, has become the landing place or you could say launch pad for many of these factory takeovers. Workers, who decided to take over their plant, come to the BAUEN Hotel occupied since 2003 to get legal advice and political support.

FACTA or the Federation of Worker Self-managed Cooperatives has played an important role in supporting the cooperatives. FACTA, founded in 2007, is made up of more than 70 worker self-managed coops, many worker occupied others worker owned inspired by the recuperated enterprise phenomenon. FACTA's objective is to group cooperatives together so they can collectively negotiate institutional, political, legal and market challenges together; the idea being that 70 cooperative united can better negotiate with state representatives, institutional offices and other businesses. FACTA also brings identity. For Adrian Cerrano, from Arrufat FACTA's work has helped the new occupied factories to organize legally and as cooperatives. "We were occupying not knowing what to do and workers from the BAUEN, which forms part of FACTA and provided a lot of support. We decided to ask FACTA's lawyer to represent us legally."

Utopia tale

Arrufat is not yet a utopia, but at least workers are fulfilling the dream of fighting for their rights. "I worked at this factory for 25 years. I lost part of my body inside this factory because I lost my hand while working in this plant. This is what makes me make the sacrifices and work towards forming the cooperative and produce." They are setting an example for workers all around the world that through direct action and occupations they can prevent companies from using the crisis as an excuse to further exploit workers and make unnecessary cut-backs in hopes of getting a bailout plan. The government should support these experiences of worker-self-management, provide them with the same benefits and subsidies that capitalist business receive.

And if Charlie, or any other boss, wants to leave his or her factory, let them! But the workers have the right to continue their work with dignity. "Maybe one day our story will be included in a chapter on the working class history that a group of workers occupy a plant and begin producing," said Adrian after lamenting the loss of his hand in the factory under capitalist supervision. And the occupied factories in Argentina are doing just that; writing a new chapter in working class history sending the message that workers can do what capitalists aren't interested in doing creating jobs and dignity for workers.

Marie Trigona is a writer, radio producer and filmmaker based in Argentina. She is currently writing a book on Worker Self-Management in Latin America forthcoming by AK Press. She can be reached at mtrigona@msn.com

Argentine Factory in the Hands of the Workers: FASINPAT a Step Closer to Permanent Worker Control

Written by Marie Trigona

Wednesday, 27 May 2009 Upsidedownworld.org

Photo Courtesy of Prensa Obreros Zanon While many workers around the world are worried about downsizing, lay-offs and how to protect their jobs, workers in Argentina have come up with their own solution to business closures – Occupy, Resist and Produce. Many factories, like the Zanon Ceramics plant, have been running without bosses for almost a decade. In response to a financial crisis in 2001 that wrecked Argentina's economy, workers decided to occupy their workplaces and start up production without bosses in order to safe-guard their jobs. Zanon Ceramics, now known as FASINPAT (Factory without a boss), has re-defined the basis of production: without workers, bosses are unable to run businesses; without bosses, workers can do it better. As the largest recuperated factory in Argentina, and occupied since 2001, the Zanon ceramics plant in the Patagonian province of Neuquén now employs 470 workers. This month, the FASINPAT collective is a step closer in winning permanent control of the factory. The provincial government presented a bill in the provincial legislature for the expropriation of the factory. If this bill is passed, and it looks favorable, it would mean a solution to the workers’ long standing legal woes. Since the plant began production under worker control in 2002, they have faced numerous eviction threats and other violent attacks. The government has tried to evict them five times using police operatives. On April 8, 2003, during the most recent eviction attempt, over 5,000 community members from Neuquén came out to defend the factory. In a press release, the worker collective said that the legislature received the bill was a positive step. “The historic progress we made today was the result of a hard fight. The collective struggle and mobilization of Worker Self-management, along with the workers in this country, community support and international recognition has made this possible.” In 2001, Zanon’s owners decided to close their doors and fire the workers without paying months of back pay or indemnity. Leading up to the massive layoffs and the plant’s closure, workers went on strike in 2000. The owner, Luis Zanon with over 75 million dollars in debt to public and private creditors, fired en masse most of the workers and closed the factory in 2001—a bosses’ lockout. In October 2001, workers declared the plant under worker control. The workers camped outside the factory for four months, pamphleting and partially blocking a highway leading to the capital city Neuquén. While the workers were camping outside the factory, a court ruled that the employees could sell off remaining stock. After the stock ran out, on March 2, 2002, the workers’ assembly voted to start up production without a boss. For more than eight years, FASINPAT has created jobs, supported community projects and shown the world that we don’t need bosses. Luis Zanon´s debts of over $70 million are still outstanding, while many of the creditors want their money back, pushing for the eviction and foreclosure of the ceramics plant. The current bill presented in the legislature would mean that the state would pay off 22 million pesos (around $7 million) to the creditors. One of the main creditors is the World Bank – which gave a loan of 20 million dollars to Luis Zanon for the construction of the plant, which he never paid back. The other major creditor is the Italian company SACMY that produces state of the art ceramics manufacturing machinery and is owed over $5 million. Omar Villablanca, a worker at Zanon said that the workers are most concerned about providing job continuity – safeguarding the 470 jobs that the factory without a boss have created and maintained since 2001. He stressed that FASINPAT needs a formal long-term legal solution in order to survive as a competitive business in a faltering economy. “The state needs to make laws so that workers can work. In eight years we haven’t asked the state for anything other than an expropriation law,” said Jose Luis Paris, another worker from FASINPAT. Economic Crisis Grips Argentina Argentina is in a better position than other Latin American nations in the face of the deepening global crisis. From 2003 to 2007, Argentina enjoyed a high economic growth rate, between 8 and 9 percent. However, with the global economy in recession the nation’s growth has come to a halt, and it is expected that Argentina will see a drastic drop Gross Domestic Product in 2010. Many independent analysts expect that the global recession will affect Argentina's real economy, that's to say industry and employment rates will suffer from the crisis, rather than the financial sector which already took a major blow in 2001. Those who benefited from Argentina’s economic recovery of course are now those who are using this crisis as an excuse to downsize and lay-off workers. The current government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has bolstered that unemployment has gone done from the staggering numbers post-2001 crisis. Many of those jobs are subcontracted and underpaid. Official unemployment statistics, which have been under fire for being conveniently inaccurate, report unemployment at 8 percent. However, many independent analysts say that the actual rate is much higher. Eduardo Lucita, economist from Economists of the Left said that analysts don’t have exact numbers because many of the firings are of workers without formal contracts and can’t be tracked. “Argentina has already had a crisis in the financial sector in 2001. The current crisis is directly affecting Argentina’s real economy. Since October, there are more than 50,000 people who are now unemployed. There have been mass firings, lay-offs and pay cuts.” Workers Paying for the Crisis In the failing economy, the jobs at FASINPAT are more important than ever. But the government seems to have all but forgotten that the recuperated enterprises and worker cooperatives provide nearly 20,000 jobs for Argentina, while the government has failed to provide a long-term legal solution to the workers without bosses or subsidies that standard businesses regularly have access to. Another factor in the struggle at FASINPAT is the lack of subsidies for the cooperative. Sales have dropped by 40-50 percent since 2008 due to a radical slow-down in the construction industry nationally. “Because of the drop in construction, we aren’t producing as much,” says Paris. In 2006, the plant produced 400,000 square meters of ceramics per month, today that number has gone down to 150,000 square meters per month. The cooperative has had to shut off some of the ovens and shorten production shifts. On top of this drop; the workers controlling the factory have had to face sky-rocketing energy prices. The workers pay over 300,000 dollars a month for electricity and gas. And for Paris, the workers should not have to pay more than other businesses do: “Many industry leaders get government energy subsidies up to 70 percent. We want to buy directly from the gas companies to lower our costs or receive subsidies that we are entitled to.” Many of the 200 worker controlled businesses and factories in Argentina are being affected by the crisis. But unlike their capitalist counterparts, the worker cooperatives are taking any measure possible to avoid laying off workers, something which they are opposed to doing. “We aren’t like the capitalists. You can’t throw workers out like they are lice,” said Candido Gonzalez, a veteran worker from Chilavert worker occupied print factory in Buenos Aires, one of the first occupied plants after the 2001 crisis. During the Argentina's financial crisis in 2001, he occupied his workplace and fought until he and his fellow workers won legal recognition. Now that business is slowing down, many assemblies at the worker occupied factories would rather accept collective pay cuts, than their fellow workers lose their jobs. When Capitalism Fails – Occupy, Resist and Produce Capitalism has taken a turn for the worse, spinning itself out of control into a downward spiral which many are characterizing as the second depression of the century. And during this crisis, there are going to be winners and losers. The winners? Most likely big business and banks receiving bailout plans. The losers? The millions who are facing unemployment, dropping wages and inflation. “During a capitalist crisis, when the businessmen and governments are trying to unload all their responsibilities onto the workers of the world, Zanon under worker self-management, is a clear example of how workers can come out of this crisis,” say the workers at FASINPAT. Since late 2008 there have been several new factory takeovers in Argentina. Many workers from the newly occupied factories say that their bosses saw the crisis as the perfect opportunity to clear their debts by closing up shop, fraudulently liquidating assets, firing workers and later re-start production under a new firm. “[However] Many companies are still open because they are afraid of the recovered factory phenomenon; we have to keep them scared,” said Paris from Zanon. In almost all of the newly recuperated factories, the workers suggest that the owners had no real reason to close up shop – meaning that the businesses had production demand. I have heard workers on numerous occasions say that during the crisis, the bosses are taking advantage of the situation of a recession. The worker controlled factories and businesses occupied after 2001 may not be by themselves a social revolution, but the example of worker self-management has helped many workers today facing the possibility of losing their jobs with the idea that they can occupy their workplace in order to defend their rights as laborers. Nearly 10 factories have been occupied since 2008. This may be a sign that workers are confronting the global financial crisis with lessons and tools from previous worker occupied factories. Strategically, the previous worker occupied factories have been fundamental in providing advice of all kinds, including legal, political, production and moral. For many at the recuperated enterprises, the occupation of their workplace meant much more than safe-guarding their jobs, it also became part of a struggle for a world without exploitation. “The recuperated enterprises are working to change society. We are changing the way of working, working without exploitation and show workers that we can function without bosses,” says Jorge Suarez from Hotel BAUEN, an operating worker occupied hotel in down town Buenos Aires. Argentina's worker factory takeovers reflect a strategy of workers defending their rights and taking hold of their own destiny. Hard times require desperate measures – and one measure may be for workers to occupy, resist and produce. Marie Trigona is a writer, radio producer and filmmaker based in Argentina. She can be reached at mtrigona@msn.com

May Day Massacre - 100 years ago: Simón Radowitzky, Anarchist and Legend

By Trigona, Marie
http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/3850


May 1, 1909. Police kill thirty workers in a South American city. The workers are gunned down and violently beaten during a protest to demand an eight hour work day and remember the Hay Market Martyrs. Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, was the scene of this massacre targeting the anarchist-labor movement which proliferated throughout the region through the beginning of the 20th century.

One of Argentina's first unions, the anarcho-syndicalist Federacion Obrera Regional Argentina (FORA) organized the May Day protest in 1909, joining workers around the world mobilizing on May 1 to demand the institution of an 8-hour-long workday and commemorate the Chicago martyrs; Parsons, Engel, Spies, Fischer, executed by hanging at the hands of the United States government and Lingg, who committed suicide in his jail cell. Buenos Aires police commissioner, Coronel Ramón L. Falcón, legendary for his anti-anarchist and immigrant tendencies, gave the order to brutally repress the peaceful May Day protest.

Thousands of workers from the FORA began to mobilize in the late afternoon in Plaza Lorea, in front of Congress on May 1, 1909. Shortly before the speakers began, Coronel Falcón ordered police to break up the protest. The squadron mounted on horses, armed with clubs and bullets, attacked the unarmed anarchists. Those who could escape ran to inform of the police repression. A witness of the event, Dardo Cuneo gave the account from a separate socialist May Day act 20 blocks away, "among those who arrived from Plaza Lorea with the news of the police repression, was a young man...in his hand he had a blood stained scarf. 'This is the blood of the brothers and sisters who were killed,' he said in his foreign accent. Afterward it was discovered, when a newspaper published his photo, that the young man with a blood stained scarf clenched in his fist was named Simón Radowitzky" (Juan B. Justo, Editorial América Lee, Buenos Aires, 1943).


Simon Radowitzky

Six months later, a young anarchist named Simon Radowitzky took justice into his own hands - organizing a direct action against Coronel Ramon Falcon. He threw a bomb at the Coronel's coach, killing Falcon in the act. We can only assume that Radowitzky was deeply hurt by the bloodshed and deaths at the hands of the police. Knowing that Falcon would order future police repression against workers, Radowitzky wanted to prevent future bloodshed.

Radowitzky, of Russian origin and barely 18-years-old, was sentenced to life in prison in the Siberia of Argentina, Ushuaia. At his trial he admitted to throwing the bomb which killed Falcon. "I killed Colonel Falcon because he ordered the massacre of workers. I am the son of working people and a brother of those who have died fighting the bourgeoisie."

Anarchist historian, Osvaldo Bayer wrote a number of books and articles on Radowitzky, including Simón Radowitzky, ¿mártir o asesino?. Anarchists made several attempts for Radowitzky's release and organized an international campaign to "Free Radowitsky." Bayer writes that Radowitzky stood up to all humiliations in prison and defended his fellow prisoners who respected Radowitzky as a man jailed for defending his ideals. The campaign for his release continued until he was finally freed in 1930, after 20 years of hell and almost complete isolation. He was expelled from Argentina, taking Uruguay as his new home. When the Spanish Revolution broke out, he headed for Spain in 1936 to join the anarchist division on the Aragon Front. Radowitzky died of a heart attack on February 29, 1956 as a true internationalist in Latin America - far from his birth place Russia.

Simon Radowitzky left a tradition of anarchist-individualist action. After Radowitzky, came the anarchist expropriators, individuals who employed direct, violent means to undermine what they saw as an unjust, corrupt and violent political and economic system. Whether or not these actions were justified can be debated, but it must be taken into consideration the violent attacks that the state and state apparatus has imposed on the oppressed in order to judge whether violence should be used against the state as a method of defense or social revolution.


Tradition of State Violence

Brutal state violence against working class resistance did not begin nor end with the 1909 May Day massacre. The Argentine State implemented a number of measures in fear of growing manifestations of radical activity - particularly anarchism. Ten years after the 1909 massacre, four workers were killed by police in Buenos Aires, Argentina starting "la semana tragic" or the tragic week. On January 7th, 1919, military officers used deadly force against striking workers echoing the worldwide demand for an eight hour day and improved wages in the Vesena Iron Workers plant in the capital city. Two days after the start of the tragic week, the FORA mobilized hundreds of thousands of people into the streets. The military, police and company vigilante groups cracked down on the general strike as hundreds of workers were killed and more than 50,000 were arrested during the tragic week. Later in 1921, the Patagonia Rebelde took place, with the mass shooting of over 1,500 rural workers on strike in the southern region of Patagonia.

Argentina would see several military dictatorships after 1909. The most brutal being the 1976-1983 military junta which imposed absolute terror throughout the population. During the nation's darkest chapter, the dictatorship disappeared more than 30,000 people - students, labor organizers, and activists, victims of the military's unimaginable methods of terror. The military dictatorship systematized the practice of forced disappearances and torture with U.S. financial support and training. Like the previous massacres throughout the century, the military sought to wipe out political opponents and growing social movements in order to implement an economic model in line with the Washington Consensus. They didn't want radical organizers who would challenge the accumulation of foreign debt, reliance on foreign investors and foreign corporations' industrial takeovers.

The military dictatorship successfully implemented a neo-liberal order, but they were unable to prevent future movements from trying to undo neoliberalism. State violence and the killing of activists transformed Argentina's labor movement, but it has not destroyed it which leads us to where we are today.


Historic Memory and Resistance

On May 1, 2009, workers and social movements will return to Plaza Lorea the location of an event that changed the face of working class history and the life of Simon Radowitzky, where he saw his fellow comrades fall victim to police violence a hundred years ago. The utopian dreams of the anarchists of social revolution a century ago have dwindled but hope reigns.

Ramon Falcon has been memorialized with bronze statues and his name given to police academies and streets. During the 70's, military dictatorship named a plaza tucked in a residential neighborhood after Ramon Falcon. In 2003, a neighborhood assembly unofficially changed the name of the Plaza to "Che Guevara," which was decided in a popular vote in which over 10,000 people voted. Falcon's memorial statue located in an upper-class neighborhood in Buenos Aires has been destroyed on a number of occasions. Falcon's memory as an honorable police official can be erased, his memory as a brutal repressor will remain in the historic memory of the oppressed.

This May Day comes as a recession is begins to unfold in Argentina, since October 2008 more than 55,000 people have lost their jobs. During this financial crisis when capitalism is at its weakest, the revolutionary spirit of Simon Radowitzky lives in the struggle of women and men who continue to fight for a better world, a world without exploitation and oppression. Radowitzky is alive in the subway workers who are fighting to form their own union in Buenos Aires subways; the autonomous social movements fighting transnational companies polluting the Andes mountains; the anarchist groups of today; the worker occupied factories where over 10,000 workers are producing without bosses or owners and the many social movement practicing direct democracy and carrying out their own direct actions against capitalism.

Que viva Simon Radowitzky y los Mártires de Chicago!


Marie Trigona is a writer, radio producer and video maker based in Buenos Aires. She can be contacted at mtrigona@msn.com

Tristan Anderson Critically Injured in Demonstration Against Israeli Wall

Para un compañero de fierro....que recuperas y sigues en la lucha Tristan. Mi thoughts and heart are with you......

Tristan Anderson Critically Injured in Demonstration Against Israeli Wall

Fri Mar 13 2009 Oakland CA Resident Tristan Anderson Critically Injured by IDF Tear Gas Canister in Ni'lin

On March 13th, 2009, Tristan Anderson, from Oakland, California, was critically injured in the village of Ni'lin after Israeli forces shot him in the head with a high-powered tear-gas canister. Tristan is a dedicated activist and reporter who has long been committed to social and environmental justice in the U.S. and abroad in places such as Oaxaca, Iraq, and Palestine. Tristan has posted his reports to Indybay since 2001.

As a result of his injuries, Tristan Anderson, 37 years old, has been taken to Israeli hospital Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv. Anderson is unconscious and had been bleeding heavily from the nose and mouth. He sustained a serious injury to his forehead where he was struck by the canister. He is currently being operated on.

"Tristan was shot by the new tear-gas canisters that can be shot up to 500 meters," reports Teah Lunqvist (Sweden) with the International Solidarity Movement. "I ran over as I saw someone had been shot, while the Israeli forces continued to fire tear-gas at us. When an ambulance came, the Israeli soldiers refused to allow the ambulance through the checkpoint just outside the village. After 5 minutes of arguing with the soldiers, the ambulance passed."

Tristan Anderson was shot as Israeli forces attacked a demonstration against the construction of the annexation wall through the village of Ni'lin's land. Another resident from Ni'lin was shot in the leg with live ammunition. Several other demonstrators against the wall have been killed or rendered brain dead as a result of IDF use of rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition in the villages of Ni'ilin and Bil'in.

DIY TV

DIY TV

for Radi0 Netherlands - The State We're In

In this global age, we are bombarded by media messages - over the radio, internet, and of course TV. Argentina is no different from the rest of the world in this respect. Only three media conglomerates own over 80 percent of the country's media which has resulted in television programming that lacks diversity and creativity, but yet is full of advertisements.

TO LISTEN GO TO LINK http://www.radionetherlands.nl/thestatewerein/otherstates/tswi-090131-diy-tv

Ágora TV: Television for the community

For decades, media activists in Latin America have broken the myth that you can create media only with state-of-the-art equipment and corporate financing. Community television and radio have been around for decades. Argentina had a 24-hour pirate television station called Utopia that aired in the 90s. Brazil is home to Radio Favela, broadcasting radio in the nation's Favelas (marginalised shanty towns) since the late 80s. Many documentary producers in the Southern Cone utilized film and even intercepted TV signals to resist repressive dictatorships during the 70's.

Relatively inexpensive digital technology like digital video cameras, audio recorders, computers and editing software has shifted the paradigm even further. Today, amateur film makers can record, edit and distribute their projects to a global audience over the internet.

Global audience

One media collective, Grupo Alavío, decided to build their own online community television site, agoratv.org . Ágora TV was built at the same time the collective was trying to set up a permanent community television station in Buenos Aires. Because legislation bars community television stations from attaining broadcast licensing and lack of financial support, the station never got off the ground.

But Ágora TV took off immediately, which is maybe a sign that internet may over time replace television.With analog television, broadcasters are limited to physical vicinity to where the signal will reach. However, with the internet, the audience is now global. Grupo Alavío has found that the demand for community television goes beyond national borders and even language barriers.

The word Ágora comes from the Greek word meaning plaza where people gather or assembly space where direct democracy is practiced. And the idea of Ágora TV is just that, an open space where video producers can distribute documentaries that aim to spur social change.

Tool for society

On a personal note, being a media activist is chaotic, fun and challenging. Learning skills comes with a lot of responsibility - if you have a camera, people expect a lot out of you. And they should. If we can't rely on the mass media to tell our stories, then we have to do it ourselves. The most important role a media activist has is sharing skills and knowledge with future media makers. The most gratifying part of using TV as a community organising tool is the global linkages created in the process. Community television has become an essential tool for civil society - providing a space for popular voice and building community. And with activists ever acquiring new skills and technology - this independent media is sure to grow globally.

Poor Evicted in Buenos Aires

Radio Report
Free Speech Radio News
by Marie Trigona

In Buenos Aires, attractions like tango, quaint cafes and soccer matches bring millions of tourists to the South American city each year. But the boom in tourism and real estate values in Argentina's capitol and largest city, has also brought a housing crisis in which thousands have been evicted. FSRN's Marie Trigona reports.

http://www.fsrn.org/audio/poor-evicted-buenos-aires/3931

Argentina Protests Israeli Offensive

RADIO REPORT on actions in Buenos Aires

Free Speech Radio News

Around the world communities are calling for an end to the Israeli attacks against occupied Gaza. FSRN's Marie Trigona reports from actions in Buenos Aires.

http://www.fsrn.org/audio/dec-30-2008/argentina-protests-israeli-offensive/3874

Worker Occupations and the Domino Effect

December, 10 2008 Znet Commentary

By Trigona, Marie

For many the worker occupation of the Chicago Republic Windows and Doors plant on December 5 may have come as a surprise. But for US workers who are facing a very bleak economic horizon - the Chicago sit-down strike has ignited a spark amongst workers fed up with corporate bailouts and job losses. In the midst of an overwhelming financial crisis, massive layoffs and a deepening economic recession workers are left with little other option that to take direct action in order to defend their rights.

In Chicago, a group of workers decided to occupy their plant - to demand severance pay and benefits after being abruptly fired. Inside the plant, 50 workers rotated during the occupation - sitting firmly on fold out chairs and taking care of the now quiet machinery. Outside, supporters and fellow unionists carried banners in solidarity with the Chicago sit-down strike stating "Bank of the America gets bail out, workers get sold out."

The workers at the Chicago Republic Windows and Doors plant are setting an example for the millions of people who are set to lose their jobs in the US recession. They are the voice of workers who see the emergency bailout plans for Wall Street as unfair and ultimately hurt working America. One of the winners on Wall Street, Bank of America, the second largest bank in the US and major beneficiary to the government's bailout plan for banks, refused to loan the company Republic Windows and Doors 1.5 million dollars the company owed to the 200 workers in severance and vacation pay.

"Millions of workers in the United States are seeing their jobs torn away from them or their work hours reduced. Most are just swept under the rug by management," says Daniel Gross, organizer with the Industrial Workers of the World. The unemployment rate in the US has hit a 15-year-high with nearly 1.9 million jobs lost thus far in 2008. With the economy showing no signs of recuperating in the coming months, unfair layoffs and fraudulent bailouts may just be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Gross continues, "The Republic Windows and Doors workers would have gone that way too. But instead they took the simple, elegant step of sitting-down and occupying their factory."

Worker occupations have been used since the onset of the industrial revolution as a strategy for workers to defend themselves against deplorable work conditions, unsafe workplaces and firings. In Latin America, workers have used the factory occupation not only to make their demands heard but to put into practice worker self-management.

Argentina's workers lived through a similar crisis eight years earlier, during the nation's worst financial crisis ever in December 2001. Growing unemployment, capital flight, and industry break-up served as the backdrop for factory takeovers. Unemployment hit record levels - over 20% unemployed and 40% of the population unable to find adequate employment. The result was hundreds of factories and businesses occupied by the workers. In most cases the workers occupied their workplace to demand unpaid salaries, severance pay, social security and past due vacation time. In many cases the occupation was a guarantee that the owners wouldn't be able to ransack machinery and remaining stock to later sell off. But their demands steadily grew to safe guard their jobs. With little hope that bosses would ever return to pay workers what they owed, workers devised plans to start up production with no boss or owner what so ever.

More than 10,000 workers are employed by Argentina's 200 worker occupied factories. Many of these recuperated enterprises are now facing eviction threats. The workers at the Argentine worker occupied factories often say that they are accomplishing what bosses aren't interested in doing, creating jobs and producing for the community.

Reflecting on the current economic crisis in the US, many Argentine workers without bosses are wondering when US workers will follow in their footsteps. At a panel discussion on recuperated enterprises in November Ernesto Gonzalez, a worker at the worker-run Chilavert printing press posed this question. "Imagine if we had General Motors in Detroit under worker control...we could change the world. Why not if it happens here on the opposite end of the world?"

The idea of America's automakers in Detroit producing as workers cooperatives may seem like a crazy dream. For Gonzalez, who works at a Chilavert a worker occupied print factory in Buenos Aires, this dream is a reality. During the South American nation's financial crisis in 2001, he occupied his workplace and fought until he and his fellow workers won legal recognition.
But it wasn't Detroit where automaker GM is eagerly awaiting a 15 billion dollar emergency loan. Workers occupied their factory in Chicago, home of the Haymarket martyrs and hub of radical union organizing, in one of the first US factory occupation since the sit-down strikes of the 1930's.

Both the Chicago Windows and Doors occupation and Argentina's worker factory takeovers reflect a strategy of workers defending their rights and taking hold of their own destiny. Hard times require desperate measures - workers in the US are finally standing up. "The result [of the Chicago sit-in strike] has been electrifying," says Gross. "Workers around the country are expressing solidarity and ideas are percolating in terms of people's own work situations." In a show that times are changing, even president elect Barak Obama sent words of support for the Republic Windows and Doors workers.

Meanwhile, in Argentina some of the most successful examples of worker self-management are facing serious legal attacks. Many of these recuperated enterprises are now facing eviction threats, with local and national government unwilling to grant laws in favor of worker self-management. Hotel BAUEN is one such example. The 19-story, 180 room hotel has been operational since workers took it over in 2003. Last year a federal judge issued the BAUEN cooperative an eviction notice. A national expropriation law may be the co-op's last legal resource, with the eviction notice still withstanding.

According to Fabio Resino, a worker from the BAUEN cooperative, fears over imminent job losses in Argentina's economy spiraled by the deepening global crisis may be fueling the government's refusal to back worker occupied factories. "BAUEN's situation is not an isolated process. It's an attack to stop a process which began in 2001, when workers took over business that the former bosses were emptying out. Now is a very critical moment for the country, where the global crisis can cause factory closures and mass firings like we have been seeing. For many of those in power, it's not convenient to have the example of the recuperated enterprises which is why the recovery of businesses and worker self-management is being attacked."

Argentina's worker occupied factories have successfully put into a practice ideas that directly challenge the logic of capitalism: Occupy, Resist, Produce. They have built democratic workplaces, community projects and solidarity networks with social movements around the world. But most importantly, they have questioned the capitalist model of putting profits over people. This may be the clue to why Argentina's government does not support many worker self-managed factories and businesses.

Many colleagues have drawn parallels between the Chicago factory sit-in and Argentina's worker uprising. "Though the worker occupation of Republic Windows and Doors is different in many respects to examples of worker occupations in Argentina, it is worth reflecting on the strikingly similar situations workers in both countries found themselves in, and how they are fighting back," wrote Upsidedownworld.org editor Ben Dangl in a recent article. Dangl is correct that workers worldwide may be inspired by the unexpected decision made by the Republic Windows and Doors workers to occupy their plant to make their demands heard.

The Chicago factory sit in not only offers a window into hard times, but also a strategy into building change from the ground up. Could the occupation in Chicago set into motion a domino effect? Argentina's worker occupied businesses and factories offer a window into what the world would look like if the domino effect would be set into motion on a massive scale. The world would be a place without bosses, hierarchy, oppression or exploitation. Who knows, the occupation in Chicago and the success of worker self-management in Argentina may be signs that the world is ready for this utopian dream to become a reality.

Marie Trigona is a writer, radio producer and filmmaker based in Buenos Aires. She can be reached at mtrigona@msn.com. For more information on Argentina's recuperated enterprises visit www.agoratv.org

B.A.U.E.N.: cultura, lucha y trabajo

del 4 al 12 de noviembre

Por la Ley Nacional de Expropiación para el B.A.U.E.N. cooperativa de trabajo

actividades en Hotel B.A.U.E.N. cooperativa de trabajo
Callao 360, ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Lunes 10

18 hs. Conferencia de prensa: proyecto de ley nacional de expropiación del Hotel B.A.U.E.N. / Presentación del B.A.U.E.N. ROCK FESTIVAL por la EXPROPIACIÓN. Con la presencia de diputados, referentes de organizaciones sociales y músicos.


19 hs. Proyección de la película

“Madres” de Eduardo Walger

Mesa debate: pariendo sueños, el trabajo sin patrón.

con la presencia de Nora Cortiñas de Madres de Plaza de Mayo Linea Fundadora y Osvaldo Bayer


Martes 11

19 hs. Proyección de la película “Argentina Latente”

de Fernando “Pino” Solanas

Mesa debate: Nuestros recursos ¿de quién y para quiénes?

con la presencia de Claudio Lozano, Alcira Argumedo y Mario Mazzitelli


Miércoles 12

B.A.U.E.N. ROCK FESTIVAL por la EXPROPIACIÓN

Frente al Hotel en Callao y Corrientes (escenario sobre Callao mirando a Sarmiento)

León Gieco, Botafogo, Arbolito, Alejandro Sokol y su nueva banda, Andrea Prodan y su banda, Romapagana, Incorrectos (grupo del B.A.U.E.N.), Vinilo`s Blues, Alucinados, Luís Robinson y su banda, Ignacio Copani, El Portón, Patio Rojo y mas...

Support Workers Control

By Florian Zollmann at Oct 3, 2008
FASINPAT - Another world is possible

For six years the workers of the ceramics plant Zanon have run their factory. They call it FASINPAT - "Factory Without a Boss". The worker cooperative is part of the movement of Argentine's worker-run factories consisting of about 180 recuperated enterprises that provide jobs for more than 10,000 Argentine workers.

The 470 workers at FASINPAT/Zanon are spearheading in democratic workplace organisation. Alejandro Quiroga, a FASINPAT worker explains the fundamental FASINPAT experience: "We are demonstrating an economic alternative to what the capitalist model proposes".

Currently, more than 30,000 workers are employed in worker run, recuperated businesses in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The movement of recuperated enterprises in Argentina arose after Western neoliberal policies produced one of the worst economic crises of the country: In 2001, thousands of factories were locked down and millions of workers lost their jobs.

FASINPAT, at that point of time still named after highly indebted former owner Luis Zanon, was closed as well, the workforce fired. Following the slogan: "occupy, resist and produce" workers declared the plant under worker control in October 2001.

At first, workers made this decision out of the necissity to defend peoples jobs and secure their families' incomes. Nevertheless, former union struggles had cemented a deep class consciousness among the workers. As a result of these fights at the file and rank, FASINPAT's long term goal has become to achieve national expropriation to remain the factory under complete worker control.

This could be described as a revolutionary strategy. There are other examples of factory takeovers in the history of worker activism in Argentine. But most former factory takeovers were rather temporarily and used to gain reformistic improvements like wage increases. After reaching reforms, occupations were abadoned.

Contrary, workers at FASINPAT came to the conclusion that fundamental improvements can at best be achieved if the factories remain under worker control. The following changes implemented at FASINPAT illuminate this fact:

First of all, workplace institutions were revolutionized. Worker control at FASINPAT is based on values such as classlessness, solidarity, self-determination, direct democracy, autonomy and equality.

Consequently, the hierachical corporate system was replaced by a general assembly - a basis-democratic body responsible for all decisions made in the enterprise.

Carlos Saavedra, a glazing line worker describes the assembly as follows: "For the workers the decisions should be decided by the assembly as the only authority in the factory. It shouldn't be like the old administrative system with managers, unionists or one delegate who decides what is to be done."

All tasks in the Zanon factory - including marketing, management and production - are now done by the workers.

In practice, newly implemeted forms of organization could significantly improve working conditions and antagonise alienation which was a consequence of corporate division of labour. This, by taking back workers' knowledge through self education and breaking with exploitative workplace relations.

The following progressive efforts were gained by FASINPAT-workers:

- Relations inside the factory were significantly changed along the values described above. Corporate workplace organization was substituted by a democratic assembly and a system of rotating coordinators who address specific sectoral problems. Moreover, oppressive methods of control like assembly bans were abrogated.

- Working processes formerly done by the managment and technocrats were learned and are now done by the workers. Workers also have the opportunity to train and work in other areas of the factory in order to counter alienation and monotony.

- After recuperation, the factory lacked state support and was not equipped with up-to-date technology and infrastructure. Moreover, the workers were short on credit and reinvestment capital. These factors led to disadvantages on the capitalist markets. FASINPAT developed a strategy to overcome these problems: a support network with other reoccupied enterprises to barter products was built. Consequently, the enterprise could partly stay independent from the state and market pressures.

- All workers of FASINPAT gain the same ammount of icome. More than 230 workers have been hired since the factory takeover.

- In 2004, a Women's Commission (Comision de Mujeres de Zanon ) was created in order to overcome sexist institutions and address problems women face due to their overlapping roles as being working women, mothers and political activists.

- FASINPAT/Zanon has developed strong ties with the community by supporting poor people, students and schools in the region. The factory also hosted rock concerts and theaters in order to raise awareness and gain support for their cooperative.

- A broad solidarity network between community groups, workers and national as well as international recuperated enterprises and organizations was established.

- A press commission produces radio programmes, newspapers, videos and a website. This, in order to communicate with the local community and with the Zanon workers and to address important political issues concerning the factory.

- The plans for educational programms to foster political participation in the factory and the establishment of a library are being discussed in the assembly.

- On October 20, 2006, the workers won a longstanding legal dispute for federal recognition of FASINPAT. With the court decision the cooperative was legally accepted for three years. The decision came after a period of intensive community activisms and struggles where workers faced hostility and frequent violence from the state. Thereby support by local people and activist groups in the Neuquén province, where the factory is located, was a crucial factor to defend these attacks.

Nevertheless, the workers of FASINPAT need our support.

The three year federal recognition (until 2009) was cut by a federal court, so that the legality of the factory will run out in October 2008.

The court decision was arguably due to pressures by creditors (among them the World Bank and the provincial government) who want to get paid back loans that highly indepted former owner Luis Zanon owes them.

The creditors arguably are going to demand an auction of the Fasinpat/Zanon factory.

Significantly, creditors could also go after Luis Zanon's private assetts which he took aside as collaterals. Moreover, 95% of the factory's machinery already belongs to the provincial state because of the debt the Zanon family ran up with the IADEP (provincial investment institute).

Considering these facts, the workers at FASINPAT rightly campaign for expropriation, a step which would only need a political decision by the provincial government.

Here are further reasons why an expropriation makes sense:

- The workers have succesfully ran the factory for six years.

- On three occasions (2003-2006-2007) the workers presented a legal project for the Expropriation to the provincial legislature, with more than 90,000 signatures from the local community in support of the cooperative.

- There is the legal framework for the expropriation of a factory in favor of a worker cooperative. The legal framework is found in the national constitution and provincial constitution under articles 76 and 83.

- In most of the cases of recuperated businesses and factories (more than 160 in all of Argentina's provinces) the workers won expropriation laws voted in by provincial legislature.

- The expropriation is the most direct, fast, and economical concrete solution for the 470 workers at the Zanon/FASINPAT cooperative. Why not consider the factory as a common wealth?

- Expropriation would mean more jobs, increasing community projects that the FASINPAT/Zanon has supported with donations, festivals and solidarity.

- In the 6 years of worker control the factory has increased production from 20 thousand square feet of ceramics in 2002 to 400 thousand feet that the plant is currently producing every month. 470 families are supported by the factory directly and 1,500 families indirectly (truck drivers, contractors, taxi drivers, suppliers).

- In order to continue to produce the FASINPAT/Zanon cooperative has already paid a debt the Zanon family had with the Provincial Energy Comission of 1.5 million pesos (half a million dollars).

- The cooperative pays over 200,000 dollars a month for electricity and gas, plus the fines that apply to the factory.

- Monthly, the cooperative donates more than 1,000 square meters of ceramics to families in need and community projects. The cooperative has built the "Nueva Espana" health center, three houses for families in need in a neighboring barrio.

Worker self-management is an important solution to eliminate the exploitative and destructive effects of corporate work division and market capitalism. FASINPAT has done a significant step to overcome these grievances. Worker self-management also provides an alternative to captalist and marked-socialist institutions.

The workers at Fasinpat/Zanon need our support in order to achieve expropriation and remain their factory under worker control. FASINPAT is an inspiring model of how economic institutions can be successfully organized along social, democratic, solidary, classless and humane values.

Fundamentally, FASINPAT demonstrates that another world is possible.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In order to support FASINPAT please distribute this letter or write and distribute other letters of support. It might be a good starting point to contact alternative and mainstream media organizations in your area/country.

To start a campaign I would suggest to contact the Argentine embassy:

E-mail address of the political section of the Argentine embassy in the US: politicainterna@embassyofargentina.us

E-mail address of the Argentine embassy in the UK: info@argentine-embassy-uk.org

For the official website of FASINPAT (in Spanish) see:

http://www.ceramicafasinpat.com/

For further information on FASINPAT see Marie Trigona's Z Space website:

http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/marietrigona

ZEO -- Z Online School Workers self-management in Latin America

I will be teaching a course this summer for Z communication's online school -- ZEO

Today in Latin America hundreds of worker run businesses are up and running. This course will overview the central experiences of worker controlled factories and enterprises in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela. It will give students an orientation of the phenomenon of worker takeovers and the development of workers’ self-management in the 21st century. Topics covered will be the role of workers self organization, the state, various structures, etc.

To enroll, visit ZEO's website
http://moodle.zcommunications.org/