BY ALICIA JRAPKO
More than 10,000 piqueteros (unemployed workers) marched in Buenos Aires on May 14, in a massive show of support for the workers who had occupied the Brukman textile plant. The occupiers were violently evicted by police on April 18.
With 57% of the Argentinian population in poverty and an official unemployment rate of 30%, workers have responded by seizing control of factories abandoned by their owners due to bankruptcy or lack of profits.
Fifty years ago, Argentina was considered one of the most developed and industrialised economies in the Third World. Some 50% of its gross national product came from industry. However, neoliberal policies dictated by Washington, and implemented by the International Monetary Fund and other financial institutions, for almost three decades have brought nothing but misery to the Argentinean people.
Since 1998, workers have taken control of more than 150 factories in industries including food, metallurgy, car parts, printing, ceramics and textiles.
Two factories have become a symbol of this movement: the Zanon ceramic factory in Neuquen and the Brukman factory in Buenos Aires, where most of the workers are women.
A huge sign at the entrance of the Zanon factory reads: "This factory produces under workers' control."
In March, police tried to take back control of Zanon but had to retreat in the face of the workers' resistance and the overwhelming solidarity from the surrounding community. The workers have launched a campaign to gather 50,000 signatures on a petition asking the state to expropriate the plant.
Since the workers began to administer the company, they have created 40 new jobs. They purchase raw materials and pay taxes, including for water, electricity and gas.
When the workers took control of Brukman 18 months ago, they wanted to negotiate but the owners did not respond. Two judges left over from the days of the military dictatorship of 1976 issued orders for the military to occupy the factory. On April 18, the workers prepared to spend the night at the factory. Heavily armed police attacked and evicted them.
Thousands of piqueteros and members of neighbourhood assemblies responded, gathering outside the factory. The Brukman workers were supported by members of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, the organisation of courageous mothers who kept up a weekly demonstration for decades after their children were "disappeared" during the military dictatorship of the 1970s.
Pablo Kilberg, an organiser with the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, said the police had no compassion for the veterans, many who are now in their 80s and 90s. They were surrounded by tear gas clouds and had to be rescued by media vehicles. Kilberg added that police used rubber bullets and live ammunition; 120 people were arrested and many were wounded.
A few days later, in a demonstration against police brutality and repression, more than 30,000 people accompanied the Brukman workers. The workers are committed to continue their struggle until they regain control. They have promised to fight until the end.
[Abridged from the US socialist weekly Workers World.]
Photos at http://www.poloobrero.org.ar/marcha/14-05-03/fotos.htm
From Green Left Weekly, May 28, 2003.
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