Argentina: It would seem that the force of the wind, which was blowing at more
than 60 km/hr in the Neuquén capital, was an omen of what was to come.
26 deputies supported the expropriation and this sealed the
declaration that the factory was of public interest and confirmed the transfer of
Cerámica Zanon to the Fasinpat cooperative.
“This is amazing. We are happy. The expropriation is an act of
justice. We will not forget the people who supported us during the most
difficult times, nor the hundred thousand signatures that supported our
project,” said an emotional Alejandro López, General Secretary of the
Sindicato Ceramista de Neuquén (Neuquen Ceramic Workers Union – SOECN)
and part of the political leadership of Zanon.
Cerámica Zanon was taken over by the workers, 470 families live
directly on the work produced by the factory which is estimated to have
generated 5000 jobs indirectly. The symbolic struggle of the workers
and the great support from the local community finally achieved
legitimate recognition by the provincial government of the social and
productive value that workers’ management has promoted since 2002, the
year in which the workers began administrating the factory – without
bosses, managers or owners.
One must remember the judgement issued by the courts in 2001 which
ruled that there had been an offensive bosses’ lockout and the
sentencing of management of Zanon for tax evasion.
The long awaited day began at four in the afternoon with a meeting at the
San Martín monument, where the mothers of Plazo de Mayo, the widow of
Fuentealba, Sandra Rodríguez, the leadership of ATEN, ATE and SEJUN,
the lawyers of CEPRODH, representatives from the Mapuche Federation and
various social, political and human rights organisations as well as
social activists, families and sympathisers participated. There was a
genuine multitude of people – approximately five thousand people.
Fellow workers from Cerámica Stefani and Cerámica del Sur were also
present. The workers at Cerámica Neuquén went on strike in order to be
there, a measure which had 100 percent support. Workers from INDEC
arrived from Buenos Aires and other occupied factories along with trade
unionists from the University of Saõ Paolo in Brazil.
Once assembled, they headed to the legislative palace heading up the
march with a flag of Carlos Fuentealba. The marchers filled up 20
blocks while chanting, drumming, full of emotion. When night fell there
was the rhythm of a murga (popular musical theatre) from Cutral co, which provided warmth and colour to the hopes and expectations.
It was quite an event. While fighting for 9 years for Cerámica Zanon
to be declared of public interest – in order to legalise their dream,
they did not wait for formalities and began to build solidarity and
commitment with the local, national and even international communities
from the beginning in November 2001 when Luis Zanon sacked, without
prior warning, the 380 workers and potters. They finally achieved their
historic demand.
The workers set up a stage and speakers outside the Legislature so
that those present could listen, word for word, to the development of
the session inside which began just after 6 in the afternoon and ended
around midnight.
“This is the best reflection of an organised struggle that learned
to win the support of the whole of society,” said Verónica Huilipan
from the Mapuche Confederation, who appeared very emotional because of
the “political victory of the organisation.”
“This was an important historical event and an extremely important
event in the struggle of the workers,” explained students from student
groups, No pasarán and En Clave Roja.
“Many of us started down the path of political activity with the
struggle for the expropriation of Zanon and this shows us today that
all of this strength passed from being a possibility and to a reality,”
stated the students.
The session
The debate went smoothly. The expropriation was supported by the
overwhelming majority. The previous step had been taken last Tuesday
when the Budget and Finance Committee approved the bill by a majority
and all groups agreed to quorum to put the project on the floor of the
chamber of deputies.
50 workers were present at the session while the remaining 100 along
with thousands of sympathisers listened with expectation to the
arguments of the deputies outside the building.
José Russo, president of the Neuquén People’s Movement (MPN) and
reporting member of the project from the Executive Power and main
proponent of the proposal together with minister Jorge Tobares and the
deputy from the Alternative, Soledad Martínez, said, “This is
miraculous… The work and lives of many people went into these
decisions, not factories, through whose efforts the spirit of labour
survives… This effort must be rewarded…” and that, “the workers had
worked for 8 years under conditions of insecurity and we have to
support them in order to create a future.”
also highlighted the value that the deputies of her bloc and the
workers placed on the need to guarantee the supply of labour. The
majority bloc succeeded – despite the fact that differences emerged at
commissions – in voting unanimously.
For her part, Soledad Martínez said that this expropriation
“contained no room for discussion – judicial, political or otherwise,”
and explained that it was a safe measure for the state. “There is zero
possibility that the Province will receive claims that will prevail
against it.”
The Justicialista Party deputies voted separately, Luis Miguel
Lucero, a representative of the CGT and Ariel Kogan voted against while
Luis Sageseta, Fanny Longo, Amalia Jara and Miguel Ángel Guidali
supported the initiative.
The vote of the radical bloc was divided. In this case only Eduardo
Benítez supported the Executive’s project. The position of the radicals
received boos from the potters who from this point were unable to sit
back down.
The deputies of the Southern Free (Libres del Sur), from UNE-MUN-PS
and Neuquén Alternative gave full support to the social vocation of the
workers, the struggle and resistance that they exercised during the
five evictions that were used to try to remove them from the factory.
At the end of the vote, the workers embraced one another in a single
cry of satisfaction for having achieved what they had been struggling
so hard for.
Only the cry of “We did it comrades!” could be heard in the Chamber along with shouts, jumps, tears, hugs and smiles.
Outside it was the same: shouting, handshakes, singing and laughter.
The workers waited for their comrades, full of the hopes of the meeting
and the memory of the struggle over nine years for production, politics
and solidarity which finally received legal protection and had been
recognised by the local political power. They had the recognition from
the local social powers from the beginning and with it managed to
legitimise one of the most important processes in Argentina in terms of
the occupation and bringing into production of factories abandoned by
their owners and then retaken by the workers under workers’ control.
The bill
The bill basically states: “it is a firm decision of the state to
support the workers in their struggle, proposing the expropriation of
the factory and the subsequent transfer to the cooperative such that
they may continue with the workers’ control they have implemented to
date… As the real estate, machines as well as tangible and intangible
assets of which the industrial plant is composed are indispensible so
that the workers can continue their productive activity, it was
necessary to take a political decision which provided a definitive
solution to the proposed situation…”
The potters can now market their products, including the use of the
commercial brand which they had previously not been able to do. The
expropriation took place with the agreement of the bankruptcy
receivership and the secured creditors, that is, with the consent of
the World Bank, SACMI, the Italian company that supplied the machines
and the Autarchic Institute of Productive Development (IADEP), an
agency of the Province.
The financial corporation had as a guarantee the collateral and the buildings and SACMI had the machines as a guarantee.
The Province only has to pay, by way of compensation, a value
greater than 23 million pesos before formally assigning it to the
workers. On average this is 150 and 180 million pesos minus than what
was paid to creditors and 9 million to the IADEP to write off the debt.
The bill was presented by the Provincial Executive last May, after
lengthy debates and amendments that had to be made in order that it was
accepted by the workers, given that certain were not negotiable from
the point of view of the potters.
One of these regards the payment of the expropriation. On several
occasions the workers expressed their position against taking over the
millions in debt owed by Luis Zanon, arguing that they were part of the
those the company owed money to due to the non-payment of wages and
bonuses. Similarly they were also opposed to the State compensating
creditors, given that this was private debt and it would not be right
to use public funds to pay it off.
“It has been proven by the courts that Zanon was asset stripping and
that creditors were part of the fraudulent bankruptcy because they gave
credit to the owner that was not invested in the factory. If something
is to be paid, Luis Zanon should pay it, who is being prosecuted for
tax evasion,” declared Omar Villablanca, Zanon worker and member of the
Managing Committee of the Ceramic Workers’ Union.
The initial proposal of the workers was for the expropriation and
nationalisation under workers’ control with a plan of public works, but
the official initiative resolved to leave the question of
nationalisation to one side and propose the expropriation with reduced
compensation for secured creditors of the bankruptcy.
However, the legislative resolution represents a great precedent for
the other factories and companies being run by the workers throughout
the country, for which definitive expropriation has not yet been
declared.
“This is for the 30 thousand comrades who disappeared, for the
mothers of Plaza de Mayo, for comrade Boquita, for Carlos Fuentealba
and for Kosteky and Santillán,” said and emotional Alejandro López at
the end of the session. However, López warned that, “the expropriation
solves the legal part. The continuation of the work requires other
political decisions,” in terms of the State contributions that the
factories “under the bosses” received. “They received subsidies for
electricity and gas that we aren’t getting, included for salaries as
well.”
Source: Corriente Socialista El Militante (Argentina) (article first posted on www.marxist.com)
