Over the past decade, Latin America has been in the forefront of the struggle against capitalism and its evil effects upon the lives of working class people. Nowhere has been the case more than in Venezuela, where Chavez, President for the past ten years, proudly proclaims himself a socialist. Latin America of course has long been a victim of capitalism and imperialism. In Venezuela the capitalist class have often simply abandoned their factories as unprofitable, leaving the workers to rot. These workers have indignantly stood up for their rights. For years past they have struggled to occupy these factories as a way of maintaining their livelihoods. They are ahead of us in Britain and the rest of Europe. We should learn the lessons.
Inveval: a beacon of hope
Inveval is a factory making huge valves for the oil refineries of the petrol industry in Venezuela. In 2005 it was expropriated by Hugo Chavez and handed over to workers’ control. Venezuela’s experiments with workers’ co-management and in some instances workers’ control, are at the cutting edge of the global movement against capitalism. With the bosses’ lockout in 2002-2003, which shut down much of the Venezuelan economy for a period of two months, hundreds of factories were closed down and workers turned out onto the streets to fend for themselves. However, workers have stepped up to the challenge and it is estimated that some 1,200 factories have been taken over and occupied after being shut down. In 2005 the Chavez government initiated a series of decrees to allow for expropriation of industry and workers’ co-management in the interests of ‘public utility.’ The interview below shows the possibilities and the problems when workers’ control takes the place of capitalist rule on the shop floor. As a result of their battle for survival Inveval workers have taken part in setting up FRETECO (The Revolutionary Front of Workers in Occupied and Co-managed Factories) in February 2006. Its activities now spread across Latin America as a whole. In April 2008, as a result of management’s continued stalling in negotiations with their workforce, the giant Sidor steel plant, which employs 15,000 workers. In Venezuela and beyond the slogan is, ‘A factory closed is a factory occupied.’ A new movement is on the march!
Interview
Here is an interview with José Quintero, member of the INVEVAL Factory Committee, by El Militante, newspaper of the Revolutionary Marxist Current (CMR). El Militante is a sister paper of Socialist Appeal. The interview was first published in December 2008.
El Militante: It is said that Inveval is not producing and that this shows the failure of workers’ management. What is the reason why the plant is not working?
Jose Quintero: We are being sabotaged by the El Palito refinery and the other refineries [which are part of state-owned oil company PDVSA]. They do not want to give us orders. The valves that we have in stock, they are not buying them, and in fact they are importing valves from the United States. Instead of promoting the state-owned companies, they are bringing products from abroad.
El Militante: Then what you are saying is that the news about the factory not working because of the workers is false.
Jose Quintero: Precisely. This is a concerted campaign of sabotage against workers’ control at Inveval. The aim is to discredit workers’ management and go back to bureaucratic management. They say that a bureaucratic model, with a directors’ board and so on is more efficient than workers’ management. Workers’ control, in fact, is much more efficient, and this has been proven in practice. At the CAEZ sugar mill one thousand million bolivars went missing, under the supervision of a directors’ board. At Inveval, we have efficiently managed a budget of six thousand million and our accounts are open for anyone to check them. We are capable of fully operating the factory.
El Militante: Right now, what is the wage of an Inveval worker?
Jose Quintero: We are all receiving the same wage. The social benefits that were owed to us by [the old owner] Sosa Pietri, we still have not received them, because the issue of his compensation payment has not yet been settled. We are making a revolutionary proposal, so that these social benefits are paid and deducted from the cost of acquiring Inveval assets.
El Militante: Finally, what is your appeal to other workers in struggle?
Jose Quintero: The appeal to the rest of the workers is this: the financial crisis that the US is experiencing will affect Venezuela. We already have a series of companies, Transporte MDS, Gotcha, Acerven, which have been taken over by the workers and should be expropriated. But from now on, as a result of the crisis of capitalism, more companies will be closed, workers are going to lose their jobs, and the only way, in our opinion, to overcome this capitalist crisis is through workers’ control, occupying the factories and putting them under collective management, so that we can have decent living conditions. This is the only way forward. Capitalism is based on the enrichment of a small group, but we are fighting for socialism so that the needs of the majority can be fulfilled, and this is only possible through collective ownership and workers’ control.
Learning the lessons – Britain and Venezuela
Take union action. The first lesson is that the only way to defend jobs is to fight. Workers who have just rolled over or taken redundancy money have seen a permanent decline in their standard of living as a result. In the present unemployment tsunami it is a fantasy to think you can just walk round the corner and get another job, just as well paid as the one you have lost. Well paid jobs with decent conditions in unionised workplaces are precious. The union organisation at work may have been dormant for a long time. Workers suddenly discover that it was a vital prop to keep up conditions in the plant, and now it’s a weapon to defend the very jobs themselves.
Open the books. Management try to winkle out workers who they think they don’t need any more. In both PRISME and at Visteon there have been financial shenanigans. Management have tried to pull the wool over workers’ eyes. That is why it is vital to gain access to the accounts and check out all management’s dirty secrets. You may need an accountant to uncover the technicalities, but only workers’ power will force management to open the books. Inveval’s accounts are open to all.
Solidarity is vital. Visteon has been run down over years. Ford has tried to claim it’s nothing to do with them. They are trying to divide the workers and weaken both Ford and Visteon workforces. Sticking together is the way to win. Ford is still a going concern. It still needs components. If Ford workers black Visteon components, then Ford will be forced to sit up and pay attention.
Hit them where it hurts. At Basildon Visteon workers are picketing. Management claim they don’t need the workers any more. But they want to get their expensive equipment out. If the pickets can stop them moving their plant, then they have a weapon against them.
We can do without management. When the bosses scarper, then the workers wonder what useful thing they ever did in the first place. Visteon workers make plastic components for Ford cars. They can make anything in plastic. PRISME workers can carry on producing packaging just as well now the boss has done a runner. These workers have the skills.
Workers need political support. Inveval was nationalised in 2005 by President Chavez. It is true that the factory survives through the collective intelligence and democratic planning of its workforce, but the decisive act of expropriating the former private owners was made possible by political action. Workers need a political arm to defend their livelihoods. In the case of Venezuela they have a President who has shown he is prepared to stand up to big business, not let them walk all over the workers. If the present Labour leaders won’t do the job, then we need a socialist leadership that will respond to the inspiring sight of workers in struggle.
Spread the action. Inveval has survived, but it’s been a battle all the way. As we see they have to fight to get raw materials and components and then to sell the finished goods. The Inveval workers have been in place since 2005. They have achieved miracles. But they know better than anyone that their factory is an island of socialism in a capitalist sea. While capitalism survives, their achievements are constantly at risk.
Forward to socialism!
