Rebuilding the Argentine more muffled way than a few months
The military ago.
want to gain time.
That is why they set such a late date for workers movement
Primarily, they are demanding three
"guarantees, which they consider crucial for "keeping the military institution
Interview with a class-struggle union leader intact." The first, is that there must be no inquiry into the conduct of the Mal-
The second is that there has vinas war.
has to be agreement on an "amnesty law"
Alberto Piccinini is one of the most representative class-struggle union leaders for acts of repression.
That is, the dead
In 1975, he led a struggle by 30,000 workers in the Villa Constituand the "missing" have to disappear a cion steel complex outside Rosario, which was one of the most militant and adsecond time.
Finally, the military want
Atter spending seven years in prison, he has reemerged as one of the survivors of to maintain all their prerogatives in the the working-class vanguard that developed in the early 1970s and which was the of "national security.
This aarea main target of the military, even before the establishment of the dictatorship in mounts to a division of power, and, in that framework, a free hand for
Although he has not been able to get back into his old factory, Piccinini has rerepression.
sumed his trade-union work. The prestige he enjoys and the confidence shown in ave formed the
These positions have him by the workers in this major industrial area have already enabled him to play pattern for the shameful ballet of "nego-
This was notable, for example, in the national strike of Decemtiated transition" that the military and
Piecinini gave the following interview to a correspondent of International Viewpoint in Argentina in late January.
nearly all the bourgeois politicians have been dancing.
This
"negotiated transition" is also called, for certain purposes "dialogue."
This is all entirely tailored to suit the military.
In the narrow maneuvering room left by the general crisis gripping
Argentina, the terms of this "dialogue"
have enabled them for the moment; to regain the initiative. How far can this go?
How long can it last?
To a large part, the answers to these questions depend on the tempo at which the working class reorganizes and remobilizes. It has suffered the brunt of a catastrophic economic crisis, combined with savage repression.
The numbers of the working class have been reduced.
most militant activists have been decimated.
Its organizational structures, in particular those in the plants, which were the result of decades of struggle, have been dismantled.
The workers have to spend a great deal of energy just to make two ends meet, just to survive.
In spite of everything, confidence is
8 in Argentina.
vanced the country has seen.
an important role.
ber 6, 1982.
Question. How would you describe the situation in the Argentine workers movement today?
Answer. Despite the years of repression and although it is still far from having regained its organizing capacities and the unity that is more than ever necessary now, the workers movement is playing a growing role. Every day it assumes a greater weight in the country, and I am convinced that it will recover the strength that it had in the past.
in your opinion, are the
A. The most immediate task is the workers regaining legal control of their unions and the right to elect their leaders through a democratic process. In this context, we have to do everything possible to develop real union democracy. This will make it possible to bring forward genuinely representative leaders and assure their independence.
Q. How does this struggle fit into the present political context?
A. We have to start from the fact that the working class has been very hard hit, not only by the repression, by the murder and imprisonment of the most militant workers, but also by the dismantling of whole sections of the productive apparat-
This has had the effect of taking millions of workers away from their tools.
When employment is cut back to this extent, the possibilities for mobilization and struggle are also reduced.
Fundamentally, we have to work to reactivate the productive apparatus in order for the working class to be able to play its full role once again.
Q. How would you sum up the experience of the struggles over the last year?
A. The results are already promising
that the unions have not been able to op- posal. They started immediately putting erate normally yet. In these conditions, the conflicts that have broken out, the struggles that have developed, have demonstrated a high level of mobilization and desire for unity. The best example of this is the strike conducted December 6, which almost totally paralyzed the country.
The decisive step is reestablishing a single General Confederation of Workers (CGT). It is not possible, it is unthinkable, that after having had a single CGT, after seeing the kind of power such an organization has, the Argentine workers movement is going to play into the hands of its enemies by maintaining more than
All those who claim to defend the interests of the workers must prove it by actual deeds. Personal and sectional interests have to be fought. work for complete unity of the working their confidence in us. Such developments, I repeat, are very significant. This is not only because of the results (the afternoon and night shifts downed tools). On this basis we were able to organize a rally the next day in front of the union headquarters. A petition had gone round demanding a general assembly to discuss getting underway, tinally, the process of resuming "normal" union activity, as the dictatorship promised that we would be able to.
the climate has changed drastically. There is a real resurgence of a determination to join in activity, to act. This has been shown in a number of concrete actions. We have even been able to set up a structure called Metal Workers Unity-December 6. It is already shaping up as the instrument for organizing the workers' fight to "regain" real control of feelings has to keep this question from
You argue that it is essential to
A. In the first place, the leaders of the CGTs should come out clearly for dialogue, not only among themselves but also among the rank-and-file activists. I think that if these activists could really participate in such a dialogue, the problem of uniting the two CTs would be
Q. In other words, in practice, unity has to be sought at
Unquestionably. In fact, the ranks want unity and in many cases practice it It is on the leadership level that the division exists. Among the leaders, personal and sectional interests continue to come class inside one CGT.
Q. What was the extent of the work- present labor legislation? ing-class participation in the December 16 demonstration called by the Multi-
The workers movement was the main force involved. Hasn't it always been the section of the population hardest hit? The working class has no choice
It has shown this quite clearly by its resistance throughout these
Q. How did the December 6 strike go in Villa Constitucion?
A. What happened in Villa Constitucion has a great significance. The repression has had particularly tragic effects in
You have to think back to the events of 1975 to realize how extensive it
All the leaders of the Metal Workers Union (the UOM) were arrested, and then imprisoned for long years. The repression reached its worst in this industrial center. A large number of comrades were kidnapped and murdered. The layoffs were still more massive here than elsewhere. For a long time there was a veritable reign of terror throughout the city.
So, it is not surprising that up to the eve of December 6 a climate of fear and passivity prevailed here. On that day, the "local leadership" of the UOM decided not to heed the strike call issued by the national leaderships of the two CGTs.
Parallel to this, the plant managements put a lot of pressure on the workers to come to work. In these conditions, the 6:00 to 2:00 in the afternoon shift went
When a group of comrades, former union leaders who are without jobs today, including myself, learned this, we decided to do everything we could to turn the situation around.
We went to the plant gate and stopped the buses bringing in the workers who were to start at 2:00. We asked them to organize a general assembly once they were in the plant so that a vote could be taken for a stoppage. Most of the comrades were enthusiastic about this pro-
What is your opinion about the The legislation that is still in force as of now completely
We have to fight for the full restoration of trade-union rights. The unions have to be in the hands of the
There is no excuse for keeping the unions under the trustees appointed by the dictatorship. Without any more delays, without shilly-shallying, the unions have to be given back to the workers. And, through democratic elections, the workers have to chose their own leaders.
Q. By what concrete means can "normalization of the trade unions" be a-
The only thing the government should do is give the unions back to their these leaders themselves should organize elections plant by plant so that delegates, Internal Commissions (plant committees), and leadership bodies can be elected. A democratic process of selection has to be respected from the shop-steward level to the national leadership of the CGT
This is the only guarantee that the leaders will be representative and the unions strong. Strong unions are not a danger to the country, as some suggest
To the contrary, they are the assurance that the organization of the working class will benefit the country.
What do you think about the question of the "missing"?
A. This is a very grave wound for the Argentine people. It requires a very concrete response and a very concrete solu-
This is something that cannot be ignored. I do not say that out of a spirit of vengeance, but it is impossible for human beings to close their eyes to such a reality.
This is not a political question, but one that touches the lives and feelings of every human being. It cannot be ignored, be sidestepped. thing possible must be done to see that this sort of thing does not happen again.
Q. In your opinion, what are the
"plan of struggle" that should be put forward by the union
The most immediate points are defense of the means of work, recovery of buying power, restoration of the unions to the workers, and the reestablishment of all the guarantees included in the labor legislation that was abolished by the dictatorship. These are the most immediate
Q. Isn't the reestablishment of democratic rights one of them, too?
Yes, but the restoration of what we might call legal and political democracy is inseparably linked to the restoration of democracy on the trade-union
You can't say that democracy exists in a country unless it exists in all spheres. You can't say there is political democracy unless there is democracy for the unions.
Q. What do the sections of the working class that you have contact with expect from the elections that are promised for the end of this year?
The workers movement expects a great deal from a democratic stage. It wants democracy. The workers do not think, however, that their problems are solved through This will only be one step in a
After the elections, we are going to have to go on fighting. big struggle in front of us. are going to have to realize that we find ourselves in a ruined country, a country whose productive apparatus has to be rebuilt, reorganized, a country where the power of wage earners has to be won back, a country whose international reputation has to be restored
Both before and after the elections, the most important thing is and will remain fighting to solve the gigantic social and economic problems that face us.
Bolivian miners demand tions, the size of families, prices, and so forth.
Atter this study, we reached the conclusion that in May-June 1982, the minimum living wage for a family of six was 11,330 pesos a month (about 500 US dollars). Our study was unprecedented in workers management of industry
Bolivia. Previously, everybody limited themselves to making calculations on the basis of increases in the cost of living.
Q If the miners' demand is not accepted by the government, what will the FSTMB do?
Interview with a Fourth Internationalist miners leader
On October 31, 1982, the new Bolivian president, Siles Suazo, announced that
A
For the moment, the government has not rejected our demand.
But, unless we get a favorable response after
"social the end of the hundred-day truce"
the government has asked for, his government would institute comanagement in the administration of the state- owned mines.
The date chosen for the announcement was a symbolic one. It was the thirtieth anniversary of the nationalization of the emerged from the revolution of 1952.
'he party that held the government at the time, and the mantle of the revolu
Nacionalista Revolucionaria (MNI tion, was the Movimiento
Nationalist Movement).
This party has since moved clearly to the right and split into three successor groups.
The most right-wing, the MNR-Historico, which cooperated with the Banzer dictatorship, is headed by Paz Estenssoro, who presided over the nationalizations.
The MNR-I (Left MNR) is headed by the present president, Siles Suazo. And the Revolutionary Party of the Nationalist Left is led by Juan Lechin, the chairman of the Bolivian Labor Confederation, the COB.
A few days after Siles Suazo's announcement of the comanagement project,
Juan Lechin rejected it, saying that it was nothing more than a
West German model, aimed at setting up labor-management boards in the state enterprises." (Le Monde, November 11, 1982.)
In this way, a debate started up on the comanagement proposals put forward by the government of the Union Democratica Popular (People's Democratic
Union, a coalition including the MR-I, the CP, and the MIR). The plans call for boards including an equal number of representatives of the unions and the government.
This scheme for administering the state-owned enterprises, which represent about 80% of the key industrial installations in the country, has the backing of the Bolivian Communist Party.
The CP dominates the COB and serves as the transmission belt between the government and the unions.
The comanagement plan has also won the approval of other pro-Moscow CPs.
For example, it was hailed in the March 3 issue of the French CP's theoretical journal, Cahiers du communisme, which noted:
"A commission has been charged with drawing up plans for comanagement in the productive public enterprises, and henceforth the two most important,
COMIBOL (the mines) and the
YPFB (petroleum) will be run by boards made up of three government representatives and three elected representatives of the
The Bolivian section of the Fourth International, the Partido Obrero Revolucionario-Combate the comanagement scheme. Along with other revolutionary currents, it is calling for a majority for labor in the labormanagement is also supported by the leaders of the