Interview with Joaquin Nieto class solidarity into the BEC.
and defence of living standards; for slate headed by the outgoing general secretary, Mar-
An agreement was reached between the PC, the LCR celino Camacho, on the one hand, and Julian Ariza on and the MCE to jointly defend a series of amendments,
The battle followed the lines of divisions each one of which, as a result, achieved 20 to 30 per within the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) itself.
At the same time, the right as a whole also had to face failed to bring about the presentation of a united left a strong challenge from the left.
slate for the commission executive elections because of
Furthermore, the outgoing leadership was obliged to the refusal of the PC to put a second LCR comrade in resort to a scandalous manoeuvre in order to prevent a high enough position on the slate to stand a chance the discussions on what strategy for the trade-union of being elected. In fact, the PC are trying to achieve movement from being reflected in the vote for the dominance over the trade-union left within the CCOO,
They did this by holding the commission executive.
elections before the discussion and vote on the resolu-
This makes it difficult for the LCR to
This provoked a feeling of tion on union strategy.
operate a united-front policy.
dissatisfaction amongst the delegates, and only half of the engineering-workers section of the CCOO, an of them actually participated in the vote on the organisational manoeuvre by the PC prevented resolution.
election of an LCR comrade to the leadership of the
The trade-union left, which gained a total of nine out of the fifty seats on the commission executive, also
Joaquin Nieto is a native of the Basque country. He acted in a divided way in the congress. On one side headed the slate supported by the LCR and the MCE, was a slate headed by Alfredo Clemente, which represented the positions of the pro-Soviet Communist which only missed, by one vote, getting a second
Party (PC) of Ignacio Gallego. It took a stand against social contracts and in favour of organising workers' then of the unified LCR and ETA VI and, under
Eight people from this slate got elect-
Franco, he was the leader of the CCOO in the construction industry in Catalonia. He has been a member ed. On the other side was the slate led by Joaquin
Nieto, supported by members and sympathisers of the of the Central Committee of the LCR since 1976.
Liga Comunista Revolucionaria (LCR, the section of
1984 he was elected to the executive leadership of the the Fourth International in the Spanish state) and by
CCOO in Catalonia.
which he gave to Combate, the weekly paper of the the Communist Movement of Spain (MCE), gained 27 votes and one seat. The intervention of the LCR, on a balance sheet of the CCOO congress.
LCR was based around four major amendments to the It was first published on July 10.
Question. Let's start with the balance are rejecting particular inter-confedera- for the confederation executive and the sheet that you would make of the third
Answer. Essentially, the results of the third congress were negative.
of 'national solidarity', which is very ratified. The congress also confirmed a policy of social contracts, institutionalising inter-confederal agreements [between the CCOO and the Social Democratic UGT], as the basis for collective
These are the most negative aspects of the congress.
seem to us that these decisions will help the confederation to rebuild its support or organise itself as it could have done if another set of policies had been adopted.
Nevertheless, congress did have a series of positive aspects of which the most important was to demonstrate how much the policy of 'national solidarity' is gradually losing support within
There are more and more
International Viewpoint October 15, 1984 cent of the votes. union federation. person elected. either questioning this policy overall or a failure and has weakened the union. to support it with quite the same enthuas that displayed by Marcelino Camacho in his report to the congress. congress was the strength of the union left and within that the significance of our current which, up till now, has been totally absent from any confederbodies [ie. at the Spanish-state The slate headed by Marcelino Camacho, They defende stret connot of the one 25, 1977) in the name of a 'policy of nation-
In this sense they represent the list headed by Julian Ariza, which the PCE led by the ex-general secretary San-
But joint discussions nevertheless often employ unacceptable In fact, at the congress Nieto was a member of ETA VI and
Below we publish an interview Q. The presentation of separate slates differences between what we call the Camacho wing and the Ariza wing was a salient feature of the conference. Do you think that the latter current is trying to become an alternative within the CCOO?
A. The congress reflected accurately the existing situation. Basically, Julian Ariza's current agrees with the policy of 'national solidarity'. But there are other problems. These two currents reflect what is going on in the Spanish Communist Party (PCE), that is obthe executive commission. This current controls the Engineering Federation, the largest in the Confederation. the organisation in the Basque country and other impor tant sections of the Coo. It argues. for tactical reasons, against a union strategy based on social pacts. In fact, in practice this current has taken decisions very close to the approach of Camacho, like, for example, the signing of the agreement which ended the long strike at Sagunto (see IV, No 55, June 18, 1984). In fact this sector is the most undemocratic and repressive in the whole confederation
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comrades of the MCE, starting from the vious.
ly at things.
results.
united, this ure.
Whilst some think porting other
CCOO.
We vein.
of it.
points of view.
tions.
prevent
But
Their criticism
For exdire consequences of the of the CCOO.
left candidate either. Why not?
It would have been logical for the left to have presented a joint slate for the congress because this opposition has worked together in the union and should continue to do so. Also it would have been good for the mass of trade unionists to see a strong and united will manage it.
But that is only one aspect opposition.
of the problem. There are many other
Everyone is included in this left where there
For some time we, that is the LCR, have constituted a relatively
We contributed large left opposition.
a great deal to the discussion and debate that eventually led to the presenta-
We
This was the this fighting back, and beyond. This unity could grow. It is obvious that our points of agreement are more solid and that we share some experiences, some problems and a similar orientation within the CCOO But it is not the same where the MCE is not in the union. Here we must look for unity of a different sort, which is not as easy or as natural to achieve as in the Workers Commissions.
Q. It is clear that in trade-union activity and in day-to-day trade-union life the LCR is not without some influence. Now we are present in the leadership of the CCOO. How can revolutionaries use this advantage?
First of all, the fact that we have gained a position on the executive of the CCOO shows that our within the union is certainly not declining If we compare the number of delegates we had in the previous congress to what we had in this one, we can say that we are stronger. That is important because the last few years have not been easy for revolutionaries working the CCOO. In fact, they have been very difficult, firstly because the situation was rough for the Workers Commis sions themselves, and secondly because the weakening of the policies of the union coincided with a decline in union democracy.
During these years, people could have decided that it wasn't worth work ing in the CCOO and that it was too much effort for poor results. What we have proved is that even in difficult times, if you intervene with a clear goal for the future, you can end up by widening your audience. People are more receptive to our ideas now and we have gained a certain respect because of how long we've been active.
It's important to understand that people don't just judge us according to the number of delegates we have at the congress but because of the work we have done in the factories. Here our co-thinkers lead sections of the union and the shopfloor committees with the full confidence of the ers. In the end, I think that our gaining a seat on the executive means that we are not just a minority current, but a force that can grow and carry weight within the union.
Anyway, we must not let our imagination run away with us. the day, executive committees are a bit like parliament, and the body really decides the daily direction of organisations make annual
Alfredo Clemente
We, therefore, have a rightful place within
Now, I won't say this
What do you think about wanted us to appear as just supporters of a left opposition organised
We have made a lot of headway in the last period toward unity with the
Alfredo Clemente and his current.
course we support this current, are not just an auxiliary force.
of the CCOO ment Inter-confederation ers Union (UGT) and the CCOO; the National Employment Agreement (ANE) of June cent this agreement only envisaged a wage inof between 9.5 per cent and 11.5 per cent.
International Viewpoint October 15, 1984