A-Infos (en) Britain, Aanarchist journal Direct Action #41 - International section: CNT Grows in Seville; CNT in the Madrid Metro Strike; International strikes; Indigenous Struggles in Venezuela;

International ---- CNT Grows in Seville <image> AVE train hostesses picket line
In London recently, SolFed had a visitor from the Seville local of our Spanish 
sister organisation, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). We were able 
to learn about the local’s activities over the last seven years, where, in his 
words, they changed from being an anarchist group to a union organised on 
anarchist principles. ---- In the year 2000, refuse collectors in Tomares, near 
Seville, went on strike. The CNT got involved and did a lot of solidarity work, 
both physical and financial, with the result that the workers involved joined 
after they won. In 2001 they had to strike again, and again they won.
<image>
strikers in Tomares doing a
‘full monty’-style publicity stunt

This was important because it gave the local union a lot more confidence. They 
began training militants in labour and contract law and negotiations. The new 
confidence also led to approaches to groups of workers in struggle, such as the 
strike of train hostesses on the AVE (high speed railway) in Andalusia in 2004, 
which was won. In 2005, the CNT aided the AUSSA tow truck drivers strike, which 
was also eventually won. Since then, there have been strikes of cleaners at both 
universities in Seville, in newspaper distribution and disputes in supermarkets 
and hotels. In the German-owned Plus supermarkets, the FAU (German IWA section) 
were able to offer solidarity though, unfortunately, this was the only dispute 
in the period that the CNT lost. 

The CNT has grown tenfold in Seville in seven years. This growth hasn’t been 
unique to Seville; in other cities, especially Barcelona, there have been 
similar experiences. The effect of the Mercadona supermarket strike in Barcelona 
has been to make the CNT the first point of call for workers in that supermarket 
in other parts of Spain.

The key factors in this growth have been self-confidence; approaching workers, 
rather than waiting for them to come along; using the internet and other 
technologies (some disputes have been won merely by making a blog about the 
company); training militants and legal support.

----------------------------

International strikes

CNT in the Madrid Metro Strike
<image>

Early January saw the end of a CNT Metro cleaning workers’ strike in Madrid. The 
Sindicato de Oficios Varios, the general membership branch of the Madrid local 
federation of the CNT, after a long struggle which relied on direct action, 
demonstrations and the strike itself, views the result of the action as only a 
partial success.

While those sacked and on disciplinaries got their jobs back and while 
management stood down, the workers eventually signed an agreement with Metro 
bosses that would stop any mobilisations and strikes until 2012. The CNT refused 
to sign the agreement with management, a stance that was not taken by most other 
unions in the dispute. The communist CCOO did not even back the strike, letting 
its members go in to work, and the socialist UGT and the “radical” CGT held 
meetings with bosses behind the backs of the Strike Committee and reported 
agreements made to workers’ assemblies. The CNT constantly fought for the 
workers’ assembly to be the decision-making body in this and other disputes. 
Instead, many workers’ assemblies were conducted like political meetings with 
parties and other unions telling workers what to do.

On the one hand, as the CNT is one of many unions organising in the Madrid 
Metro; this shows its weakness. But, on the other hand, the fact that the CNT 
was often the only union to go on demos, to picket and inform workers and the 
public of what was happening, together with its arguments in favour of 
horizontal decision-making shows how powerful a workplace-based union can be 
that is not dependent on massive state subsidies (such as the UGT, CCOO and CGT 
receive). The Madrid Metro workers’ strike shows yet again how unions that 
accept positions on Workplace Committees and monies from the state for their 
participation in union elections can never reflect their members’ views and 
needs. Only a union that is fully controlled and accountable to its membership 
can produce the goods.

For further info in Spanish see: 
http://www.cnt.es/sovmadrid/comunicamos4.htm#tomapazymoja.

-----------------------------------------------

International strikes

On yer Strike Bike
<image>

A bicycle factory in Nordhausen, Germany became a flagship of workers’ 
resistance for 5 days. Instead of taking the threat of insolvency of the factory 
lying down, 122 of the original workforce of 135 took the initiative by 
occupying the factory. To support themselves, the self-managing workforce 
produced 1,837 of the distinctive red ‘strike bikes’, paying themselves an 
hourly wage of 10 euros.

The insolvency administrator has moved in, changed the locks on the factory and 
appointed a ‘rescue’ company. This has not dimmed the resolve of the workers who 
continue their defiance with the assistance and support of the Free Workers’ 
Union, FAU and others. It is hoped that more strike bikes will be made in the 
future. An upcoming newsletter of latest developments will shortly be made 
available on: www. strike-bike.de

-----------------------------------------------

International strikes

Strikes ’n Struggles in Russia
<image>
ford workers during a previous strike

The following report is adapted from one sent by the Confederation of 
Revolutionary Anarcho-Syndicalists (KRAS), SoFed’s sister organisation in Russia.

The strike movement in Russia is linked to high inflation. Prices for food and 
some other necessities have increased 50-70% since the beginning of 2007 and 
this is far from the end. Economists say prices will rise again by 50% during 
the winter! The inflation, strikes and the brutal reaction of the Russian state 
have one source – the criminal structure of Russia’s social, political and 
economic system.

The economy of Putin’s Russia is based on monopolies. They are almost everywhere 
and all of them are connected to some state bureaucrat or other, or with friends 
of friends of Putin. (Naturally these monopolies pay big money to the 
bureaucrats.) This third world economy has only one aim - to provide prosperity 
for the gangsters at the top of the pyramid of the new rich and state 
functionaries. At the top is Mr Putin whose untold wealth equals about US$40 
billion.

These people are not interested in any ‘negotiations’ with the workers and many 
are former criminals or KGB officials and don’t understand what ‘negotiations’ 
mean. However, all the functionaries know their time is limited; they can lose 
power during a struggle to the death between different factions. 

With Putin having to stand down as president under the constitution, it is 
urgent for these people to make money as fast as they can. They use any methods 
available against strikers and protesters – judicial prohibition as well as 
police and criminal violence. For example, the courts have declared almost all 
strikes ‘illegal’ in the past few months and some union leaders have been 
attacked by the police or mafia.

It is against this background that a strike broke out at the Ford car factory in 
Saint Petersburg last November. About 1,700 workers joined the strike out of a 
total workforce of about 2,200. The main demand of the workers was for a 30-40% 
wage increase (i.e. less than inflation). At present Ford workers earn about 
US$500 per month, which is quite good by Russian standards. In Saratov (with one 
million inhabitants) the salary of industrial workers, doctors and teachers is 
about US$150 dollars per month and it is quickly shrinking because of inflation.

KRAS called on the workers to stop following the union leaders and to organise a 
general assembly and make all decisions themselves. The factory was occupied by 
the OMON special police forces. Union leaders were very angry at the propaganda 
from KRAS.

As for the workers themselves, they told us privately that they understand that 
their trade union cannot help them, but they are afraid to take direct action, 
and they are afraid of the state law and police. They also had financial 
problems in sustaining the strike and returned to work in mid December after 
Ford agreed to raise wages but not by the full amount claimed and to negotiate a 
settlement regarding other matters by February.

Ford was not the only strike in St Petersburg in November. The dockers’ union 
paralysed the port on November 13th. However, the courts ruled this action was 
illegal and the union called off the strike after a few days.

KRAS say that the unions’ insistence on following the letter of the law and 
obeying orders to stop strikes will prevent them winning. They note that this 
approach is “madness everywhere in the world because of the neoliberal politics 
of capitalism. But especially it is madness here in our third world primitive 
rude dictatorship of criminals and the KGB!”


-----------------------------------------------

International

Indigenous Struggles in Venezuela
<image>
Wayuu territory straddles the
Venezuela-Colombia border

The following is adapted from the November 2007 edition of El Libertario, 
circulated by Comisión de Relaciones Anarquistas, CRA, de Venezuela. El 
Libertario has an English section – see 
http://www.nodo50.org/ellibertario/english.html.  

At the second Zapatista/ indigenous international meeting in Mexico during July 
last year, members of the Wayuu, a Venezuelan indigenous community, reaffirmed 
their autonomy from the government of Hugo Chavez. The Zapatistas declared them 
“the first Venezuelan indigenous community to come without the red shirt and 
cap” (this being associated with Chavez).

The Wayuu delegation, participating fully in the workshops, pointed out that the 
information then in circulation via the Venezuelan state and from speeches by 
Chavez outside Venezuela, gave a false impression. Instead, everything was not 
okay with the indigenous communities in Venezuela. They reported that “no deputy 
speaks in favour of the indigenous communities threatened by coal interests”; 
that “all the Perijá mountain range [on the Venezuela-Colombia border] was going 
to be given in concession”; and that “the indigenous ministry was managed by the 
government, not by the indigenous people…, [who] did not vote to found the 
ministry….”

‘no to coal in the Sierra de Perijá’

Wayuu delegate, Jorge Montiel, continued to El Libertario: “We also made clear 
that we are not chavistas or anti-chavistas: we are indigenous people against 
imperialism and capitalism. If we were antichavistas we would be running for 
high positions in the opposition. If we were chavistas we would be running for 
deputy in the assembly, the legislative council or running for councillor. We 
are in the middle, standing for our own interest, which is the land.”

Some of this did not go down too well with North Americans present, who favoured 
the Chavista approach, but it was pointed out that they had not been to the area 
and were unaware of the real situation.

The Wayuu established relations with organizations from France, Italy and Spain. 
Montiel explained: “They are going to visit us and we are going to visit their 
countries to speak about the indigenous consensus. We also had relations with 
anarchist groups, and they are going to visit us too. We are multiplying and 
growing and we have no fear because we are fighting for our rights.”

Wayuu people, after this trip to Mexico, have started to suffer attacks and 
other retaliation. They had been invited by a state radio station to a National 
Venezuelan Radio workshop but all of a sudden they got notification they were no 
longer invited. The reason? Because they signed the letter delivered to the 
Zapatistas, regarding the Venezuelan indigenous situation. Asks Montiel: “Can’t 
we criticize anything?”, answering his own question thus “In Mexico we said: 
probably from now on there is going to be police persecution against us and our 
fellow ecologists…that’s the way coal people, transnational companies and their 
friends act
_________________________________________
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