The situation of workers and the challenges of a new era of struggle
Under the counter neo-liberal ruling class has radically altered the pattern of accumulation in Chile, from an emerging model "development" of import substitution, to a model of primary-export matrix, ie oriented to the extraction of natural resources for sale without much processing. In this scenario, workers and popular sectors have suffered the social consequences of political defeat meant the military dictatorship, which has plunged the proletariat in a long period of reflux which recently started dating.
Today, diverse and important sectors of our class have started their social and political rearmament, fighting basically and economic demands in the context of a global economic crisis that is hitting countries heavily dependent on world imperialism. Try here, present a brief retrospective of the events that lead us to confront the current situation and set out some ideas that seem crucial to all those who sincerely and consistently delivered to the struggle for socialism and freedom. Read more
productive decentralization and fragmentation of the proletariat
For nearly four decades, the bourgeois offensive has seen a series of profound changes that have involved the fragmentation and precariousness of our class. Since the mid-'80s the bourgeoisie reorganized the productive base of the large company focused, changing it to a decentralized structure through a network of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to work together and depend on the larger structure. Thus, thousands of workers were forced (through the firing and rehiring of lower wages) to maintain a working relationship "atypical" unlinking of companies producing goods constituents, to transfer contractual liability to subsidiary companies, which serve, or supply subcontract workers. While there is a rigorous scheme, we can differentiate on the one hand, the company hired by the "mother", which are a small number, usually specialized in their work, and on the other hand, a large "periphery" of workers that rotate and have no contractual ties formal with the parent. This group is responsible for running the most part in the production, distribution and sale of goods.
fully using this tool, employers got rid of the costs you have the "job stability" of the workforce. This has meant that the working class has been fragmented into thousands of production units where working conditions are highly heterogeneous establish a form of extremely alienated labor, where there is no collective identification with the workplace, with plenty of disruption, where competition between workers is daily bread, etc. Achieved with this release a large number of workers in the path of struggle for their class interests, developed intensively for many years in Chile.
The offensive bourgeois reforms, repression of the labor movement and labor legal framework
understand that parallel to this process of fragmentation of production, the bourgeoisie assumes an offensive in the ideological, political and legal which had as its main features:
1) Suppression of the military dictatorship during the 70s. This affects the entire class organizations, their members most active and popular movement as a whole, have serious consequences for organic and subjective strength of the class.
2) structural reforms attacked social rights in general, by privatizing public enterprises and services and installation of logic subsidiary. In particular is the creation of the AFP, private management of pension funds.
3) The dismantling of traditional labor law, in direct relation to fragmentation productive, and thus achieving the complete ineffectiveness of the legal instruments in force until regulatory Chile merchant capital-labor ratio.
For its part, working conditions were considerably modified with respect to the previous stage. By means of the "Labor Plan" (1979) Dictatorship implemented and allowed the installation of labor practices that leave workers exposed to precarious conditions and imply serious limitations on collective rights.
a) Cut the right to compensation for years of service: this right, won by the workers, by the right for compensation of one month per year old. Was cut to a maximum of 11 years.
b) Subcontracting: Under this plan, was repealed Law No. 16,757 that was in effect from 1968, which placed limitations on the work of contractors and regulating their activity. These changes allowed the absence of requirements to operate as a contractor, the removal of the parent company of workers in social security, and above all, the massive subject the workers to work or labor contracts. Thus, there was an explosion of outsourcing and the spread of this practice to all areas of production.
c) Limitations on the organization association: the new legislation provides as principal of the Union Company, which is the only legally entitled to make collective agreements (for the trading company is legally required). In this regard, trade unions or any inter-company and transient are severely limited, which is extended to the right to strike, union privileges, etc.
These measures have been able to operate efficiently against the proletariat divided and isolated by keeping large segments that share common demands. In this sense, contract law enacted during the governments of the Concertación overcame the problem and is silent on collective rights contract workers. On the contrary, the law came to regulate the practice "unlawful" within the workplace, limiting and Norman employer abuse, but without compromising the operating system.
The ineffectiveness of the legal instruments regulating the capital - work resulting from this fragmentation of production and dismantling of traditional labor law have caused the loss of bargaining power of workers and hence the crisis of trade unions traditional.
In this sense, is that the current union, whose organizational base model is the union per company, said to be insufficient in the context collective bargaining, as there is an inability to influence improvements in the conditions of sale of the workforce with such a small margin for action. An example of this is the right to strike, limited to only 30 days so it has no major implications in the results. Only a tiny percentage of the unions reached rescaling the CPI, a figure tending to decrease.
addition, the current union, has proved ineffective as tools of cohesion, as a herd to enable the workers organize to improve their wages. This dual situation is due, first to the restructuring of production which is not yet took full awareness, and secondly, the lack of class project.
This crisis of inadequacy, inefficiency and lack of project is particularly evident in the falling rate of unionization, which has only reached 11%, far below the historic rate of 30% of the economically active population, recorded in the period 70. Our balance sheet is even worse if we consider some factors of a historical nature: while in the 70's, and a high rate of unionization see how the working class was able to build organizations that actually exceeded the legal unions and managed to create new political records (such as cords industrial), today, that 11% unionized is an index representing the level of disorganization of the working class and at the same time is a reflection of the malaise that has naturalized unconscious and the working class against the union representative bodies, for their squalid results in the economic struggle, by the corrupt practices of leaders, authoritarianism, and betrayal present in many unions, among other reasons.
What better example than the current Confederation of Workers. Remember that was the same CUT who pacta the new labor agreement in the framework of the transition becoming the tool of the power bloc to implement the necessary legal changes and contribute to the climate of political stability for the new pattern of accumulation to continue the march, and today this organization multisindical is in practice a trade union department of the ruling class, which lacks representation from the workers not only by low levels of unionization in general exist in Chile, but also because it is a fighting tool that will enable workers to attain better living conditions, but on the contrary, an obstacle has been permanently to achieve real improvements, demonstrations and mortgage betraying the interests of the class for personal and party interests.
Path to Professional and political reset the workers
In our opinion, the reality described above began to be challenged bit by bit by the fighting spirit that animates some important points in defending workers' small business claims, which for the time served for the class to do its expertise around the defense and recovery of all the small guarantees that was removed.
Likewise, these sectors have been strengthened incipient political consciousness of class, although this has not been widespread and has shaped large organizations reflect the qualitative improvement of their struggles, it has allowed small building organizational models that have been pulled momentarily factual and legal unions. But above all, has come back in office, in embryonic and immediate, in many organizations of workers to the principles of class independence and direct democracy, condensed into the practices that have covered the strikes of recent years: sabotage action mass direct, roadblocks, etc..
But these events are still isolated embryonic organization marked by a reflux of many years, and has penetrated deep into the shape of politics and trade unions. This represents a contradiction between the levels of organization have been experiencing-and-development potential, and degree of maturity in the political consciousness of the exploited, still very hegemonized by the dominant ideology.
However, we believe that you can project a line of continuity between the historical struggles of the Chilean proletariat and the actions still isolated from the modern proletariat. This has been demonstrated, particularly in the emergence of the sectors related to the strategic production circuits of the national economy and various sectors have taken up a tradition of class politics, turning basic work and a struggle perspective.
Moreover, both the role played by workers contracted out (as the main protagonists of the recent labor struggles) as well as public sector workers (who face great challenges this year), presented to the Chilean proletariat new horizons control that enable, in a strategic sense, the struggle for the historical claims of the class, since it is known to take steps to enable more accurate to link the immediate demands, economic, with political demands that challenge the existing order and seek to overcome, even though we know that despite this situation reorganization social market economy still has a room to silence the movement and the demands of the proletariat.
Well, the basic condition for developing this enormous potential existing in the field of the struggle of the workers, it is imperative that the sectors revolutionary class and feel the presence in the trade union organizations, to build national and pending on the various intentions and efforts of other colleagues who express a desire to build on the same path, seeking to broaden the scope of organizations and always looking for the union aware of any and all employees in organizations that go beyond the narrow framework company union, trade unions only by economic branch, circuit-productive, Holding, or other figures, which will allow us to unify the workers as a class and go while striking and revealing the logic of domination and exploitation existing .
The new organizations must find that its strength is felt and thus shorten the huge disruption. However, the unit without internal life is not unity, but a heavy obstacle to the workers themselves, the bureaucracy is the oxide of the proletariat, which is necessary for its organic form provides for the existence of representatives from each workplace, linked spaces close to the basic mechanisms democratic functioning of whom should take precedence immediate revocability delegates and leaders who betray the interests of the workers.
But well, being our intention to make the tools to fight unions, workers' self-defense, is more than necessary, as a way to advance and safeguard the achievements obtained, removing the state space while develop our own offensive force, at some point, it will fall.
this line is essential to collectivize our forces and contribute to the generation of cooperative strategies with other sectors in struggle. Most contradiction here is that currently the majority of union political spaces are not made mostly of grassroots workers and leaders who have seen the need to come together as a trend. Are largely made up of militants near the "union activity" which in practice operate as small circles away from ideological bases, and therefore more concerned to synthesize demands and slogans "above" that enhance the self activity the masses.
Against this, it is necessary that libertarians and other elements of revolutionary intent, inserts in the trade unions to group together and coordinate more level with a clear definition of class that enhances the construction of base and allow to increase the operating range of the libertarian proposals, providing, as an organized force, the rearmament of the workers.
Our most immediate problems:
Closely related to the above, a number of urgent problems that may test the capacities of the working class and its most militant. As anarchists we believe that emphasis should be placed on anti shake, strengthen and build on the following points during this period: a.
End of contract, if a company needs workers who hire them directly. That same work, equal pay appropriate. This requires further among the contract workers and the coordination and meeting spaces that allow sharing plans and prospects of control, setting the importance of raising domestic rates by industry, in fact, outpacing the law. B.
For the return of pension funds. Creating a social security system bipartite (employers and state). C.
For the defense and restoration of compensation for years of service with no cap and for all and all workers. In this sense, as the vast majority of fixed-term contract workers, for work or task, is denied payment of a eviction and compensation, whatever the old time that this has worked, it is necessary to fight for the repeal of Article 305 of the Labour Code. Meanwhile up the fight by paying a compensation bonus at the end of a task or activity, 2.5 days per month worked, at least. D.
For a general wage increase. A minimum wage of 380,000, monthly per worker and is reset automatically according to the rising cost of living. E.
In defense of the work. Distribution of working hours, absorbing the labor earnings, without loss of salary. F.
By reducing the workday to 6 hours a day, without reducing wage. G.
For the right to health, education, housing, transport and dignified retirement. End of marketing of basic social guarantees. For providing free social services. By socialization in the administration of our basic needs.
h. Address the limitations of the right to strike, it is necessary to fight for the effective right to strike, ending once and for all with the replacements. Strengthen and encourage the strike as a method of combat pressure and the workers. I.
Faced with the closure of businesses and lock out, demanding the forced expropriation without compensation under the control of self-management and workers. J.
Scroll through the re-nationalization of copper in the strategic framework for their socialization, self-management under the direct control of workers and other sectors of the proletariat
k. Against the criminalization of all the struggles of the proletariat, an end to police repression.
Today, the challenges are enormous. As dark and barbaric times require a high commitment, dedication and a significant programmatic clarity. That's why if we want to advance a project of social transformation, we must strive to organize and join the fight from the Chilean proletariat identify the tensions of the system and make it collapse, opening spaces where the working class can make your experience and equipping itself with an openly anti-capitalist program, to overcome, once and for all, the class society which has cost so much suffering most of humanity.
For Socialism and Freedom! Up the
and Struggling! Libertarian Communist Federation
Chile
