workers control
The myth of 'co-management' in Venezuela: Reflections on Alcasa and Invepal
An analysis of two of the most famous cases of Venezuelan 'co-management', Alcasa and Invepal.
With a lot of rhetoric and propaganda the Chavez administration has advanced different examples of co-management which, they claim, demonstrate their desire to transform Venezuela’s relations of production. A compañero from Europe visited us recently and got to know two of the most celebrated cases: Alcasa and Invepal.
Workers struggle betrayed by State and union in Venezuela
This article was written by a revolutionary who has been working with the occupied factory in Venezuela.
Workers Control at Venezuela’s Sanitarios Maracay under Attack
By Megan Hise
Egyptian cement workers refuse buy-out and propose self-management
The Cement workers in Tora, Helwan and Suez are refusing an early buyout scheme their Italian management is currently drafting, with the aim of cutting down the labor force.
Instead the workers want to buy the shares of the foreign management, and are proposing they (the workers) run the company themselves, promising to bring down the cement market price from LE400 per ton (expected to rise soon to LE600) to LE200.
Worker self-management in historical perspective, 1950-2006
A brief history of the movement for workers' self-management in the 20th and 21st centuries. Examines instances of workers' control in Yugoslavia, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and contemporary Argentina.
Introduction
Worker self-management (WSM) has re-emerged as a major movement in Argentina, particularly this year with over 200 factories organized and controlled by their workers and a national co-coordinator of self-managed enterprises in the process of being organized.
Principles of Syndicalism - Tom Brown
Written by the well known activist and propagandist Tom Brown, the article explains clearly the principles according to which syndicalist unions organise, and the new society they aim to create "within the shell of the old".
This simple introduction to syndicalism, workers control and libertarian communism originally appeared as a series of articles in War Commentary for Anarchism in 1943.
Contents
1. Not Centralism - But Federalism
2. Economic Federalism
3. Abolition Of The Wages System
4. The End Of The Money Trick
5. To Each According To His[/Her] Needs
6. Workers' Control of Distribution
Japan’s worker co-operative movement into the 21st century
The pace of Japan’s economy is picking up again after more than a decade of stasis. During this long period of economic stagnation, the many personnel practices favoring employees known by the rubric “lifetime employment” have been subjected to increased criticism by pro-investor, neo-liberal voices.
Workers’ self-management FAQ
Frequently asked questions about workers self-management.
Statistical information on socialisation in the Spanish Revolution
Statistics on agrarian and industrial collectivisation in the Spanish Civil War, the numbers of collectives and workers involved.
Adequate statistical information is difficult to obtain, but the following data should give a general idea of the extent of the libertarian revolution on the land and in the cities.
Zanon factory occupation - interview with workers
An excellent set of interviews conducted with workers at the worker-run Zanon ceramics factory, occupied at the time of the Argentine uprising of 2001. It includes historical and background information.
This was published by Wildcat in December 2003 but has only now been translated into English (for prol-position news #6, July 2006), and a short introduction added. Although it is a bit old, it still contains unique insights into the situation, hopes, difficulties and dynamics of the occupation process and many personal interviews.
1971: The people's clinic, Rome
The history of the residents in one of Rome's outlying ghettos who had inadequate health care provision. Seizing a government building, they and sympathetic health workers set up their own medical centre and ran it collectively.
In Italy in 1960s and 70s San Basilio, one of Rome’s outlying ghetto areas, a movement was developing of people fighting against their lousy, inhuman living conditions. There were 40,000 people trapped in this slum district. In the previous few months about 100 families had been on rent strike. This started as a spontaneous protest, and was becoming more organised.
1918-1921: The Italian factory occupations - Biennio Rosso
A brief history of the Italian Biennio Rosso (two red years) and the mass factory occupations of 1920 where half a million workers ran their workplaces for themselves.
The reformist unions then negotiated an end to the conflicts, clearing the path for the fascist reaction - the Biennio Nero (two black years) of 1921-22.
1919: The Seattle general strike
A general strike of 100,000 workers, which saw the city shut down and all essential services provided under workers' control.
The First World War was hardly over, it was February 1919, and the leadership of the revolutionary rank-and-file union the Industrial Workers of the World was in jail. However, the IWW idea of the general strike became reality for five days in Seattle, Washington, when a walkout of 100,000 working people brought the city to a halt.
Melbourne Tram Dispute and Lockout 1990 - Anarcho-Syndicalism in Practice
The history of the January-February 1990 tramways dispute in Melbourne, Australia which saw transport workers, under anarcho-syndicalist influence, taking control of the trams and running them for free before power was cut off by the bosses. Includes a short introduction with information about the anarcho-syndicalist tram workers grouping involved.
Introduction
Occupied Bauen Hotel - the struggle continues
If this story sounds vaguely familiar, it may be because Labourstart ran a campaign last year in support of workers in Argentina who, faced with a mismanaged business about to close decided to take matters into their own hands.
That company was Zanon and it's part of a network of worker-managed businesses that are transforming people's lives. At the centrr of that network is the Hotel Bauen, a four star hotel in Buenos Aires, run by its workers.
Collectives in the Spanish Revolution - Gaston Leval
Detailed account of worker-controlled agriculture in revolutionary Spain during the civil war.
COLLECTIVES IN THE SPANISH REVOLUTION
by Gaston Leval
Published by Freedom Press, London, 1975
Text from anarchosyndicalism.net
Argentine workers take control of industry
The workers of the San Justo glassworks in Buenos Aires never thought about owning their company, until it went bankrupt four years ago.
It was just one of thousands of businesses that sank as Argentina's once prosperous economy went into meltdown, pushing almost half the population below the poverty line.
Today a new furnace where the red hot glass is melted is burning. The factory is one of more than 100 "recovered businesses" which are now putting themselves forward as an alternative business model for the country.
Industrial Collectivisation during the Spanish Revolution - Deirdre Hogan
Although it was in the countryside where the most far-reaching
anarchist socialisation took place, the revolution took place in the
cities and the towns too. At that time in Spain almost 2 million out
of a total population of 24 million worked in industry, 70% of which
was concentrated in one area - Catalonia. There, within hours of the
An account of agrarian collectives in Aragon - Augustin Souchy
An account of the workings of rural agricultural collectives in Aragon, revolutionary Spain, 1936-39
Agrarian Collectives during the Spanish Civil War - Michael Seidman
Agrarian Collectives during the Spanish Revolution and Civil War
Michael Seidman
PDF Format (108KB)
Russian Labour and Bolshevik Power after October - William Rosenberg
William G. Rosenberg analyses the relationship between the working class and the Bolsheviks between 1917 and 1918, emphasising the role of strikes, protests and demonstrations during the period before and after October.
Due to the large number of footnotes from primarily Russian language sources, they have been omitted from this online version. See www.slavicreview.uiuc.edu/ for information about subscriptions and back issues.
Russian Labor and Bolshevik Power after October
William G. Rosenberg
Slavic Review, Vol. 44, No. 2. (Summer, 1985)
