Workers in Control: Venezuela’s Occupied Factories
Marie Trigona spoke to Pablo Cormenzana
Latin America’s occupied factories and enterprises represent the development
of one of the most advanced strategies in defence of the working class and
resistance against capitalism and neoliberalism. This new phenomenon catching
hold throughout Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela continues to grow
despite market challenges. More than 30,000 Latin American workers are
employed at cooperative-run businesses, which were closed down by bosses and
reopened by employees.
In Venezuela alone, it is estimated that 1,200 business and factories have
been occupied by their workers after bosses and owners abandoned them. In
response to the Bolivarian revolution, many oligarchic and foreign investors
have fled Venezuela leaving workers out to dry. Venezuela’s working class has
stood up to the destiny of unemployment and helped to build a road to
socialism: taking over ransacked companies, calling for the nationalization
and implementing worker self-management. Since 2005, the Venezuelan government
passed a number of legal decrees expropriating abandoned factories for workers
to start up production. Today in Venezuela some 20 companies have been
nationalized and function under worker co-management or control.
One such group working to coordinate the grass-roots based worker takeovers in
Venezuela has been FRETECO (Co-managed and Occupied Factories’ Worker’s
Revolutionary Front). Workers from the state-worker co-managed industrial
valve plant INVEVAL formed FRETECO earlier this year to strategize how the
worker occupied factory movement can multiply industry under genuine worker
control. FRETECO held a small, but important conference in October where 15
worker co-managed companies (several producing and some still fighting to
start up production) gathered to share how worker controlled companies are
moving away from capitalism and challenges they must face.
Pablo Cormenzana representative from FRETECO and INVEVAL traveled to Buenos
Aires in November as part of the Hands Off Venezuela campaign. I caught him
before a talk at the BAUEN hotel, a recuperated enterprise and worker run
cooperative in the very heart of the city. In the interview and talk,
Cormenzana overviewed the successes and challenges of the worker occupied
factory movement in Venezuela.
M.T.: What happened at INVEVAL that pushed the workers to take over their
workplace?
P.C.: INVEVAL started when the owner shut down production in the plant which
was formerly called CNV (National Valve Manufacturer) in 2002. The owner of
CNV, Sosa Pietri, was part of Venezuela’s oligarchy. He decided to extend a
management lock out and closed the company down on December 9, 2002, leaving
all the workers out in the streets. On top of that he didn’t arrange any
indemnification for the workers, leaving them out to dry without paying their
salaries, social security etc. Originally, there were 330 workers at the
plant.
A group of these workers decided to begin a fight to demand that the former
owner pay them back what he owed them. Later, this demand transformed into the
idea of recovering their jobs and to re-open the company. This stage lasted
for two years, from March 2003 until April 2005. A group of about 65 workers
continued fighting. They were alone in their fight, visiting labor courts and
the labor ministry to demand the salaries that the owner never paid. This long
and difficult process had a demoralizing effect on the workers and many
abandoned the fight. The group was really dispersed at that time and in
December 2004 only one worker continued to camp outside the factory.
Around this time, the former boss decided that it was the perfect moment to
empty out the factory. Until December groups of workers had been camping
outside the plant’s doors. One night the boss secretly began to transport the
semi-constructed valves and tools from the plant. The workers found out that
the owner was stealing material from the plant and re-mobilized. This time,
more workers camped outside the company’s doors so that the boss wouldn’t
continue to ransack the plant. They were thinking ‘this guy left us out in the
streets and now he’s leaving with the few things that could be sold to pay us
back what he owed us.’
At the very same time, two very important situations developed in Venezuela.
In January 2005 during the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, President
Chávez launched his proposal for socialism. This was very important moment for
the worker controlled factories. The other important event for INVEVAL was the
nationalization of the paper mill INVEPAL. The paper mill VENEPAL was in a
similar situation as INVEVAL. The owner in this case claimed bankruptcy with
the idea of breaking up the company and selling off shares to the
transnational cardboard producer, Murphy. The owner of VENEPAL went bankrupt
and left the workers out to dry. The Venezuelan government told the workers at
VENEPAL that if they led a serious struggle and rallied on a large scale,
President Chávez may consider nationalizing the company. The workers accepted
the proposal and began to rally. They protested, pushing for nationalization
of VENEPAL. The president accepted the proposal and decreed the
nationalization of VENEPAL. The workers later formed INVEPAL.
The nationalization of INVEPAL motivated the workers of INVEVAL and they
launched a new campaign to get their jobs back. The president decreed the
nationalization of CNV, which is to later become INVEPAL-national endogenous
valve industry in April 2005.
M.T.: How has the factory been re-organized since the worker take-over?
P.C.: The workers had to fight hard to recover the factory. The factory has
been worker run since April 2005, a factory that was abandoned. We’re talking
about a huge factory that runs with computers and giant machinery. And yet,
the workers were able to make it work. They’re proving the theory that workers
can run industry without bosses. Not only are the workers at INVEVAL
successfully running a company without bosses or an owner, they’re also doing
it without technocrats or bureaucracy from the government. The government has
had
little participation in the functioning of the company. The company was solely
recovered by the very worker.
M.T. So no professionals stayed on in the plant? How have the workers managed
without professionals?
P.C.:
No, only manual workers stayed on in the plant. Middle and high level
management abandoned the company along with the boss. They had alliances with
the boss. I imagine that the former owner paid them their salaries and
indemnity for laying them off and they later found new jobs.
The workers not only recovered a factory by taking over the manual tasks. The
workers are also taking charge of the administrative areas. Currently, a group
of workers are studying administration at the state-run university. They are
proving wrong the theory that workers are unable to run a factory if they
don’t have a manager watching every move they make. Factories under worker
control function democratically, unlike with a boss. All of the decisions made
at INVEVAL are made in a workers’ assembly. The factory is run by worker
delegates. The current president of INVEVAL, Jorge Paredes worked in the
plant’s stock deposit. The delegates and president were voted democratically
by the workers’ assembly. If the delegates and representatives do not fulfill
their responsibilities according to what the assembly says, the assembly can
revoke the delegate from his or her position. All of the workers make the same
salaries, it doesn’t matter if they are truck drivers, line workers or the
president of the company. They are putting into practice genuine worker
control at INVEVAL.
M.T.: What is the future of the worker controlled factory movement in
Venezuela?
P.C: From the perspective of FRETECO we have a very positive outlook for
worker control in Venezuela. October 13-14, FRETECO held a national congress.
Over 10 worker co-managed factories participated in the congress, though more
than 15 companies are participating in FRETECO. Five companies couldn’t
participate because they couldn’t access transportation and because of limited
resources due to lack of government support. It’s necessary to understand that
in some cases workers are occupying factories that have been closed down and
they have no income. Right now FRETECO is working with 15 companies, but we
are getting a lot of calls from other companies that would like to join
FRETECO.
There are more than 1,200 business and factories that have been occupied by
their workers after bosses and owners abandoned them. President Chávez has
nationalized more than 20 companies that are all in different situations.
VENEPAL and INVEVAL are at the forefront of the worker controlled factory
movement. The working class in Venezuela is gaining strength and there’s a lot
of interest to continue to nationalize industry and put it in the hands of
workers. After the December elections, which President Chávez is sure to win,
the worker controlled factory movement will also move forward. We are going to
push so that workers can recover their companies shut down by the owners and
start up production under worker control.
Links
Marie blogs at http://mujereslibres.blogspot.com/ and writes for Venezuelanalysis
December 2006
> > home page > >