Fabricas Tomadas Y Recuperadas
Por Lindsey Saunders

In December of last year (2001), Argentina’s economic downturn of the previous three years became an economic and political crisis, as Argentina stood in default on its huge loans and the fixed convertibility of the peso equal to the dollar was released. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in protest, the presidency changed hands numerous times, and the banks and the IMF stood implicated by many. Why this formal “model of the neoliberal success story” is currently suffering is of course very complex, and the peoples’ responses are equally complex and interesting. Out of this crisis blossomed social organizations galore, united under the slogan “Que se vayan todos” which is a variably interpreted/general expression of the need to get rid of all the current politicians and start over. At this time, neighborhood assemblies were born in which neighbors got together to organize themselves locally, and continue to do so, creating local soup kitchens, medical clinics, and community spaces. The unemployment rate is around 25% and the poverty rate right at 50% of the population of the country. Having little recourse, many unemployed workers have formed movements to fight for jobs and/or unemployment benefits. One of these movements is that of the piqueteros, who cut off major transit routes in order to expedite actions from the government to help their suffering families.

Another response to the difficult economic situation, and perhaps one of the most notable activities in this country of social movements and organization is the taking by the workers of closing or bankrupt factories. To better explain this phenomenon of fabricas tomadas (taken factories), I’ll take an example from the many: the Brukman Factory. Brukman is located in Buenos Aires and prior to the crisis in December, produced suits for Christian Dior. As the 3 year economic crisis grew worse in 2001, the workers were paid less and less, and during the months leading up to December, were collecting only 5 pesos per week, while minimum wage is around 400 pesos per month. In December, the workers (around 250) chose a delegation to speak with the owners, asking for 100 pesos per week and the payment of past wages since the 5 pesos weekly doesn’t even cover basic transportation costs. The owners agreed to pay and left ‘to go to the bank’ and the workers waited. And waited. And waited. They had limited options: they could leave and search for another job, in a country with 25% unemployment rate and really no available jobs, or they could take their future into their own hands. They soon decided to maintain their position in the factory, night and day, and to not only continue production, but to also sell their products (although now illegal). They had taken the bankrupt factory from the owners and for almost a year now have managed it through commissions elected from and by the workers themselves. The factory continues functioning and now all the workers receive equal wages, no matter what their jobs, splitting the factory’s income equally amongst themselves and a few sick or retired workers.

In Argentina, there are between 8 and 10 thousand jobs recovered by the workers through self-management of factories that have or were about to go bankrupt, similar to the case of Brukman. Most face many legal problems in that, due to Argentina’s bankruptcy laws, workers are not able to expropriate the machinery nor factory itself, although they are responsible for paying the large debts left behind by the owners (the Argentine Bankruptcy laws grossly over-favor the owners and the workers nationwide are joining together to demand a change in the laws).

Looking through a Marxist perspective, the reapropriation of the means of production from the owners into the hands of the workers is an incredible step. From there the taken or recovered factories fall into two models: 1. Those workers that want their factory to be a cooperative owned and ran by the workers, and 2. Those that want the state to take ownership of the factory (and its debt), but let the workers run the factory. Where it goes from here is an exciting and hopefully fruitful transformation. The fabricas tomadas have received all types of support and solidarity from all parts of Argentina and the workers have been transformed from every day minimum-wage factory workers into the leaders of a new national social movement: heroes of economic change and the empowerment of the worker.