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Brazil: a brief history of the Flaskô workers’ struggle and the Movement
of Occupied Factories
By Rafael Prata at Flaskô
Friday, 09 May 2008
It is almost five years since the workers at Flaskô took control of the
factory. In June the Movement of Occupied Factories in Brazil is holding
a People's Trial to judge the Federal police intervention against the
workers of Cipla and Interfibra.
On June 2, 2003, that is, almost five years ago, the workers of Flaskô
took a historical decision: they resolved to take over the
administrative, financial and operational control of the factory to
defend their jobs and rights, as well as the plant facilities, such as
machines and equipment. They decided to occupy the factory and put it to
work under their own control.
The workers decided to put an end to the bosses' exploitation. For
decades, these had built up their private wealth on the back of the
workers' labour to the point where it was no longer necessary to resort
to industrial production in order to pass it on to their heirs.
Thus it became clear from the 1990s onwards that their only objective
was sheer looting. Investment became more and more scarce and a whole
productive department was fully dismantled.
Clients and suppliers were lost with no explanation; the machinery was
allowed to go rusty and mechanical engineers were forced to recycle
pieces from dead machinery to keep production going, in a process known
as cannibalism. Step by step, the workers' rights were eroded.
It was not only in Flaskô that this happened. Throughout the 1990s
Brazil suffered the highest rate of unemployment in history. Social and
labour rights were being attacked. The country was being bled in order
to meet the requirements of the IMF programmes. The payment of the
international debt, the privatisations, the opening up to international
trade and finance brought about speculation and a process of mergers
which, in turn, increased the monopoly control of the multinationals
over the Brazilian economy, generating crisis, unemployment and the
erosion of living and working conditions.
In 2002 two events took place. These were parallel and complementary and
help explain the dynamics of the class struggle in Brazil. On the one
hand, in October 2002, the candidate of the Workers' Party (PT, Partido
dos Trabalhadores) Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, won the presidential
elections in a second round. On the other, in Joinville, (a town in the
State of Santa Caterina, in Southern Brazil) the workers of Cipla and
Interfibra went on strike over wages.
The relation between these two factors in the equation was intensely
debated by the workers of the two factories:
"Thus, a strike over wages became a strike to save jobs. This, in turn,
posed the question of workers' control in the factories. And a new
question was posed: that of the government's responsibility in the face
of crisis to guarantee jobs. The workers came to the conclusion that
they would not allow themselves to be sacked because the bosses couldn't
make enough money; because the workers had no responsibility for
markets, swindles, or the economic policy applied in the service of
finance capital and the multinational companies. This posed the question
of nationalisation and, consequently, the need for workers' action to
save the productive fabric of the country, which was being liquidated by
these imperialist policies. To face up to this question from a class
point of view, the workers rose in defence of a threatened nation and
the people of Brazil. The strategy of the struggle was born out of that
experience. This is summed up in the slogan: ‘a closed factory is an
occupied factory; an occupied factory must be nationalised'."
[This strikes me as a very bad idea. Why should the workers, having
taken control from their old bosses, give it to new bosses instead of
retaining it for themselves? Surely it would be better to convert the
factory to a workers cooperative, for example?--DC]
Further down, one can also read:
"the working people were able to gather their forces and strength after
years of attacks and remove FHC [ex-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso
-- Editor's note] and his candidate for power. Lula's victory opened up
a situation in which the working class feels confident and strong to
seek what belongs to it and defend what it has conquered."
From then on, the history of the Brazilian working class would not be
(and it is not) the same. These are two unique experiences that would
not exhaust themselves, but, on the contrary, have a lot to teach.
Flaskô, which is in the city of Sumaré (interior of Sao Paulo State),
wass occupied some months later. The workers had not received wages for
three months and knew of the experience of Cipla and Interfibra. The
three companies were part of the same business group. In an assembly it
was decided that the workers would participate in the march to Brasilia
organised by the workers at Cipla. Returning from Brasilia the march
stopped at Flaskô. The workers waited in an assembly for a re****t. This
convinced them that the only way out was to occupy, resist and start up
production! And to fight for nationalisation under workers' control!
[Once again, surely nationalization means the end of workers control?--DC]
Brief historical background
Flaskô is a factory that processes plastic. It produces several models
of industrial packaging. Currently it has a workforce of around 90,
although during its best days it reached 900 workers. Founded at the end
of the 1970s, it was part of the Holding Cor****ation of Brazil (CHB).
CHB also owned Cipla and Interfibra, and was integrated into the Hansen
Industrial Group until 1992. That year, after the death of Joao Hansen
Junior (one of the founding members), Luis Batschauer (married to
Eliseth Hansen) and his brother Anselmo took over at CHB. However, they
lost a capital share in the Hansen Group necessary to modernise
technology and equipment.
That way, whereas other groups' enterprises grew, CHB started to
de-capitalise the factories under their command. Obviously, the Flaskô
workers did not accept this passively. There were strikes in 1994 and
1997 against long working days of 12 hours, low wages and the
management's disregard for previous agreements. Only after the factory
was occupied and put under workers' control did a profound change take
place.
The debts strangle the workers
It was not easy to return to production and it has not been easy either
to keep up production to guarantee jobs and wages. The owners left
Flaskô hugely indebted and without any access to credit. All the factory
equipment was impounded by the courts because of the debts the old
owners had incurred. Close to 80% of those debts are with state
departments, because the owners did not pay taxes! The rest of the debts
are with private commercial enterprises and with ex-employees. There are
also debts with the electricity company. It is a constant struggle, a
difficult and very stressful one, for the workers to raise the money to
pay all these debts, which in total amount to around $130 millions.
The fact is that the workers have no responsibility for the debts
ac***ulated by the owners. They were also stripped of their rights and
are fighting to recover them. Throughout all this period these are the
problems the workers have had to face.
"President Lula: We elected you to protect our jobs"
An analysis of the role played by the courts in this situation reveals
the true nature of the judiciary in Brazil. When the workers request
legal authorisation to run the factory on behalf of the Factory Council
or a Workers' Association their demand is rejected. But when an action
against the factory is to be carried out, the courts try to get the
workers' representatives to accept the removal of machinery or the
impounding of the factory income.
There is almost no need to mention the "incredible" coincidence of
actions ordered by the judges during the period of workers' management.
This had never been so efficient when the bosses were running the
factory when they placed it on the verge of bankruptcy. Now, when the
factory is being run by the workers, the judiciary is constantly
harassing them, trying to strangle them economically and persecuting
their leaders.
In all these years, hundreds of court hearings, aimed at seizing and
auctioning off the machinery and impounding the income, have been
blocked by the mobilisation of the workers and their sup****ters in the
community. However, machinery has been taken away to pay for the debts
left by the owners, instead of being used to produce and guarantee jobs.
For that reason, whenever there is any court order, the workers always
demand: "stop impounding, stop auctioning, we want to work in peace!"
More than stopping this or that court order, what the workers are
looking for is a truce. They want the courts to stop their attacks on
them, and at the same time they are demanding that Lula's government
guarantees their jobs and rights.
In this sense, the workers managed to get an agreement with the Labour
tribunals, which, although it has not solved the problem, it does lift
some pressure. Every month, 1% of the factory's takings must be
allocated to paying off the debt.
Through this mechanism the workers are starting to receive what the
bosses' owed them after a long and hard battle for their jobs. Many
waited up to ten years to get back what the bosses had stolen from them.
And this was only possible thanks to the workers' determination to keep
Flaskô open. However, numerous court orders keep bearing down on the
workers. Three new orders have been issued by the courts to seize some
factory assets to auction them off on behalf of the State of Sao Paulo
and the National Treasury. Ironically, the do***entation that
accompanies the Federal court decisions includes bulletins and journals
produced by the factory workers as evidence that the factory is working
and, therefore, the courts can proceed to seize their assets. The courts
are also increasing the level of the instalments that the Treasury is
demanding. If the Treasury demands 2% of the income in debt repayments,
the courts raise this to 10% or even 30%.
Those who have followed with interest the movement of the occupied
factories know that this is a new and savage attempt to put an end to
this experience of workers' control. One must remember that Cipla and
Interfibra were the victims of judicial intervention as a result of a
court procedure initiated by a State body.
Another heavy burden on the workers' shoulders is the cost of
electricity. If someone stops payment of his or her electricity bill for
three months, the supplying company will cut off all power. The same
happens with Flaskô, because due to the conditions inherited from the
owners the workers are forced to stretch the payments to the limit.
Every month during the last five years the workers have faced the same
dramatic situation. But there is more. After intense mobilisations and
negotiations, the Compañía Paulista de Froça e Luz (CPFL), which was
privatised in 1997, agreed to postpone the payment of the owners' debt.
Thus, every month, the workers not only have to pay for what the factory
has used in its production process, but also for the debts of the old
owners!
On many occasions the workers have had to stop production and picket the
electricity supply equipment in order to prevent CPFL from cutting off
power. Faced with the workers' determination, the company had no other
option but to negotiate with them. But the capitalists also learn from
the class struggle. Weeks before they tried to extend the Federal police
intervention to Flaskô, as they had done at Cipla, the CPFL attached a
device to the electricity supply that allowed them to cut off the supply
remotely. That is, from their offices the company directors and managers
can cut off all electricity supplies to the factory whenever they want to.
Eventually, the long feared cutting off of the power supply took place
in the middle of last year, coinciding with the Federal State's attempt
to intervene in the factory. The workers resisted in the dark for over
40 days. They had no power to produce and therefore no way of getting
their wages. However, they resisted and managed to stop the
intervention, renegotiate the debt and return to production, in even
more difficult conditions.
Previously, in 2005, jobs had already been threatened by a court order
taken out on behalf of Braskem, a multinational company of the
petrochemical sector. The courts attempted to seize the main machines of
the factory but after a magnificent campaign of mobilisations and
petitions, the multinational agreed to leave the machinery in the
factory in exchange for 0.5% of the factory's revenue. The workers
threatened to occupy Braskem's headquarters in Sao Paulo and this
clearly played an im****tant role in reaching this agreement.
The gains
What is most incredible is that in the midst of so many threats and
attacks it was possible -- and still is to this day -- to conquer some
rights. Machines, equipment and facilities were recovered. The factory
was reorganised to improve the conditions of work, avoid wastage,
increase productivity and reduce the level of wastage in each unit of
production. Practically all plastic material wasted in the productive
process is recycled on site. In this respect the work done by the "Zero
Wastage Committee" is what won the factory the ISO 9001 award.
The running of the factory is extremely democratic. Every day new
suggestions and critical comments are raised. The Factory Council,
elected by the workers, meets once a week to discuss proposals and plan
the running of the factory, from the supply of raw materials to
marketing. The Factory Council's minutes are published on the
information boards and at least once a month the assembly votes on the
budget and the main decisions.
There is no outsourcing of any kind and all workers receive wages above
the minimum fixed in the collective bargaining agreement. Union
member****p is high amongst the workforce. The workers participate in
campaigns to improve wages collectively with other petrochemical workers
against the bosses' federation. However, the most noteworthy conquest
has been the reduction of the working day. Two years after establi****ng
workers' control in the factory the working week was cut from 44 to 40
hours, maintaining the same level of wages and productivity. This way,
the workers won Saturday as a day off to rest or enjoy with family and
friends. Now, five years after the occupation began the working week has
been reduced for production workers from 40 to 30 hours. The workers in
the processing areas have now working days of barely 6 hours a day. But
they committed themselves to keep the productive levels of the factory
as before. At the moment, this measure is of an experimental character,
taking into account the difficult situation of the factory and the need
to cut electricity consumption to survive.
These facts demonstrate one thing: that capitalists are not necessary
for society; they are nothing but a parasitical social class. If the
workers are able to democratically administer and recover a factory
without bosses, following their own class interests and not the
capitalist's thirst for profit, then they can administer all factories,
lands and banks. They can control the country and the world so that the
wealth, which is collectively produced, is shared out on an egalitarian
basis.
[Then let us hope they choose to do so, rather than surrending control
to the state.--DC]
Surrounded by solidarity
The people in the neighbourhood around Flaskô are fully aware of what is
happening to the workers. The factory, which was already a point of
reference, being located as it is in a densely populated area, is an
object of interest and a source of pride. The workers' struggle
stimulates consciousness and popular participation that is intertwined
with the desires, needs and struggles of their own community.
A major problem in the region is housing. The dwellings are ramshackle
and rent takes up a big share of the family budget. The government
building programmes for the workers and the poor is non-existent. For
that reason, along with the workers at Flaskô, hundred of families
decided to occupy a desolate plot of land that belonged to Flaskô. They
decided to build their homes in an empty area that had served as a
graveyard for victims of drug trafficking and police violence.
March on Brasilia
After discussing the question, the local community and the Factory
Council decided to give a small part of the plot of land to the workers
and the rest to the community to be distributed among those wi****ng to
occupy it. Today there is already a community there, called the
"Workers' and People's Village", in which close to 300 families live.
They mobilised, together with the Flaskô workers, to have access to
electricity and a system of refuse collection and a sewage system. In
truth, this struggle for basic living conditions, such as sewage, as
well as the legalisation of these homes continues to this day. The plot
is still considered as private, but the workers and the community are
demanding that it be recognised as an area for housing.
Also, at the end of 2007, Flaskô and the Neighbourhood Association of
Parque dos Bandeirantes, the area where the factory is located, decided
to use the old factory canteen as the site of the new association. This
association carries out dozens of cultural, social and s****ting
activities. Capoeira and judo cl***** are now taught in a disused
department of the factory. Each month, thousands of children, teenagers,
elderly people, men and women, visit the factory and know that these
facilities are the fruit of the workers' struggle.
The project to set up a community radio station is also moving apace. It
will be called "Radio Struggle" and its broadcasting mast will be placed
on top of the factory's water tower; such that in spite of the
transmitter being not very powerful, it will be possible to listen to it
over a wide area, not to mention the blog and the email network that
updates the whole of Brazil with news from the workers' experience.
Destiny linked to the Venezuelan revolution
In October 2005, the movement of occupied factories participated in the
organisation of the Latin American Gathering of Factories Recovered by
the Workers. This event, which took place in Caracas, Venezuela, counted
with the participation of representatives from 13 countries, 20 union
federations and 235 companies under workers' control. There was an
extremely interesting debate about what was the way out for these
companies. The proposal to struggle for their nationalisation, put
forward by President Chavez himself at the opening session, prevailed.
[What else would a politician want?--DC]
The final declaration, elaborated by the Discussion Group of Recovered
Factories, stated things like: "each factory closed is a graveyard for
workers' jobs, as landlordism is in the countryside. Therefore, the
rural and urban workers have the right to occupy factories and land to
defend their jobs and the sovereignty of our nation. That's why we
occupied the factories and put them to work."
"They close the factories, we open them. They steal the land, we occupy
it. They make wars and destroy nations; we defend peace and the people's
sovereign integrity. They divide and we unite. Because we are the
working class. Because we are the present and the future of humanity."
Also, at the end of this gathering an agreement was signed between
Petroquímica da Venezuela (Pequiven) and the Movement of Occupied
Factories. In this agreement the Chavez government committed itself to
sending ****pments of raw materials to Cipla, Interfibra and Flaskô in
exchange for technicians and specialists able to collaborate in the
development of the Petrocasa project in Venezuela. This consists in the
development of "socialist factories" able to produce plastic materials
for the building of cheap public housing.
Cipla has the technology and a vast knowledge in the sector of "Plastic
houses" and had already presented the governments of Cuba and Brazil
with a plan, but it was in Venezuela where the project was actually
taken up. The first Petrocasa factory was inaugurated in June 2007, and
there are plans to create similar factories to overcome the lack of
housing in Venezuela.
The first ****pment of raw materials arrived from Brazil in 2006. This
was of great help for the occupied factories; it gave a breathing space
to the workers so that they could continue with their difficult
struggle. In the Venezuelan labour movement the reaction to the
intervention in Cipla was immediate and strong. The Movement of Occupied
Factories is promoting in Brazil the "Hands off Venezuela Campaign",
highlighting the Chavez government's anti-imperialist and social
initiatives and, above all, the role that the working class is to play
if the revolution is to triumph.
Throughout these years, the Movement of Occupied Factories has promoted
discussions and debates on the how to defend jobs, social rights,
industry and implement agrarian reform. It has spread the word about the
experience of the occupied factories and gained sup****t up and down the
country. The three national conferences and the Pan-American gathering,
with thousands of participants and international guests, sum up in their
proposals and resolutions the im****tance of this movement for the
working class of Latin America and the world, showing that working class
unity is possible and necessary to topple imperialism and put an end to
its system of war and exploitation.
The struggle for nationalisation under workers' control and the Federal
police intervention in Cipla
Ever since the first factory was occupied in 2002, the road taken by the
workers of Cipla, Interfibra and Flaskô, inspiring thousands of workers
and militants, has been that of the struggle for nationalisation under
workers' control. The workers have marched on Brasilia, the capital of
the country, on three occasions. Setting out from the South East, North
East, South and Centre West, they demanded the nationalisation of the
occupied factories and the re-nationalisation of the railways, mines and
all that had been privatised, along with demands for an agrarian reform
and other questions.
As a result of these mobilisations, President Lula met with workers'
representatives and set up a Committee to look into the situation of the
occupied factories. In spite of stating that "nationalisation is not on
the government's agenda", he promised to do anything possible to save
the jobs, asking the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the
National Development Bank (BNDES) to produce a re****t on the issue to
try to sort the situation out.
The BNDES presented its re****t in February 2005. It stated:
"As everyone knows, the bulk and the most burdensome part of the debts
of these companies is with Federal and State institutions (taxes,
contributions, etc.). Faced with the size of this deficit ($294 million)
as a pro****tion of their assets and the expected revenue generated by
production there is only one way of saving the factories and
guaranteeing jobs. We suggest that by a decision of the Federal and
State governments these debts be transformed into shares to be held by
the BNDES."
"We do understand that this is a difficult but possible road to take. We
also understand that the only way to achieve the most urgent task at the
moment (safeguarding jobs) demands that the public sector takes control
of the companies through social development banks, the BNDES and State
institutions."
From then on the arguments against nationalisation collapsed like a
house of cards. President Lula, however, refused a new meeting with the
workers' representatives to discuss the conclusions of the BNDS re****t.
And this was not because we did not remind him! In June 2005 the workers
of Interfibra, Cipla and Flaskô marched together with twenty thousand
landless peasants of the MST, but no nationalisation was announced and
neither was an agrarian reform plan!
After Lula was re-elected in 2006 thanks to the popular vote against the
bourgeoisie's preferred candidate, the make up of the government
worsened. The economic growth that reigned throughout his first term in
government guaranteed colossal profits to the capitalists and bankers
while allowing for certain social policies that benefited millions of
poor people and an improvement in access to credit for workers. Lula and
the PT are now using their popularity to form a coalition with
right-wing parties and politicians. Ministries and im****tant offices
have been reserved for these "allies".
Raw materials arrive from Venezuela
The left-wing social movements are losing ground. There is a generalised
feeling that the country is doing well and this makes it easier to
slander, repress and criminalise them. At the same time they are invited
to "collaborate" with the government. Repression and cooperation are two
sides of the same coin. It was no different with the occupied factories.
The government and its agents have insisted over the years on the need
for the workers to abandon their demand for nationalisation under
workers' control, while the bourgeoisie started to sharpen up their
language and called for repressive measures against the workers in 2007.
The 30-hour week at Cipla without cuts in wages, the running of the
factory under workers' control and the agreements reached with the
Chavez government were the last straw that broke the camel's back. These
are unacceptable measures for the Brazilian bosses. In January 2007, the
president of the Federation of Industry of Sao Paulo (FIESP) stated in
the country's biggest newspaper:
"Traditional sectors of industry do not like this help from Chavez, who
sup****ts this type of [factory] occupations in Venezuela and Latin
America. For the FIESP this type of collaboration means they are
meddling in Brazil's internal affairs. The FIESP respects national
sovereignty and does not recognise any interference by any other country
in the country's internal affairs", stated Paul Skaf, president of the
industrialists' federation: "President Chavez's opinion is his own
business and is no reference point for any decision to be taken in
Brazil."
In May 2007, weeks before the intervention against the occupied
factories, the ABIPLAST (the plastic industry's bosses' federation)
wrote in its bulletin's editorial:
"As the press has already informed us, the Venezuelan government
sup****ts the occupation by workers of plastics factories in Brazil.
There are already three factories (Cipla, Interfibra and Flaskô) that
receive sup****t in the form of subsidised raw materials from Venezuela.
This type of meddling by a foreign government in the internal affairs of
a Brazilian company is utterly unacceptable: it is the duty of employers
and of the Brazilian government to firmly denounce how absurd this
meddling of a foreign government in the affairs of Brazilian businesses
is.
"These attitudes render it indispensable for businessmen and civil
society to organise a protest against these sorts of practices before
they become a daily occurrence that would harm our democracy. It is
necessary to recover our ability to feel outraged at any meddling in our
affairs; otherwise we incur the risk of being too understanding and
passive in the face of such a level of interference."
That very May, as part of a national day of action called by the CUT,
MST and other organisations, the workers of Cipla, Interfibra and Flaskô
occupied the regional headquarters of the National Institute of Social
Security (INSS). They demanded an end to judicial harassment against the
occupied factories and came away with a commitment signed by the INSS
representatives in Joinville.
However, one of the legal proceedings that the workers wanted to stop
was used later to perpetrate the fraus legis that decreed the federal
police intervention on May 31, 2007. The INSS, a body linked to the
national government, refused the workers' petition to suspend the
payment of debts left by the bosses. This way, a federal judge in Santa
Caterina appointed an auditor to take over the control of Cipla. The
court decision was taken in secrecy, while the police forces were
brought in to break up the Factory Council and imposed the administrator
by the use of force.
Around 150 men of the Federal and Military Police of Santa Caterina were
deployed at the factory gates. Heavily armed, they prevented all workers
connected with the Factory Council from entering the premises. The
Factory Council and the workers' leaders, who had been at the forefront
of the struggle for five years, were sacked and an administrator was put
in their place. The industrialists' demands were achieved with the Lula
government's connivance.
A People's Jury to judge the Federal police intervention
In theory, the administrator's mission is to "restructure" Cipla so that
it can pay off its debts to the INSS left over by the bosses from 1998.
However, one year has gone by and the public coffers have not seen a
penny and, of course, they will not see any in the future either. This
intervention is not a technical issue, but a political one. From the
very beginning the attack has focused on destroying all the gains made
by the workers' administration. In the first week, the working week was
brought back to 44 hours. Security was outsourced. The air became
unbreathable, with no rights of assembly and over four hundred workers
sacked with no compensation. Wages are not being fully paid, etc. At the
same time the bourgeois press is doing its best to spread a campaign of
slanders. The administrator is praised and the workers' leaders, who
have no jobs and receive no wages, are the victims of hateful slander.
They are trying to break up the unity of the workers by taking advantage
of the different levels of class consciousness.
Production line at Flaskô
However, the response was immediate. Messages of outrage poured in to
Lula and the judges from all over Brazil and other parts of the world.
The International Marxist Tendency organised demonstrations in front of
the Brazilian embassies. Some days after the intervention, a protest
took place outside the gates of Cipla, with hundreds of people from up
and down the country and militants from occupied factories in Venezuela,
Argentina and Paraguay.
The authorities have tried to extend their police intervention to
Flaskô, basing themselves on the same court decision issued in Santa
Caterina; but this time the workers were not taken by surprise and the
administrator was not accompanied by heavily armed police. He thought
that Flaskô would capitulate once Cipla had been taken, but he was faced
with a strong picket and had to retreat.
However, the administrator did not give up and adopted another tactic:
sabotage. Contrary to other occasions, the CPFL did not communicate the
order that the electricity supply was to be cut off and refused to meet
workers' representatives to negotiate, since for the administrator CPFL
was now responsible for the factory. After a long struggle that lasted
more than 40 days, the workers got the electricity supply back at the
cost of having to accept ever more heavy commitments.
Finally, in August, the workers were able to take back Flaskô, but under
changed conditions. Nationalisation was adamantly rejected by the very
same government that the workers had twice helped to put in power.
Financial and administrative problems have piled up. In spite of all
this, the workers at Flaskô are approaching their fifth year under
workers' control.
In the meantime, the Movement of Occupied Factories will neither abandon
Flaskô nor will it forget the federal police intervention. For this
reason it has organised a People's Jury on June 27 and 28, 2008, to pass
judgement on the intervention. The administrator, the judge, the owners
and the government will be in the dock, facing facts, evidence and
statements, and the People' Jury will pass sentence. May workers'
justice be done!
Facing up to the bourgeoisie is the task of the whole working class
The sup****t of the national and international working class in defence
of Flaskô is fundamental. In the end, it is not possible to fight
against private property of the means of production with seventy, one
hundred or one thousand workers; millions are needed.
Many militant workers and their sympathisers have already mobilised in
sup****t of this vanguard of the struggle for socialism. At the same
time, the mobilised workers have always helped other sectors to rise
against exploitation.
A popular saying goes: "I'm Brazilian and never give up!" In the case of
the occupied factories this is most true. And it is not just one, but
thousands! The working class of the country is numerous and organised
and has proved capable of expressing its solidarity with the Movement of
Occupied Factories on different occasions. At the same time, in all
great (and small) struggles of the working class, of the youth and
landless peasants, the Movement of Occupied Factories has been present.
If national boundaries are a limitation for world capitalism and with
the attacks against the working class that are taking place everywhere
on the planet, the struggle of an occupied factory is only meaningful as
an integral part of the international proletarian army. There cannot be
socialism in one country and much less so in a single factory or in a
group of factories. Therefore, the present and the future of the
Movement of Occupied Factories of Brazil are linked to the Venezuelan,
Latin American and International revolutions. It is for that revolution
that the Movement of Occupied Factories resists and fights!
--
Dan Clore
My collected fiction, _The Unspeakable and Others_:
http://tinyurl.com/2gcoqt
Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://tinyurl.com/292yz9
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
Strange pleasures are known to him who flaunts the
immarcescible purple of poetry before the color-blind.
-- Clark Ashton Smith, "Epigrams and Apothegms"
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