Occupations

Mon, 18/04/16

Towards a Conversation with Students: Re-thinking the Figure of the Worker

The (de)occupation of their factories by workers of Maruti Suzuki in Manesar, India, in 2011 and 2012 not only produced fresh energy and excitement, it also brought forth new questions.

Over the last 30-35 years, we have witnessed and been connected with innumerable self-activities of workers. Even within these, there has been much that has stayed beyond our grasp, much has remained illegible to us. The electric self-activity of workers of Maruti Suzuki (Manesar) between 4 June 2011 and 18 July 2012 not only produced fresh energy and excitement, it also brought forth new questions. We want to share some of these with you today. read more »

Geographical: Era: Topic: 
Thu, 28/01/16

Solemnly in Tuzla: Dita started producing powder detergent Arix Tenzo.

Following repairs to the roof and steamline, Dita factory in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, has gone back into production as a workers' cooperative.

In June 2015 workers at Dita detergent factory in Tusla, following bankrupcy, look over the factory to stop it becoming derelict.  Following repairs, particularly to the roof and steamline, they have gone back into production as a workers' cooperative.  The following is a short piece from the Sarajavo Times.  Hope to have a fuller story soon.

"After months of hard work and effort in the Tuzla detergent factory Dita, the production of powder detergent Arix Tenzo started yesterday. read more »

Geographical: Era: Topic: Experiences: 
Mon, 25/01/16

OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL

Bring back the Institute for Workers’ Control

The movement for workers’ control in the 1970s was among the most promising of the many roads not taken in the forgotten history of the left.

 

 

 

Theorists: Geographical: Era: Topic: 
Tue, 12/01/16

Lines of (Dis)Continuity: Forms and Methods of Labour Struggle in Croatia 1990-2014

Tracing the continuity and discontinuity of workers’ struggles from the times of socialist Yugoslavia by observing phenomena such as workplace occupations and the engagement of civil society.

When assessing the importance of individual cases of company occupations by the workers it is necessary to take into account both the period in which such actions took place and the historical legacy of socialist self-management. The entire decade of the 1990s was permeated with strong nationalist resentments characterized by a deep hostility towards organizations, institutions and practices perceived as part of the Yugoslav socialist project. read more »

Geographical: Era: Topic: 
Fri, 01/01/16

Living Utopia

A documentary film about the generalised anarcho-syndicalist collectivisation and self-management of the economy during the 'Spanish Revolution' of 1936.

Living Utopia (Original, 1997: Vivir la utopía. read more »

Geographical: Era: Topic: Media: 
Thu, 31/12/15

New Era Windows: Our Story

The struggle that led to the creation of the New Era Windows workers' cooperative, as told by the workers themselves.

In 2008, the boss decided to close our windows factory on Goose Island and fire everyone. In 2012, we decided to buy the factory for ourselves and fire the boss. We now own the plant together and run it democratically. This is our story. read more »

Geographical: Era: Topic: Experiences: 
Wed, 30/12/15

Proletarian Power: The Turin Factory Councils 1919-1920

The Bienno Rosso, the two red years which threatened to overthrow Italian capitalism, represents one of the high points of working class struggle in the history of the world labor movement.

The Turin Factory Council movement which emerged at the height of the Bienno Rosso, the two red years which threatened to overthrow Italian capitalism, represents one of the high points of working class struggle in the history of the world labor movement. read more »

Theorists: Geographical: Era: Topic: 
Tue, 29/12/15

Occupation, worker co-operatives and the struggle for power: Britain in the 1970s

Britain in the 1970s was a period of crisis and polarisation. Workplace closure led to resistance by workers, which defined the relations between capital and labour for subsequent decades.

The essence of occupation as a form of industrial action is that it inherently challenges the basis of private property under capitalism, that workers appropriate the means of production.  However these expressions involve the abandonment of the means of production by labour. The temporary occupation of the workplace immediately raises the issue of the commodification of labour in the form of ‘job rights’ of the worker investment of their labour as “a momentary of the disposal by the capitalist”. Even when they occur individually or in small number,  occupation often requires a renegotiation of relations with the dominant economy as worker cooperative or nationalised enterprise - be it with the demand of being ‘under worker control’ - as their conclusion.   
read more »
Geographical: Era: Topic: 
Sun, 27/12/15

Britain: New Wave of Factory Occupations

An account of the Vestas wind turbine factory occupation in July 2009

A rash of workplace occupations is spreading across the globe as workers defy the brutal consequences of the recession. Instead of surrendering to mass redundancies and outright closures, workers are occupying their workplaces as a central method of struggling for justice.

Every example that wins concessions is boosting the belief of other workforces that there is an alternative – militant class action can win at least something.

VICTORY TO VESTAS read more »

Geographical: Era: Topic: 
Tue, 22/12/15

1918-1921: The Italian factory occupations and 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.

After the First World War, Europe’s working class went on a massive radicalisation process. Union membership exploded with strikes, demonstrations and uprisings increasing with it. Italy was no exception. Its workers were angry with the fall-out from the war and were getting increasingly militant. A perfect example of this can be found in the factory occupations of 1920.

read more »

Geographical: Era: Topic: 
Syndicate content