At http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=45&ItemID=9067
Michael Albert has a very useful, detailed account of his discussions in
Venezuela, centering around workers' involvement in their
workplaces, schools,
neighborhoods, etc. There's one particularly intriguing part:
"Returning to my exchange with the oil official, when I asked about CITGO -
the oil industry owned by Venezuela operating in the U.S. - moving toward
having a workers council to self manage it, moving toward equal wages, and
changing its division of labor, not only on behalf of those
working at CITGO but
as a demonstration inside the U.S. for other U.S. workers of the
potential of
self management and equity, the official was very excited, even wanting to
immediately call others to talk about this idea. Later discussion of the
related possibility of Venezuela making inroads, via CITGO or
otherwise, into media
and information dispersal in the U.S., instead of information incursions
always occurring only in the reverse direction, caused still more
excitement.
"We were told by the oil ministry officials and also by trade unionists and
others how in Venezuela, like in Argentina, there was a movement, just
getting up to speed, to "recuperate" failing or failed workplaces."
You may have read about the latter movement through Jorge Martin's reports
on the continent-wide conference of occupied factories.
Since seeing the report on that conference I've wondered if there's any p
ractical way to raise the example being set in Latin America with US workers
struggling against Delphi, GM, failing airlines, etc. Michael's proposal
certainly opens wide the door.
That's not to say Delphi workers are ready to seize their plants -- although
the disinvestment practiced by Delphi bosses is the same practice that
inspired takeovers in Latin America. And we certainly have a rich history of
occupations (sitdowns) in this country.
Michael also reports: "I also asked this trade union leader, who was
explicitly responsible for international relations, about links
with movements and
unions in the U.S. She reported Venezuelan Chavista unions having
links to the
'AFL-CIO in California, some grass-roots unions, and the antiwar movement,'
but not with the national AFL-CIO because they are still giving money to
those imposing old bureaucracy and fomenting coups." More evidence, in other
words, of the possibility for information exchange about self-management and
class-struggle methods.
Andrew Pollack
