fasinpat (ex-zanon) workers win their factory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡felicitaciones, fasinpat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
¡que vivan los trabajadores! ¡que viva el poder del pueblo!



foto: expropriation now! banner at 2006 world cup in germany.

fired workers at zanon ceramics in neuquén province (argentina) took over their closed factory in 2001. they have operated it under worker control ever since. they have faced eviction attempts, police, and a repressive conservative provincial government and over & over again the factory has been ardently defended by the workers and the surrounding community. they have inspired solidarity from people all over argentina & the world. finally finally finally the expropriation has gained legal recognition!

this posted at no sweat by marie trigona :

The workers at Argentina's occupied ceramics factory, FASINPAT (Factory Without a Boss), won a major victory this week: the factory now definitively belongs to the people in legal terms. The provincial legislature voted in favor of expropriating the ceramics factory and handing it over to the workers cooperative to manage legally and indefinitely. Since 2001, the workers at Zanon have fought for legal recognition of worker control at Latin America's largest ceramics factory which has created jobs, spearheaded community projects, supported social movements world-wide and shown the world that workers don't need bosses.

"This is incredible, we are happy. The expropriation is an act of justice," said Alejandro Lopez the General Secretary of the Ceramists Union, overwhelmed by the emotion of the victory. "We don't forget the people who supported us in our hardest moments, or the 100,000 people who signed the petition supporting our bill."

Hundreds of workers from the FASINPAT factory waited anxiously until the late hours of the night for the legislature's decision. The expropriation law passed 26 votes in favor and 9 votes against the bill. Thousands of supporters from other workers' organizations, human rights groups and social movements, along with entire families and students, joined the workers as they waited outside the provincial legislature in the capital city of Neuquén. Enduring the Patagonian winter weather, activists played drums and shouted: "here they are the workers of Zanon, workers without a boss."

this trailer for corazón de fábrica (heart of the factory) about fasinpat gives some background:



and this is video of the vote in the legislature & workers' reaction. they also pay respects to their comrades who have died in the struggle. oohh, so beautiful!



and this is a speech on the occasion at the factory by one of the mothers of the plaza de mayo, claiming the victory for the workers and also for all people who fight for justice. ¡zanon es del pueblo!



this is attaque 77 playing at the factory a couple years back:



cuantos ríos de sangre han de correr,
tanta muerte ya, tanto horror, tanta injusticia
cuanto tiempo para reconocer que la historia es,
otra vez y todo de vuelta

how many rivers of blood have run
so much death, horror, injustice
how much time to recognize that history
is coming around again

...
si estaba en el cordobazo hace tiempo atrás,
y estaba en el rosariazo y en Tucumán

if it was present in the days of uprising in córdoba,
& the uprisings in rosario & in tucumán,

espíritu setentista vuelve hoy,
gente que no puede decir:
hey, hey, no te metas
en neuquén resiste zanon
lucha obrera, movilización
los bastones acechan, también voy yo!

the spirit of the 1970s returns today
people that won't say:
hey, hey don't get involved
in neuquén zanon resists
the workers' struggle, mobilization
batons lie in wait, i too will go!

gracias, mariana y liliana por las buenas noticias :)