In the morning on Sunday, January 18, after a heavy rain fell on La Paz, Bolivia, the sun came out, drying the umbrellas of thousands of marchers winding through the city streets. The mobilization was in support of a new constitution which is to be voted on this January 25.
In this interview Mark Meinster, the International Representative for the United Electrical Workers (UE) - the union the Republic workers belong to - talks about his role as the coordinator for the December 2008 factory occupation in Chicago, connections between the struggle of the Republic workers and workers struggles and tactics in South America, the fight to re-open the plant, and what the Republic workers' strategies say about social change in an economic downturn.Occupation of Republic Plant
People in the US seeking ways to confront the economic crisis could follow the lead of South American social movements. From Argentina to Venezuela, many movements have won victories against the same systems of corporate greed and political corruption that produce economic strife across the hemisphere. These movements also have experience holding politicians' feet to the flames once they are elected, a tactic that will be essential once Barack Obama takes office.Argentine Neighborhood Assembly, 2001
When the 250 workers at the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago were told that the plant was shutting down, they decided to take matters into their own hands. On Friday, December 5, they occupied their factory in an act that echoes the sit-down strikes of the 1930s and the occupation of factories during the 2001 crisis in Argentina. Workers Occupying Chicago Factory
On November 1st, in Montpelier, the capital of Vermont, one hundred activists gathered to protest against General Dynamics, a weapons manufacturer operating in the state. Speaking to the crowd in front of the statehouse, VT-based filmmaker Eugene Jarecki talked about the presidential election and activism. "There's a moment of real crossroads here," he said. "But it's a crossroad for all of us not to be happy and go to bed but for all of us to be absolutely unrelenting and dissatisfied until real change happens."
After months of street battles and political meetings, a new draft of the Bolivian constitution was ratified by Congress on October 21. A national referendum on whether or not to make the document official is scheduled for January 25, 2009. "Now we have made history," President Evo Morales told supporters in La Paz. "This process of change cannot be turned back... neoliberalism will never return to Bolivia." Marching to La Paz (ABI)
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019