Factory Occupations in the US Empire

[bayano]

Alright, for those of us who hoist a red flag or a red and black flag (i assume that is a huge portion of the people on this board), i will assume most of us agree that a factory occupations movement in the US would be one of the most amazing and revolutionary moments in this country in a long time, and it would be real, direct worker-driven class war, and long-term, sustainable, a spark, yadda yadda yadda.

soooo.... isnt the us fertile ground for it? how many abandoned factories are there already from over two decades of out-sourcing and lay-offs and neoliberalism/neoconservatism that increases the volatility of capital which in turn cuts up union membership? now ford and gm are going to lay off 64k more proles, and delphi, kraft and other companies have thousands more lined up to go?

is the destruction of the unionized and better-paid industrial proletariat/factory worker in this country sufficient enough conditions in this country for (if not that fantastical revolution we are all waiting for, then at least) a revolutionary movement of worker direct action. specifically, for occupations of abandoned capital? two or three candy factories have shut down in my city since ive lived here, and some rallies and civic participation are all the left can muster.

well, has anyone participated in such a movement (in argentina, in italy, in venezuela, any fucking where) and can give us some pointers on how to help initiate it? how do these things begin, or do we have to wait for december 2001 in argentina to come here (dont hold yer breath)?

there is little to no possibility that red and red/black leftists can rush to affected industries and get jobs to help participate, cuz its all about mass layoffs in the first place. but between supporting workers in other ways and the right kinds of agitation, cant we attempt it? a comrade and i are producing a massive number of bootleg editions of that naomi klein flick "the take" and we're gonna try to focus sending them to affected factories (to the workers of course, thru contacts in the rust belt), but clearly thats a shot in the bucket.

i mean, with tens of thousands of vacant and abandoned homes between detroit and baltimore alone, we are already wasting the opportunity to see a huge squatter movement in this country (and fuck ACORN, i mean revolutionary squatting, not just doing it and then becoming a slumlord down the road).

so, ideas, thoughts, suggestions, epiphanies, volunteers?

or is everyone too intimidated by our repressive state apparatus and my own proposal for such a movement is just another example of a would-be revolutionary conducting some messageboard revolutionary masturbation?

[Messiah]

That's an awesome idea. It could really gain some momentum in the rust belt areas, and the traditional industrial centers in the US. Fellow Canucks too should look into this, especially auto workers who've been getting roughed up for years now.

Keep us posted on your progress.

[bayano]

c'mon, with all the sympathetic leninists, autonomists, council communists, syndicalists, anarcho-communists, and red/black dreamers on the board, not one has anything to share on this subject?

i myself have only seen very few worker-controlled factories, in venezuela and cuba (tho there they still have something of a techno-bureaucratic class to a degree), tho literature and friends tell me of the more famous ones in argentina and tons of other countries. but in the venezuelan ones, it was clearly done with a complicitous state, and the movement in argentina- tho it can hold lots of lessons and models for us in the global north- was done in the wake of total economic and political crisis. there was a country where leftists, workers, the poor, and the declase all knew had to take advantage of an objective opportunity.

but with the relative stability of the state and government in the usa how could we initiate it here?

and even if most would rather wait for the 'objective revolutionary conditions', doesnt it make sense to discuss more the in-depth tactical and specific elements of such revolutionary operations, in the event that an opportunity arises sooner than we might expect?

[Forward Union]

Well, factory occupation is normally responded to with police repression.

[violencia.Proletariat]

Originally posted by Additives [email protected] 27 2006, 01:01 PM
Well, factory occupation is normally responded to with police repression.
You guys don't have the NRA :lol:

[GlassDraggon]

Police repression? No kidding?


Seriously though, you're right. There would be police "repression". We should just suck it up and deal with terrible wages, corporate oppression, governmental domination and genocide from the comfort of our own (increasingly run down) living rooms while watching American Idol and eating Dorito's.


Suck it up.



Bayano,
You're right, it's nearly impossible to create revolution in a society that has the elusion of relative wealth and prosperity. So it's absolutely imperative that we counter that corporate elusion. A generic "knowledge" campaign doesn't work. We can't beat the hundreds of hours every American (assuming we're talking about America or Canada) spends watching corporate television. We have to be much more subversive and intelligent than that. You have to really disturb people in order to get a point across. You have to intrude into their everyday, comfortable, existance. You have to take away the dilusion that they're tiny little worlds are safe and stable and push them head first into the harshness of they're existance. If you can do this- then you will have your revolution.

[Zero]

For any large, city/town/state wide riot to take place the motives of the opressors must be clear, and direct. Also it must directly affect the workers themselves (such as benifit cuts, or outsourcing a plant.) Otherwise all you will have is a small group of leftists and a lot of confused/scared people, as the American Wal-Mart mind has yet to grasp the concept that every man and woman are created equal at birth... and that a CEO is nothing but a pig who will do whatever he can to keep you with your head dunked in a barrel of water.

Besides, as it stands we have too many fucking "patriots".

[bayano]

to zero, this has nothing to do with rioting. and who in their right mind would be talking about something so illegal on the internet? occupying the factories may have legality issues, but its a hell of a lot more constructive than rioting.

and frankly, if uve never met factory workers whove been laid off (happened to members of my family, and ive seen it dozens of other times), people are pissed as shit. mass lay-offs lead to all kinds of shit. suicide and domestic abuse rates go up among the workers/former workers, alcohol and other drug abuse increase, people get depressed. alienation hits harder when the means of subsistence (the selling of labor power for wages and benefits that have become higher than in other jobs through long-fought struggles) collapses.

and glassdragon, i absolutely agree. such a movement would be plenty more powerful and successful at agitprop to both the workers involved and people around the country than all of the other agitprop which we normally do (which i participate in and will continue participating in). propaganda of the deed, direct action, a struggle for workers self-management, and a whole lot more all rolled into one.

[вор в законе]

A similar thing is happening in Argentina. Workers are controlling the factories. This is very interesting.

[Zingu]

This actually isn't a bad idea. Autonomous action groups of people taking over abandoned factories would be a great start for building an anti-establishmentary movement. And if we do it right, we won't get much "red-phobia".

[which doctor]

Americans have a tradition of accepting the fact that they may not have a secure job, or maybe no job at all. Union membershipin America is low.

Wages are dropping, yet very little is being done on the worker's behalf to counter-act this drop.

Although it would certainly be a revolutionary act, I dont see it as a likely occurence in America.

Hopefully, class solidarity in America will rise and workplace occupations will happen. This however, will happen in the future and probaly not in the next ten years.

Remember, you can't just occupy a workplace, you must work it!

[VermontLeft]

i dont really think that this is "realistic" at the moment and its probably better to focus on real aims rather that thinking about what wed want the situation to be.

maybe in a couple of years (or decades... :() this will be a real plan, but for now its better that we work on organizing workers, strengthening unions, and building up class solidarity! :)

The future doesnt just build itself after all!

[Jimmie Higgins]

Originally posted by [email protected] 29 2006, 08:15 AM
i dont really think that this is "realistic" at the moment and its probably better to focus on real aims rather that thinking about what wed want the situation to be.

maybe in a couple of years (or decades... :() this will be a real plan, but for now its better that we work on organizing workers, strengthening unions, and building up class solidarity! :)

The future doesnt just build itself after all!
Well put.

And I love the idea of occupying closed factories.. we should occupy the open ones as well. But in order to get to this point, we can't just leapfrog over where class-struggle is at the moment. We need to rebuild the labor movement and I thing connecting labor and the immigrant rights movement is the best way radicals are going to be able to help move the struggle forward right now.

The organizing and fight-back of unskilled laberers in the Depression was the backbone of that labor movement... May Day and international Working Women's day were created out of movements by unskilled/semi-skilled immigrant workers in the US, it's time for history to repeat in our favor for once!

[Janus]

Worker control of factories is being practiced in several diferent areas such as Spain. Also, this is pretty much what the IWW is all about.