Argentina Occupied Factories Summary

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Argentina’s Occupied Factories movement was a movement in which workers took over and led factories. They took over these factories because they were shut down, were in various stages of bankruptcy proceedings, or were abandoned by their owners. When they were left by bosses, the workers reopened them. Workers reclaimed the factory with the phrase “Occupy, Resist, and produce”. This movement was a response to Argentina’s economic collapse which had left nothing but: a rise in poverty and unemployment, shut-down factories, and frozen bank accounts. Workers fought back through occupied factories and expropriation. The movement defended the working class, and ultimately fought against capitalism and neoliberalism. The Brukman workers were workers at the Brukman suit factory, which was under worker control. After the owners had abandoned the factory, the Brukman workers decided to take control and keep it running. Workers all earned a fair salary, and cooperatively figured out how much to save and how much to …show more content…

In the documentary, the Forja’s worker mentioned that the Zanon workers were the inspiration for their movement. The Zanon workers gained control of the ceramic factory after the owner had claimed the factory was no longer profitable and that it had to be shut down. The workers refused to accept this. The Zanon workers argued that the company owed so much to the community in public subsidies and debts that it now belonged to everyone. In Menem years, the factory had received millions of dollars in corporate welfare and the owner continued to run up big debts, but now that the workers had restarted the machines the owner wanted it back. Although, the workers had huge support from the community, which paid off because they had fought six separate eviction notices with their support. For now, Zanon is property of the people, and under worker

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