Anarchism and Workers' Self-Management in Revolutionary Spain - Frank Mintz

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this is a faithful reflection of the will of congress on this point, since, while we concede the relevance of the time factor in having these resolutions adopted in principle, we also mean to see them implemented, as briefly outlined above, within a reasonable time frame; which will rule out the endless negotiations that might outwardly be caused by a troublesome focus on personalities.

      Let us allow time for the establishment of sindicatos únicos, but, once these are in place, let us also set a period of grace within which the unaffiliated can revise and amend their performance prior to their being excluded from the broad workers’ movement.

      Some congress accords

      Motion 7: In battles between capital and labor, unions affiliated to the Confederation are obliged to give preference to direct-action methods, as long as there are no bona fide circumstances of genuine force majeure requiring recourse to different approaches.

      Motions 19 and 22: Professional politicians can never represent workers’ organisations and the latter must see to it that they are not based in any political premises.

      Motion 21: The unions have an imperative duty to see to it by all permissible means that the women—partners, daughters, etc.,—living alongside them and working alongside them in some industry or trade, are organised into unions.

      In mixed trade unions, the steering committees should be mixed also, so that women take an interest in their battles and personally commit to their economic emancipation.

      Motion 26: As long as there is a company in any given locality paying its operatives the set rate and employing unionised workers, no trade union shall provide labor to any other employer not meeting the same conditions. Nevertheless, when the work that needs doing is such as to be of direct benefit to the organisation, labor costs may be reduced with the consent of the comrades who are to perform it and of the unions to which they belong.

      Motions 40, 43, 44 and 50: a) There is a duty upon every union member to do whatever he may to thwart the exploitation of minors. b) Under no pretext and in no sector will overtime be worked as long as there are members of that trade without jobs, and if the union, to which the comrade who is obliged to work overtime belongs, reckons it is strong enough to do so, it shall not countenance overtime under any circumstances. c) Those trades that have successfully imposed a maximum working day of eight hours are to help the rest to secure the same victory and then, on the say-so of their Federations, can target the introduction of the standard rate of pay, circumstances permitting.

      Motion 47: a) Bodies that do not constitute professional or trade combinations for the purpose of standing up to capital should have no direct input into matters affecting the unions: but congress looks sympathetically upon those that uphold a social ideal consonant with the interests of the proletariat working outside of the unions and on behalf of the emancipation of the producer class. b) Rationalist teachers, having rendered sterling service to the working class and being a necessary factor in the struggle for emancipation, may have a direct input into union business, as long as they are organised as a body.

      Motion 48: No comrade who is not from a given trade or locality may be appointed to committees and federations within a locality. But when it comes to regional congresses or gatherings, a comrade from the locality wherein the delegating union is based or the one where the meeting is due to be held may be appointed as delegate […]

      Motion 37: This working party is minded that the most practical means of boosting the dignity and the morale and profiles of ‘handicapped’ comrades is for the Regional Committee to have an input into handicapped organisations, supporting these materially, taking a hand in centres of production (already or yet to be established) where handicapped persons engage in manual tasks, as well as having an ongoing, general input into artistic and musical associations.

      It is our belief that by so doing and by drawing them into our bosom, this organisation will largely be able to avert begging and, on the other hand, will also avert their having to ply for trade on the streets. Provided that the local committees first draw these comrades into the broader workers’ organisation, it wrests them away from those reactionary protective agencies currently manipulating them according to their whims.

      As a result, this working party believes that it would be extremely useful to introduce collective workshops. Said workshops should operate under the administrative supervision of the workers’ organisation.

      With an eye to technical operation from the industrial point of view, those nominated for this task should themselves be handicapped persons versed in the various industries in which said workshops might be engaged.

      Such problems as might arise in terms of proper ­development and expansion relate to the distribution and sale of manufactured goods, and in order to do away with this difficulty, the Municipality should, at the urging of the working class, be applied to for a number of fixed outlets in the busiest parts of the city, as long as those outlets are no blight upon the city’s appearance or the free movement of citizens. As well, outlets should be located at the gates of the markets, in conditions akin to those outlined earlier in this resolution.

      As a result, therefore, it is our view that in order to do away with street begging, such workshops and fixed outlets should be set up, where the public could go to purchase manufactured goods. As to the internal operation of such workshops, this should differ from what we might regard as collective workshop activity.

      The statements above offer an economic breakdown of demands designed to do away with exploitation in the future society and to repudiate politicians and Leninists. These were binding upon the CNT’s trade unionism: an ability to open wage-earners’ eyes to hard and fast goals, handled by dedicated, steadfast syndicalists capable of standing up to repression; an eye for the detailed, practical implementation of resolutions; a wide-ranging vision taking in women, children and the disabled. Linked to which, the anarcho-syndicalist leadership was fully alive to its revolutionary mission as well as to the dangers surrounding it, and equipped itself with sound tools.

      The sindicato único gathered all the workers of the same firm or locality (if the locality was small enough) under one roof. There was a community of interests and solidarity between skilled workers, specialists and labourers whose differing degrees of skill and pay rates tended to divide and split asunder. Solidarity was not restricted to the mythic slogan “Workers of the world unite”, as it was inside the UGT and European-style trade unionism (long forgotten these days in France, Germany, etc.), and workers stuck together regardless of work distinctions.

      Brief review of the historical backdrop

      Knowing how CNT personnel operated, one can better understand anarcho-syndicalism’s élan in Spain’s past.

      Between 1900 and 1911, the history of the Spanish labour movement was punctuated by many events: The colonial war in Morocco triggered a mutiny by recruits in Barcelona in 1909, in the wake of which the anarchist educationist Francisco Ferrer was executed by firing squad. Anarcho-syndicalist groups, ever-present since the introduction of the socialist ideas of the International Working Men’s Association in 1868, finally began to coordinate. Thanks to this, the CNT had a membership of 30,000 when it was launched in 1911.

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