1. Thu, 03/11/11

    New wave of workplace occupations

    An article from Richie Venton - the Scottish Socialist Party workplace organiser on the occupations

     

     

    read more »

    Geographical: Era: Topic: 
  2. Thu, 03/11/11

    Resisting redundancy and recession: appraising the tactic of occupation

    In regard to workplace occupations, the decision relates to workers’ assessments of their situation and their expectations about whether this will bring useful leverage.

    In times of recession and restructuring, the occupation or sit-in tactic is potentially a powerful tool when workers are faced with redundancy because it provides leverage that strikes often cannot. Yet, since late 2007 when the global downturn began, we have witnessed very few examples of occupation – certainly far fewer than might have been expected given the depth and extent of recession. read more »

    Geographical: Era: Topic: 
  3. Thu, 03/11/11

    1976: The fight for useful work at Lucas Aerospace

    History of how arms company workers struggled against closure and for a change in their work from weapons manufacture to socially useful production.

    In the 1970s workers at the Lucas Aerospace Company in Britain set out to defeat the bosses plans to axe jobs. They produced their own alternative "Corporate Plan" for the company's future. In doing so they attacked some of the underlying priorities of capitalism. Their proposals were radical, arguing for an end to the wasteful production of military goods and for people’s needs to be put before the owners’ profits. read more »

    Geographical: Era: 
  4. Wed, 02/11/11

    Fighting Plant Closure - Women in the Plessey Occupation 1982

    A history of the occupation of the Plessey capacitor plant in 1982 after its closure was announced by 220 women workers.

    The occupation of the Bathgate plant of Plessey Capacitors in 1982 provides an interesting example of collective action taken by a mainly female workforce against their multinational employer. This particular dispute has important implications both for the involvement of women in industrial action, and for the debate about the most effective strategies to counter the power of multinational corporations, particularly in the case of plant closure.

    The material presented here is based on a series of interviews carried out in the period August to November 1983. read more »

    Geographical: 
  5. Wed, 02/11/11

    The South London Women’s Hospital Occupation 1984-85

    Some background on hospital occupations, which goes back to the late 1970s. In the early 1970s both the private and private sector was being restructured: partly in response to IMF directives, and in response to the relatively high wages and defenses (‘restrictive’ work practices that workers built up through the years. This ‘restructuring’ took the form of further centralisation, deskilling, redundancies, productivity deals, speed-ups, casualisation, tougher discipline. This is highly simplified — but we’ll leave it for the time being.

    Since this restructuring often involved closures, people began occupying workplaces instead of simply going on strike. read more »

    Geographical: Era: Topic: 
  6. Wed, 02/11/11

    British factory occupations in the 1970s

    General accounts

    General accounts:

    An account of the early phases of the post-UCS occupations in the UK from Workers Liberty, the second part does not seem to have appeared.

    Read more on:

    http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2009/07/20/british-factory-occupations-1970s

    Specific occupations:

    Upper Clyde Shipbuilders: read more »

    Geographical: Era: 
  7. Wed, 02/11/11

    The Universe of Worker-Recovered Companies in Argentina (2002-2008): Continuity and Changes Inside the Movement

    Argentina’s movement of worker-recovered companies (WRC) gained significant public visibility during and in the years following the institutional crisis of December 2001. In light of company shutdowns and dramatic increases in unemployment
    rates, many workers promoted the reopening of workplaces abandoned by their owners, giving origin to a movement that still exists to this day. Collectively, the actions centred on workplace and job “recoveries” have made up the distinguishing feature--or the “identity”--of the movement. Even though today’s conjuncture is somewhat different than read more »

    Geographical: Era: Topic: 
  8. Wed, 02/11/11

    The Sangham Strategy: Lessons for a Cooperative Mode of Production

    An essay that reports on the work and struggle of Indian landless Dalit women farmers in organizing a network of credit and marketing cooperatives into an egalitarian political body of production.

    Dalit women farmers in the district of Medak, Andhra Pradesh, India formed a mutual aid credit cooperative (MACC) in the early 1990s with the support of a development NGO, the Deccan Development Society (DDS). In India, mutual aid credit cooperatives come out of a new wave of reform that emerged within the Indian cooperative movement as transnational financial institutions began to gain control of microfinance banking. read more »

    Geographical: Era: Topic: 
  9. Wed, 02/11/11

    Cooperatives and the “Bolivarian Revolution” in Venezuela

    This article looks at the vibrant cooperative movement within the context of the “Bolivarian Revolution” in Venezuela. While the cooperatives represent one of the most encouraging signs of radical democratic potential in Venezuela, there are conflicting
    trajectories within the country that make the future of the “Bolivarian Revolution” unclear. This paper argues that the cooperative movement can only be sustainable and transformative of Venezuelan capitalism if it is integrated into a larger project of
    economic democracy.

    Full text in English to download as pdf

    Geographical: Era: Topic: 
  10. Tue, 01/11/11

    Praxis, Learning, and New Cooperativism in Venezuela: An Initial Look at Venezuela’s Socialist Production Units

    In this paper, I address the question as to the extent to which the participatory and democratic processes taking place as part ofVenezuela's new cooperative movement can be said to be a component for the building of social relations that challenge those of capitalism. I begin with a discussion of praxis and learning. Then, I attempt to situate the role of cooperatives and the participation therein within the context of capitalism. read more »

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