Conflict and repression in an Argentinean car factory: a cycle of resistance from a worker’s perspective

Abstract

This article presents a worker’s account of two factory occupations in Argentina. This reconstruction, rather than focusing on the role of specific agents, allows an unveiling of the dynamics through which the clash between the employer’s drive for profitability and workers’ interests in defence of their salaries developed. A cycle of conflict, resistance, repression and finally workers’ subordination and acceptance of flexible employment conditions can be identified. Despite the tendency of the capitalist mode of production to produce divisions among workers in the workplace and society, the article highlights the importance of direct action, solidarity and democratic organising as workers’ tools to react to and transform the system.