The author of this article is a member of one of the unions being sued
by the CIT organization in Spain. A few changes/notes were made to theEnglish version of article for the purpose of clarity ---- Since the
Congress of Cordoba in 2010, a faction of the CNT-AIT (now in CIT) began
laying the groundwork to gradually abandon its anarcho-syndicalist
principles. This was, and still is, an open secret. None of us who, from
within the CNT (AIT), have been following its developments have missed
its drift towards reformism, masked by an old discourse in our Movement,
aiming to make the CNT a more modern organization in line with the
times. This is a tired and worn-out narrative.
Since that Congress, many from within have conspired to dismantle the
ideology of the CNT, and with this goal in mind, they have worked
through the following Congresses to strip the CNT of those unions which
did not agree with their manoeuvers. To accomplish this, they didn't
hesitate to do use whatever means they could. To secure more votes, they
even create phantom unions, purchasing more membership fees than they
had members. When these actions were denounced, and it was later proven
that the denouncers were right, those who raised the alarm were
expelled.[1]A confederal technical committee was established, which has
been used to redirect part of the Direct Action of the unions toward
this committee, which, moreover, has salaried members (some of whom
justify themselves by claiming they are self-employed), and they are now
demanding its expansion, which will lead to more paid positions.[2]
At the Zaragoza Congress in 2015, they managed to dissolve many of the
Various Trades Unions by increasing, by two hundred percent, the number
of members required to be classified as a Various Trades Union, thereby
eliminating part of the CNT-AIT's structure across the Iberian
Peninsula.[3]During that Congress, the unions declared that the AIT was
the international wing of the CNT-AIT up until then and that it needed
to be refounded.[4](This refoundation was deemed necessary because the
AIT had refused to allow the Spanish CNT to impose the criteria it
wanted, in order to gain more votes than the other sections, with the
clear objective of imposing its decisions.[5]) Since the International
did not allow these criteria to be imposed, after the aforementioned
Zaragoza Congress, in collaboration with some organizations from other
countries, they started meetings, organically unaligned with the
CNT,[6]that eventually led to the creation of a new international
organization, the International Confederation of Labor (CIT).
In the diluted version of anarcho-syndicalism within the CNT-CIT,
opinions have surfaced that it is a feminist organization, claiming that
there must be gender parity in the committees, as if it were a vertical
and authoritarian organization. Nothing could be further from the truth,
because in a CNT assembly, everyone should be equal in their capacity to
be elected to a management position, which is solely a management role.
However, lately, what is happening is that the committees decide which
union information gets forwarded and what doesn't. The committees give
their opinions on matters, and if a union responds with a clarification,
it is the committee that decides whether that union's opinion sees the
light of day or not.[7]
All of these things, along with expulsions of regional federations to
later re-admit the unions that suit them - as seen in the Regional of
Levante and the Central Region - have caused some unions to leave the
CNT-CIT, tired of enduring so much internal rot. However, it's also true
that many unions and comrades remain, holding on to see if it's possible
to reverse the situation.
In many respects, the unions in the CNT-CIT have no say, as the
committees are making decisions and taking actions that the unions have
neither discussed nor agreed upon. I am referring to the complaints the
CNT-CIT is filing against the unions and comrades of the CNT-AIT, in a
clear attempt to extract money and prison sentences from comrades. It is
an absolute disgrace. Some unions have asked for explanations, but the
committees have responded with silence, in the manner of a central
committee of a communist party.
It's clear that those who want to dismantle anarcho-syndicalism are
trying to create an organization that fits their own design, one that is
entirely amorphous, stripped of anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist
content. They want to form unions with large memberships but little
participation, eventually becoming just another union in the system,
feeding off it. This is the ultimate goal they have set for themselves.
Today, the two factions that conspired in Cordoba to destroy the CNT are
now at odds, and what we are witnessing is shameful. They are not
hesitating to use any means necessary to bring each other down.
Despite all the outrages that these reformists are committing within the
CNT-CIT to distort and destroy our anarcho-syndicalist and anarchist
ideology, they will not succeed. They, who believe only in comfortable
positions and adapting to the capitalist system to secure their small
role and a meager reward, are destined to end up, as Bakunin told Marx's
communists, in the garbage heap of history, as indeed happened.
Therefore, today, as always, DESPITE EVERYTHING, CNT AND ADHERENT TO THE
AIT.
by Libertad García Montilla
(Notes added for clarity and context.)
1. These scandals related to buying votes originating in Andalucia. They
involved mostly the Local Federation of Seville, which had interestingly
been declared a "non-organic" organization by the CNT's VII Congress.
The Transport Union of this Local Federation in particular was found to
have paid for more membership than it actually had, thus buying more
votes in the Regional organization. A commission of the Regional
Organization found this to be true. There was also vote buying in the
fake Seville cleaner's union, which didn't actually exist.
The leadership of these unions also diverted money from the CNT to
create other structures so that they could partticipate in union
elections, something against the CNT-AIT principles. Despite the fact
that people were expelled from CNT-AIT for the aforementioned, they
mysteriously managed to return, supported by the union of Cordoba in
regional meeting. On the other hand, the union of Cadiz which had
exposed these anti-statutory action, which broke CNT-AIT principles, was
expelled. They were later violently attacked and also had their offices
raided and library stolen by leaders of the reformist faction that is
now in CNT-CIT.
(https://www.derechos.org/nizkor/espana/doc/indignados168.html)
[2]Previously, members of the CNT-AIT learned labor law in order to
defend themselves against repression and the boss's abuses. Now a staff
of professional lawyers claim they are "not employed" by CNT-AIT but
rather make most or all of their money by billing CNT-AIT for services.
One of these people, the partner of the former Secretary of CNT (the one
who embezzled), was seen as an example of nepotism inside the
organization. Some critics have noted that whereas in the past, money
was collected to help political prisoners and those repressed for their
activity, most of this money is now sidetracked to the lawyers.
[3]Such a decision effectively would put up a barrier to the growth of
the organization in localities which did not have big populations.
[4]The IWA is not the "international" extension of any of its member
Sections, despite the fact that some people had this warped vision.
[5]Proposals to impose proportional voting on the idea (originating from
unions who were buying votes and their supporters) were sent to the XXIV
and XXV Congresses of the IWA in 2009 and 2013 and were rejected.
[6]These meetings were not organically approved by the CNT membership.
Decisions about these plans to form a new international were made by
executives of the CNT and only later submitted for some posterior
"approval".
In the Spanish version of the article, there is a mistake because they
met with some organizations that were still affiliated to the IWA. The
Spanish version claimed they were disaffiliated, but the disaffiliation
only occured later.
[7]This lack of transparency caused problems in the CNT and also
concerned not passing on information or only selectively distributing
information from the IWA.
https://iwa-ait.org/content/cnt-cit-or-upside-down-anarcho-syndicalism
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