WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE SPAIN - news journal UPDATE - (en) Spain, Aragon, Apoyo Mutuo: Strike at Litera Meat: struggle and resistance against exploitation (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 The strike at Litera Meat has not simply been a production stoppage, but

an act of workers' resistance that has exposed the dynamics of
exploitation and oppression in one of the largest slaughterhouses in
Europe. ---- During four days of strike, called by the CNT and its union
section in the company, the workers raised their voices against the
dehumanization of working conditions in the largest macro-slaughterhouse
in Europe, exposing the reality behind its walls. ---- Since its
opening, Litera Meat has embodied the perversion of the current economic
model of pork in Aragon: inhuman productivity at the expense of the
health and dignity of workers. Endless days, exhausting rhythms of 900
pigs slaughtered per hour, arbitrary restrictions on the use of the
bathroom, sanctions, dismissals and lack of adequate equipment, have
been the daily bread of more than 1,600 employees, the vast majority of
whom are migrants.

The CNT trade union section denounced from the start the violation of
labour rights, which were made invisible and maintained by the
complicity between management and the company committee. The strike,
however, broke the silence. In the face of fear, organisation emerged.
In the face of the machinery of management and the lackey committee,
solidarity.

Over the course of four days, the workers demonstrated that together
they are capable of stopping production. The stoppage was progressive:
more than 85% of the workforce supported the strike on the central days,
emptying production lines, reducing the number of pigs in the
slaughterhouse and causing a collapse in the chain.

The company resorted to strike-breaking and repression practices, going
so far as to call the workers personally. From CCOO (the majority in the
company committee, but without labour implementation among the CNT
workforce), misinformation was spread in an attempt to demobilise. But
far from breaking the morale of the strikers, these days served to break
the climate of fear, consolidate workers' organization and mutual
support, and strengthen the Trade Union Section.

Although the strike ended without any agreements with management, its
true success lies in the class consciousness it awoke among workers. The
CNT demonstrated that direct action trade unionism is the only way to
confront exploitation. The trade union section, now strengthened, will
continue to be a space for struggle and resistance, prepared for future
battles.

The strike at Litera Meat has also served to demonstrate that trade
unionism of implantation and direct action (as opposed to
representation) has been the only formula capable of uniting the
workforce, encouraging them to defend themselves and act against the
reality of exploitation and collaboration between the Company Committee
and management.

As the anarcho-syndicalist movement has always maintained, the struggle
does not end with a strike. The true victory is the collective
organization that emerges from the conflict. Without this, it is
impossible to engage in future struggles. The struggle at Litera Meat
will continue, now with greater organisation and implementation of the
workforce.

But Litera Meat is not an isolated case. It is a reflection of a
capitalist system that turns the lives and bodies of workers into
merchandise, while at the same time savagely exploiting the environment.

This strike reminds us that the organisation and solidarity shown during
those days must extend to other sectors and struggles, going beyond the
walls of the company and weaving networks of mutual support to put a
stop to this exploitation.

Secretary of Communications of CNT Huesca.

https://apoyomutuoaragon.net/huelga-en-litera-meat-lucha-y-resistencia-frente-a-la-explotacion
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