Features: Labor

Venezuelan Unions March to Control Companies, Throw Out “Reformist” State Management

By James Suggett - Venezuelanalysis.com, Oct 28th 2010

A recent worker control conference in Anzoategui state (UNETE)

Worker unions from a range of state-owned and private companies in Venezuela plan to march on November 9th in favor of a new labor law, the resolution of collective union contracts, and the empowerment of worker unions in the management of their companies.

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The Insidious Bureaucracy in Venezuela: Biggest Barrier to Social Change

By Tamara Pearson – Venezuelanalysis.com, May 17th 2010

Jose Castro, community council spokesperson (Tamara Pearson)

Endless queues, waiting months or years for pay or certificates or signatures, the tedious and repetitive letters humbly addressed to all the necessary institutions, public servants and a party leadership often disconnected from the people and going against the working class: Bureaucracy in Venezuela; how bad is it, why is it as bad as it is, what impact is it having on popular organising, and what is the Bolivarian Revolution doing about it?

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Venezuela: Oil Minister Fuels Controversy in Union Elections

By Kiraz Janicke - Venezuelanalysis.com, Jul 19th 2009

On 14 July Venezuela's Energy Minister and head of the state-owned oil company PDVSA, Rafael Ramirez made a series of remarks in the lead up to elections for the national leadership of the United Federation of Venezuelan Oil Workers (FUTPV), that have stirred up controversy among oil workers.

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Venezuela’s Labor Movement at the Crossroads

By Kiraz Janicke & Federico Fuentes - Venezuelanalysis.com, Apr 29th 2008

The recent replacement of the labor minister and the nationalization of Sidor have once again brought to the fore the question of the role of workers in Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution, whose participation as an organized class has been sporadic at best, in this process aimed at constructing ‘Socialism of the 21st Century.’

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The AFL-CIO Foreign Policy Program and the 2002 Coup in Venezuela

By Kim Scipes - Worker to Worker, Sep 28th 2006

Because of the apparent connection between the oil workers' union and the coup attempt, and the long-standing ties between the CTV and the US labor center, the AFL-CIO, questions have risen about possible involvement of the AFL-CIO in the coup attempt. This article addresses the question of possible AFL-CIO involvement in the coup attempt, trying to confirm or deny any possible involvement.

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The Real Fracture in Venezuela’s Labor Movement is Ideological

By Steve Mather – Venezuelanalysis.com, Jul 10th 2006

The different factions or currents within the National Union of Workers (the UNT, the pro-Chávez confederation of labor unions) have fallen out over priorities. What is up for grabs is the meaning of XXI century Socialism and the UNT’s role within it.

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Constructing Co-Management in Venezuela: Contradictions along the Path

By Michael A. Lebowitz - MR Zine, Oct 27th 2005

Worker management is a real alternative. If co-management succeeds in Venezuela, it will be an inspiration to workers everywhere. And, if co-management fails, it will strengthen the rule of capital; the message to workers will be that there is no alternative.

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Made in Venezuela: The Struggle to Reinvent Venezuelan Labor

By Jonah Gindin - Monthly Review, Jun 28th 2005

Since its inception in May 2003, the UNT has been at the center of debates surrounding the advances of Venezuela’s revolution in the labor arena. At root, these debates turn on issues of worker control: over their factories and over their unions. Democracy is at the heart of the attempt by Venezuelan workers to reinvent a labor movement long characterized by corruption and class collaboration.

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