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Worker Self-management threatened at the HOTEL BAUEN in Buenos Aires Rally support for the 150 workers who, since 2003, run this high-rise hotel themselves by Maria Trigona
Inside
the BAUEN Hotel, one of Argentina's worker-run workplaces, janitors,
repairmen, receptionists and maids sit in an assembly with worried but
determined faces and sheets of paper in hand. Each of the workers, some of whom
have been working at the hotel since it was built in 1978, hold a court ordered
eviction notice, a judicial document notifying the workers they must abandon
the hotel or police will force them to leave. After
four years of successful worker management, a federal court issued a 30 day
eviction notice to the workers of the hotel on July 20. However, this is the
first court ordered eviction that the workers cooperative has had to fight. Argentina's recuperated enterprises are mobilizing to fight this new attack against
workers' determination. If the workers do not successfully block the eviction
order legally or through political actions the hotel could be lost and 150
workers out of a job. After
the hotel's 2001 closure, left with no other option, on March 21,2003 the workers
decided to take over the hotel to safeguard their livelihood and defend their
jobs. Since 2003, workers have operated the BAUEN cooperative hotel, a 20 story
building in the very heart of Buenos Aires. The BAUEN cooperative, like many of
the recuperated enterprises was forced to start up production without any legal
backing whatsoever. The BAUEN Hotel workers' cooperative currently employs more
than 150 workers, all working without bosses, supervisors or owners but instead
within a democratic workplace.
The
BAUEN Hotel was inaugurated for the 1978 World Cup, during the height of the
military dictatorship. As the military dictatorship disappeared 30,000 workers,
students and activists inside a network of clandestine detention centers, Argentina celebrated the 1978 world cup victory. Hotel BAUEN's original owner, Marcelo
Iurcovich, celebrated as well. He received more than five million dollars to
construct the 20-story hotel, with a government loan from the National
Development Bank (BANADE), with the military dictatorship's blessings. Iurcovich,
never held the hotel up to safety inspection codes and never paid back state
loans. He ran up debts and committed tax evasion while making millions of
dollars in profits and acquiring two more hotels. In1997, Iurcovich sold the
hotel to the business group Solari S.A. The Solari group followed in
Iurcovich's footsteps, never paying the BANADE debt. With little interest in
the profitability and maintenance of the hotel, the installations at the BAUEN
deteriorated until the Solarigroup filed bankruptcy in 2001. On
December 28, 2001, after the management began systematic firings and emptied out
the hotel, the remaining 80 workers were left in the streets in the midst of Argentina's worst economic crisis and when unemployment hit record levels-over 20%
unemployed and 40% of the population unable to find adequate employment.
Gabriel Quevedo, president of the BAUEN cooperative says that the workers
created jobs when investors and industrialists were fleeing the country.
"The workers took on responsibility when the country was in full crisis
and unemployment over 20 percent, where workers couldn't find work. The workers
formed a cooperative and created jobs, when no one believed that it was
possible."
In
the aftermath of the 2001 economic crisis, more than 180 factories and
businesses have been recuperated by the workers and today provide jobs for more
than 10,000 Argentine workers. Arminda Palacios is a seamstress who has worked
at the hotel for over 20 years and was one of the key people who decided to cut
off the locks on a side entrance into the hotel on March 28, 2001. She defines
the BAUEN hotel as simply more than a cooperative that defends jobs. "Socially
we have proved to the people that workers can run a business. This is one of
our main motives, because people believe that the capitalists are the only ones
who can run a business, and we are proving the contrary especially since we've
created 150 jobs." When
the workers first occupied the hotel, it was in ruins. It wasn't until nearly a
year after they occupied the hotel that they were able to begin renting out
services. Before the workers took home a single paycheck, they reinvested all
capital back into the hotel. They have invested hundreds of thousands of
dollars into the hotel's infrastructure: renovating the front cafe, hotel
rooms, fire proofing salons and reopening the pool area. Elena
is a receptionist in her late 20's, who says she and her fellow workers have
sacrificed a lot to defend their jobs. "They didn't have to throw us out
into the streets on December 28, 2001, because the hotel had enough business,
but the businessmen allowed the hotel to go to ruins and we had to leave. We
have renovated the hotel and successfully opened up a hotel that was closed.
Now that they see that the hotel is successful, they want to take it away from
us." In
addition to creating jobs, the BAUEN hotel has become a key organizing space
for activists around the city. During an assembly on July 23, workers from all
around the country came to show their support. "Without the BAUEN, our
internal union commission wouldn't have formed," one worker from the Buenos Aires casino said. Dozens of other workers representing emerging rank and file
unionists stressed the importance that BAUEN has had on organizing and
coordinating workers' struggles. On a local level, BAUEN Hotel has become a
prime example of coalition building and development of a broad mutual support
network. In the midst of legal struggles and successfully running a prominent
hotel, the cooperative's members haven't forgotten their roots. The 19-story
worker run hotel has become a political center for movement organizing and a
modern day commune.
The
court ordered the eviction notice in favor of the Mercoteles business group,
which claims to have purchased the hotel from Solari in2006, when the BAUEN
workers cooperative was already inside the hotel administering services. The
president of Mercoteles, Samuel Kaliman, is Iurcovich's brother in law. In
court last year, Kaliman was unable to provide the court with Mercoteles'
address, board member names and other legal information. Legal
advisors and the workers suspect that the Mercoteles is a ghost business group
with little legal legitimacy and ties to the Solarigroup. According to Isabel
Sequeira, in her 11 years working at the hotel under a boss she had seen many
questionable administrative changes. "Mercoteles is a ghost company. When
I worked at the hotel under bosses there were many sneaky administrative
changes. We had many 'bosses' that changed on a regular basis." The
Hotel workers also face another bigger challenge, a newly elected right-wing
mayor, Mauricio Macri. Macri, a business tycoon and son of privatization,
won the city-wide elections in June. As part of his campaign, he has promised
to clear out any 'okupas' or "squats" in the city. In the week that
the BAUEN hotel received the eviction notice, more than 12 housing squats in
the city were forcefully evicted. Macri will take office in December. When
the eviction notice came, the hotel was booked for winter break vacation. The
notice couldn't have come at a worst time. However, workers and supporters have
mobilized fast. In front of the Buenos Aires central courts on August 5 nearly
2,000 came out to defend the hotel. The workers cooperative presented an appeal
and will continue to lobby for the definitive legal right to the hotel. "We
believe that fighting within the legal system isn't enough. That's why we are
prepared to fight in the streets, where we are stronger,"said Fabio
Resino, a legal advisor at the hotel during an assembly. "We ask social
organizations to take on the fight for BAUEN as a fight of their own, because
the BAUEN hotel belongs to the people." The
BAUEN workers' cooperative has embarked on a national campaign to defend their
hotel and jobs. The campaign is gaining steam as the eviction date nears in late
August. Groups have planned a series of concerts and rallies with rock stars and
other television personalities supporting the workers for the legitimate right
to defend their livelihood.
Marie Trigona is a writer, radio reporter and filmmaker based in Argentina. She can be reached at mtrigona@msn.com. To watch a video on the BAUEN struggle visit http://www.agoratv.org. Include the citation below and GEO Newsletter grants permission to copy, use, and distribute this article.Permission not for commercial or for-profit use. ©2007 GEO, P O Box 115, Riverdale MD 20738 http://www.geo.coop |
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