We find the origin of the labor movements and the main union movements that arise as a consequence of the social movements that take place in Europe, as a result of the Industrial Revolution and the great agglomerations of workers that will favor collective thought and with it the ideologization of the masses.. The date from which we began the study is the so-called Democratic Sexenio (1868-1874), with the proclamation of the First Spanish Republic on February 11, 1874 taking on special relevance. We have chosen this date because it is key to the beginning of the labor movements within political action because, as we will see, they suppose the two great disappointments of the labor movement.
Origins of the Spanish labor movement: the triumph of Anarchism.
Before going on to discuss how the first Spanish labor movements arose, it should be noted that this fact, common throughout Europe, occurs in a very peculiar way within our borders. Peculiar because it responds to a very simplistic mentality whose protagonists are defined by authors such as Seco Serrano as “primitive rebels” (Seco Serrano, 1986, p. 11). We find three factors that define this historical fact: the two frustrations (1855 and 1869) that will lead to an autonomous labor movement, the socio-economic situation from 1870 and the theoretical formulations.
For many authors, the first mistake was to differentiate between moderates and progressives, because when the former were in power from 1843 to 1854, the progressives were seen as an alternative capable of solving the problems of the proletariat. It will not be until the Progressive Biennium (1854-1856) when the workers are disappointed because the Castilian oligarchic elites prevented the achievement of the social reforms proposed by Espartero, ending the Progressive Biennium. Before this happened, a labor regulation law was drafted that was quickly rejected by the workers’ delegations, since what was proposed was to further limit the already almost non-existent workers’ rights with measures such as: putting the “mixed juries » under the control of the Government, prohibition of collective agreements, that is, this law only benefited the interests of the businessmen, the employer class. It will be with this fact when the labor movement begins (1855), because with the creation of the first workers’ newspaper El Eco de la Clase Obrera, it is assumed that a class consciousness begins to be taken in the face of social injustice that differentiated the fourth state from the rest. At the same time there will begin to be an interest in political action in the face of the inactivity of the civil governors in the disputes between workers and employers, this was taken advantage of by the republican party of Pi y Margall, it will be the postulates of this same author who create a conscience federalist among the working class, which explains the rapid adaptation to later anarchist postulates.
The disappointment with republicanism will come with Prim’s management to create a parliamentary monarchy or “crowned democracy”, this caused a first feeling of anger among the republican sectors that incited the masses to start the revolution, a fact that got out of control, forcing Republicans to back down, but it was too late, the working masses were harshly repressed and turned against their political leaders. The second disappointment in a short time led them towards the search for their autonomy, it is at this moment, 1869, when the Italian Guiseppe Fanelli arrives, sent by Bakunin to introduce the anarchist path in the Iberian Peninsula, in a camouflaged way, since he was supposed to it had to bring the Marxist programs of the First International. Thus, a purely anarchist mentality spreads among the working class, leading to the founding of the International Working Men’s Association. During the founding Congress of Barcelona, the bases of this incipient movement were made clear: “»Any participation of the working class in the government policy of the middle class could not produce other results than the consolidation of the existing order of things, which would necessarily paralyze the socialist revolutionary action of the proletariat. The Congress recommends that all the sections of the IWA renounce any corporate action that has the objective of carrying out social transformation through national political reforms and invites them to use all their activity in the federative constitution of the professional bodies, the only means to ensure the success of the social revolution.
We know the socio-economic situation of the working class since 1870, it is no coincidence that this is the year the IWA was founded, because it is thanks to this group that we know under what working conditions the proletariat lived. In Andalusia we find that the lowest paid jobs are those that require a longer working day, while specialized agricultural workers are the best paid. At the same time, and in a generalized way, urban workers receive higher wages, the same happens in terms of the working day, since rural workers continue with the famous work “from sunrise to sunset” (18 hours a day). We see similar days in some industrial enclaves in the east of the peninsula, which likewise receive lower salaries than their colleagues in other geographical areas, this will cause these industrialized centers with worse conditions than the rest to be the main revolutionary foci, as is the case from Alcoi. The 14-hour day is more common in the industrialized centers of the South and the Levant, while in Catalonia the 11-12 hour day is more common, five days a week, unlike the rest. As for the purchasing power of the working class, we turn to the work of Sánchez Albornoz to observe how wheat is too expensive in the Andalusian area, and at the same time it is the food base of these populations, which allows us to imagine what the situation would be like , always extreme, of the Andalusian agricultural population. At the same time, this explains how it is in these foci where anarchism takes root with greater force.
Another factor that we must deal with is the degree of literacy of the workers. It is somewhat surprising to see how the illiteracy rate of anarchist militants is not as high as has always been believed, Renée Lamberet tells us: “The Andalusians who joined the International, the peasants in particular, were not those illiterate ones Imagine. The 1877 Population Census mentions the following percentage for the whole of Spain: 24.48 per 100 of the population know how to read and write, 3.48 know how to read and 72.01 know neither how to read nor write. The proportion is very different in the sections” (Nettlau, 1973). Therefore, if we investigate each anarchist section locally, we will see how the First International (anarchist) penetrates among the most literate populations than in the words of Seco Serrano:
“It distances us in a certain way from a concise image of «primitive rebels» as far as Andalusian acracy is concerned” (Seco Serrano, 1986, p. 21).
To end this section, we still have to talk about how the peculiar ideological program that takes shape in Spain is articulated. In the first place, from Spain Anarchy is understood as the destruction of all States so that all humanity gathers in a federation of workers’ associations so that all privileges and tyranny can be abolished. In the same way, collectivism is a means with which to achieve freedom, since each will be the owner of the fruit of their work. We also observe the firm rejection of the Marxist path as authoritarian, at the same time that political action is rejected. This last factor explains why they reject the federal republican path in the same way, since at the same time they bring back bad memories of the betrayal of the republicans in 1870 and in the same way they are accused of seeing the proletariat as a mere instrument through which to achieve their goals. objectives; the exploitation of the working class.
To finish, we can only read how Seco Serrano exceptionally summarizes the origins of the labor movement: “at the end of 1872, the «red flag of the International» was shaken, in the Spanish region, by a wind of naive hopes; and «militant workerism» was not satisfied then with less than the «direct» substitution -apart from all reformism- of a world curdled in injustices and selfishness by another that, disdaining the discredited paths of political action -still very far of authentic democracy – would make Utopia a reality” (Seco Serrano, 1986, p. 26).
Labor organization: trade unionism.
The logical trigger of all this process is the organization of workers in unions, which are committed to fighting for the rights of workers, or advocating class struggle from political action (socialism) or not (anarchist path). To show a more complete vision of the working world, up to the situation that supposes the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, we will see three great movements/unions: anarchist, socialist and catholic. In the same way we will treat, due to its geographical and ideological particularity, the ELA-SOV or Solidarity of Basque Workers.
The immediate precedent to the anarchist movement is the already mentioned International Federation of Workers, the Spanish section was founded in 1869. These first internationalists were forced underground after the military coup of General Pavia in 1881, which caused the reconstitution of said section under the name of Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region. For the year 1882 we see that they already have 59,000 affiliates growth that is diminished by internal confrontations regarding the events of the Black Hand. We will witness the official dissolution of the federation that, after being refounded under another name, will be renamed the Pact of Union and Solidarity in 1889, although it will continue to remain clandestine by virtue of the Law of Repression of Anarchism. It was not until 1907, with the creation of Solidaridad Obrera in Barcelona, that the objective of creating a trade union organization was aimed at, a fact that would be accelerated due to the Tragic Week in Barcelona, which would lead to the founding of the National Confederation of Workers on November 1, 1909, organization that arises to fight the bourgeoisie locally by each of the unions that compose it. To promote membership, they considered setting minimum dues, at the same time they did not consider it necessary to create reserve funds or pay their union leaders or employees. The administrative structure is based on the regional federations that must attend the national congresses.
The ideas of the CNT were widely accepted by the proletariat who, due to their economic conditions, were identified with the libertarian ideology. Lastly, it is worth highlighting the important educational work carried out by anarchists, since…