Jorge Pavez: Teachers union leader, Chile

...At this point we could clearly see that the political parties of the Democratic Alliance favored a different outcome from those of the left...

...Therefore, we must find a new alliance that can propose something different, and which can garner enough trust to nurture this movement...

...They were simply not feasible...

...The Communists were so feared that there was no possibility of creating a solid alliance to which all could belong...

...And on the other, towards achieving decent working and living conditions through an increase in our wages...

...But there was no real possibility of that because of the repression...

...What are your feelings about this...

...On the other hand, we are contributing to the political fight against the economic model...

...Those are the central demands...

...all were united...

...Apparently the country is progressing, but it's a very unequal progress which is based on enormous labor exploitation and with no labor protection...

...It generated a model for action common to all the organizations taking shape then...

...let families pay for education, for example, and relieve the state from that responsibility...

...Nationwide protests that basically called for a halt to all productive activity were spreading...

...We have been making use of the classic strategy of presenting demands and demanding a response, accumulating strength through mobilization...

...Then it turned out that under the new government, social and labor movements were simply asked to lower their demands...

...The movement was also weakened because the organizational norms imposed by the dictatorship via the labor code on the trade unions, neighborhood associations, etc., remain intact...

...In short, the economic model imposed threatened by the dictatorship is practically the same one in use by the current government...

...We have read that there is a lot of popular sympathy for the movement...

...The dic- it was no tator leaves, but the practice of vio- engagein lating human rights, of rolling back worker's rights, and a tremendous becaus social debt are all left in place...

...They could paralyze transportation since there were so many barricades and so much chaos in the street that when buses didn't come out, workers simply could not VOL XXXI, No 1 JULY/AUG 1997 n n p e d go to work...

...In the past past few years, there have been signs that the popular movement, particularly the trade-union sector, is beginning to assume a significant political role once again...

...Teachers are a very disenfranchised social sector, but we have powerful social influence because we are spread throughout the country...

...It's a movement that, in the medium run, has the possibility of achieving power...

...State Department and the Catholic Church, neither of which wanted a radical solution or the possibility of confrontation, since the situation in Chile was starting to look like Nicaragua...

...This situation began to take shape between 1980 and 1986 through the trade-union movement and through the political movement, which was working under very adverse conditions, even clandestinely...

...The mobilizations point in two directions...

...This has also meant a loss of the prestige gained by the grassroots movement during the struggle for democracy...

...Is there a high degree of support for these demands...

...There are indigenous sectors that are setting forth their own points of view, such as the Mapuches in the south and the Aymaras in the north and demanding respect for their autonomy...

...Structural adjustment was fully implemented during the dictatorship, in contrast with other countries where 21VOICES ON THE LEFT it is being implemented by democratic regimes...

...We began this in March, and when we reached the strike in October, there was already a high level of support since it had emerged from this democratic assembly and our strike was absolutely legitimate...

...The criminal and terrorist repression of the dictatorship meant not only the murder of many social and labor leaders, but also the virtual destruction of the powerful social movement in existence at the time...

...The popular movement is going through a difficult period, but it's by no means dead...

...From outside, Chile is portrayed as a successful example of the neoliberal model...

...The need for Latin Americans to work together is ever more pressing because throughout the continent, we are experiencing similar problems...

...protests The situation reached a climax in 1986, when the grassroots and labor they movements reached their peak of unity and strength...

...All participated...

...After the first protest, the Christian Democrats created the der the Democratic Alliance, and then the Popular Democratic Movement and that emerged...

...They also want to impose absolute labor flexibility in our sector, which means not paying according to a worker's level of experience...

...This framework agreement sets forth some minimal labor-law reforms and a model of development in which businessmen rather than workers play the most important role...

...Unfortunately, the politilemocracy...

...It's a successful model based on the exploitation of natural resources...

...Now, there are progressives inside and outside the government...

...The dictatorship demolished the country and built another one...

...From civil society this group put forth what was known as "Chile's List," which proposed a post-dictatorship solution different from the one which was eventually adopted...

...This created huge unemployment, the bankruptcy of industries, a change in material conditions and a change in popular mentality...

...Its NACIA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS 0, 0 C Hi I LVOICES ON THE LEFT base was centered around the Christian Democrats...

...The leadership formalized that proposal with the government, and we began to negotiate and inform teachers and public opinion about this whole process...

...We still have not made the leap to the political struggle to change the system and change the 22 model...

...There is the belief that stability is not a necessary good...

...This process of regaining trust in social organization and of regaining a collective consciousness and solidarity, is not only being expressed in the unions, but in society as a whole...

...We have no congressmen...

...one within the framework established by the dictatorship...

...The rank and file are mobilized, in spite of the fact that the political consciousness of Chilean workers has deteriorated...

...This experiment failed because of the dictatorship's power, because of the movement's ineffectiveness, and because of the pressure from the Church and the United States which sought a solution like the one we wound up with...

...Thus was the national strike born, propelled by the strength Id by the of the labor movement, and supported from the outside by political parties, t that we such as the leftist Popular Democratic Movement, and the Democratic ger make Alliance which included the Christian mands we Democrats...

...what matters is productivity so people should be paid according to their output...

...I see that the conditions are present, based on the objective reality of the country...

...We lived through the great adjustment during which thousands of teachers were laid off...

...I would say that we have had tremendous support because the leadership is very united and because of the high degree of autonomy that the respective political parties enjoy...

...To be fair, education budgets have been increasing during the Concertacidn governments, although they haven't reached pre-dictatorship levels...

...Macroeconomic indicators do show development...

...We influence the large portion of the Chilean population that has children in school...

...This teacher is better because he has a better yield, so we pay him an extra bonus...

...We will see all rivers and the ocean contaminated...

...This centrist alliance incorporated the Socialists, We were ti thereby breaking the historic Socialist-Communist alliance...

...The task is to find them and look for a common space that could permit the possibility of building a more just country...

...I think you find leaders when you least expect them...

...And then they proposed the idea of a great social consensus based on what the government called a "framework agreement" among businessmen, the unions and the government...

...On the one hand, achieving what we call true educational reform, with the participation of teachers and society...

...We first made a very democratic effort by calling a national assembly in which delegates drew up a work plan for the year, and one of the issues was to claim our rights...

...Since 1990, there has been a policy of co-optation of social organizations carried out by the post-dictatorship governments, which has meant the virtual loss of these movements' independence-labor in particular-but also of other movements that emerged during the dictatorship...

...We were also told that it was no good to engage in protests and mobilizations because they threatened democracy...

...But we can easily reach the conclusion that this model works and is successful...

...Political expressions are born under the aegis of the social movements and their struggles...

...Where are they leading, and with what strategies and tactics...

...a model in which the concept of unity among all Marxist, Christian, and social democratic sectors was essential...

...cal parties were never able to form a common front...

...Generally, we are well respected in Chilean society...

...But we could see that alliance in the labor movement, where Communists, Christian Democrats and Radicals fought together...

...Chile faces the serious task of finding an alternative...

...That was the union of leftist parties, primarily Socialists and good to Communists...

...rejections of public demonstrations are being replaced by greater understanding and support, as was the case with the teachers...

...Marine wildlife, which is enormously rich in this country, is also being depleted because everything is being exported...

...At the end of 1988, a political alliance called the Concertaci6n of Parties for Democracy was formed...

...I'm talking about 1986, when a very important precedent was set in this struggle in the effort to create what came to be known as the Assembly of Civility, a great conglomeration of professional organizations, unions, small businesses and students...

...And even though they are lacking now, I trust that the leadership problem can be solved quickly...

...This whole process reached a climax between 1986 and 1987...

...The government result was the success of the plebiscite which denied Pinochet the COuld no lo ability to remain institutionalized as the same d dictator, although we had to wait yet another year for the elections to take made ur place...

...that's what has been done...

...But then came pressures from the U.S...

...If we don't change our mode of production, we will soon find ourselves with no forests because natural resources will be extinguished...

...Society is beginning to lose its fear of social conflict...

...These are the struggles, in addition to the human rights movement, that we teachers support...

...It was agreed upon through consensus...

...Here, the open fight against the dictatorship was waged by the National Worker's Coordinating Committee, which proposed a national strike in 1983 when the system was in crisis...

...I am not painting a rosy picture, but there is no doubt that in the last few union elections there has been a clear will on the part of a large group of workers to intensify the struggle for their rights...

...Let me ask you about recent mobilizations...

...That meant that all the leaders were committed to comply, because it was everyone's plan, not just that of a few...

...this is what we have to do...

...How does the Teachers Guild fit into the current panorama of the popular movement...

...All were united in a common endeavor...

...There is a very large sector of the Chilean population that is suffering the effects of the model, and which trusted the Concertacidn governments to find solutions...

...But all the same, we still see an effort to cut budgets in general, a strong push for privatization...

...For example, Pinochet left behind a legacy of five million poor, and the Concertaci6n governments think that to bring it down to four million is a measure of success...

...Did the unions withstand the onslaught of the dictatorship better than political parties...

...Even the lines of action were similar: the Communists were calling for a popular rebellion, and the Christian Democrats were calling for civil disobedience...

...Are budget cuts affecting teachers...

...Not everything here is gold...

...The same holds for the rest of Latin America...

...I'm referring to youth groups, environmentalists, women and ethnic groups...

...We try to keep up the morale of the sector, to convince them that even within the model, through mobilization, it is possible to gain spaces, however small...

...This autonomy is necessary for attaining credibility at the grassroots...

...That's the scheme...

...But they are not seeing any...

...This is important because this a long-term struggle...

...People have to see a healthy autonomy, summoning everyone to a unified struggle...

...The Concertaci6n won those dictatorshi elections, but within the constraints of the negotiated transition...

...We must keep on working in this direction...

...If there is no response, then we move towards a strike...

...We were now told that we could no longer make the same demands we made under the dictatorship...

...It is necessary to understand that the next step is changing the model, that within this model we simply will never get what we deserve...

...There were even stronger activities, like those of the students...

...We try to ally ourselves with workers and with groups that have recently begun expressing themselves politically...

...The prevailing and growing individualism has had effects that are just now being overcome...