Labor/Community Struggle in Bonao
Group), LAWG (Latin American Working
Falconbridge Dominicana and its construction sub-contractors are well disposed toward dialogue and discussion with groups representing the workers' aspirations and demands. We have a great desire...
...These local capitalists had profit requirements that were to play a major role in settling Falconbridge's labor policy in the construction phase.20 The Workers Strike On May 11, 1970, practically the entire construction force at the Falconbridge site went on a four-day strike, paralyzing operations and jeopardizing production timetables...
...Nevertheless, the company's very rejection of local political bureaucracy unintentionally aroused community support for the municipal council...
...9, 1971...
...But the company did grant a wage increase and set up a private medical plan for the workers...
...Bonao was almost in ruins...
...CASC (Confederacion Autonoma de Sindicatos Cristianos), the Dominican counterpart of the Latin American Confederation of Workers (CLAT), is a national organization of Catholic trade unions...
...But anticipating labor problems, the company took the initiative in forming a company union to stabilize the work force...
...While workers pay for their "own" transport system, Falcondo provides three air-conditioned buses, free of charge, for administrative personnel who work at the plant but reside in the capital city...
...From the outset, Falcondo pursued a very different strategy toward its production workers...
...In 1971, salaries for temporary laborers, hired for less than three months, was 5.50 an hour...
...The UCMM was permitted to use the American school facilities and the Falcondo laboratories for its evening and summer programs, offering courses to children of Falcondo personnel, and technical training for Dominicans in the company's service...
...On June 23, 2300 workers went back on strike...
...3. Don Luce, "U.S...
...The only Dominican labor body to condem the strike, UNATRASIN, a trade union set up by Balaguer, openly called upon Balaguer to intervene in the name of reason and justice, since the workstoppage at Falconbridge threatened the economic stability of the country...
...But before mining operations could get underway and profits begin rolling in, the vast plant and supporting facilities had to be constructed...
...Thus, companies are in a position to "accomodate" workers by raising wages and to some extent improving working and living conditions...
...In the spring of 1973, the town experienced the worst crisis in history, brought on by a serious drought and a subsequent rise in the cost of living...
...Keith went on to say that "the interests of the Dominican people lie in large-scale industrial development such as Falcondo, and that consequently, the project should not get involved in political conflicts of this nature...
...The company constructed a 3 million-dollar housing project on the edge of town, modelled on the North American design: 185 single-family dwellings with furnishing and essential services, paved avenues and driveways, extensive lawns and gardens, a private water tank and an artificial lake...
...Falcondo's "Canadian" neighborhood for executives and managers on the edge of Bonao...
...Company operations have exacerbated local poverty, unemployment and inflation...
...three union leaders were charged $3,000 each...
...Worker protest took many forms, including the .formation of unions and national labor movements which were at times brutally repressed by foreign companies...
...The community program has been only relatively successful in stemming discontent in Bonao, for the liberal facade of Falcondo's aid cannot hide the basic contradictions between foreign investment and genuine com-23 munity development...
...In contrast to the projected permanent force of plant and mine workers, the the construction phase required a larger, less skilled and temporary work force...
...The Sisters, whose order is based in Michigan, accepted Keith's offer to plan and run the million-dollar American school in Bonao...
...Shortly after the contract was signed in July 1971, the workers voted to disaffiliate from CASC and form an independent union-a move which surely pleased the company...
...Production Phase As the unskilled construction workers were being laid off, Falcondo began hiring skilled laborers for the mining and plant operations...
...We saw no alternative but to crack down hard," explained Ian Keith to the Wall Street Journal.10 While the main workers' struggle had been crushed, discontent and-resentment continued to erupt...
...2 2 Ian Keith subsequently denied that the company's community relations director had made such a statement...
...The coop is almost as powerful as a bank . . . in fact, its capital allows it to realize any kind of operation at any time...
...7. El Caribe, July 2, 1970...
...Numerous persons complained of being harrassed and persecuted, among them the 22 members of the negotiating team...
...Falcondo's aid programs to its workers and to the Bonao community do not modify the basic relationship of exploitation between workers and bosses...
...The project would be built by the National Housing Institute, a government agency which imports construction materials tax-free...
...While their very responsibilities will always place management and labor on separate sides of the table, there is room for common interests...
...While members tried to reap benefits from the new, multimillion-dollar investment, Falcondo was very careful not to ally itself with local politicians, who aside from having little power, were viewed by the townspeople as unscrupulous and corrupt...
...Over forty legal organizations from the town and two adjacent communities presented a document demanding that the company give 1 percent of its production to the municipal council and proposed a general strike to enforce their demand...
...bombs...
...The left trade unions and political parties condemned the "repressive and anti-human attitude of Falconbridge...
...A third outfit, Caceres Troncoso, erecting the luxurious housing project for the management and high level administrators, was charged with failing to dispense back pay...
...Volman is a master at such intrigue...
...9. El Nacional, July 1, 1970...
...For three years, Falcondo had been extracting materials for road construction, but had failed to make any reports or payments as stipulated by a contract signed in 1968.21 The company not only questioned the validity of this contract, but denied having used a grain of municipal sand...
...1967), p. 62...
...12, 1972...
...The company called on everyone to remain calm so that "together we can continue to work for the development and prosperity of Bonao...
...In November of 1971, the Bonao council demanded payment for 8 million cubic meters of sand that the company had extracted from rivers belonging to the municipality...
...Nationalism in Latin America: The Challenge & Corporate Response, prepared and published by Business International Corporation, New York, 1970...
...According to Bonao residents, only 100 are employed, or less than one percent of the total population...
...12, 1972...
...The "Cascos Negros," an American-trained, antiriot police squad was brought in from Santo Domingo to assist in the operation...
...Smaller subcontractors, local and foreign, working on the project, operated on a tighter margin and were even more dependent on cheap labor...
...Furthermore, Falcondo could hardly negotiate the issue of job security for construction workers when it had no intention of absorbing them into its long-term mining operations...
...military construction company...
...2 4 In July, the people of Bonao decided that if Falcondo was to profit from their labor and resources, then the town should profit from company operations...
...Ian Keith, Vice-President and General Manager of Falcondol For the Dominican Republic and all of Latin America, Falconbridge is a highly unique venture...
...After its construction phase, however, the capital-intensive nature of Falcondo's production process required only a small number of skilled laborers...
...By mid-1971, there were over 4,000 construction workers on the job: but by the end of that same year less than 600 remained...
...Falcondo has refused to cede its absolute control...
...The workers demanded higher salaries, better working conditions, transportation facilities, industrial safety, improved equipment, life insurance and the rehiring of 11 fellow workers fired for strike involvement...
...Lieutenant Volquez Mancebo military commander in charge, accused the group of being "communist" and threatened several union members with death...
...Bail was set at $1,500...
...But the dangerous working conditions, causing 134 accidents and four deaths over a six months period, were never rectified and other specific grievances were dissipated...
...However, the bitterly fought CASC was recognized as the production workers' bargaining agent...
...counterparts...
...They further argued that even if Falcondo took responsibility for these expenses, a union settlement would set a national precedent for all future projects...
...Firms Building New 'Tiger Cages,' " War/ Peace Report (March, 1971), p. 7. 4. See Carlos M. Gutierrez, The Dominican Republic: Rebellion and Repression (New York, 1972) chapter 3 for a discussion of CASC and trade unions...
...Instead of merely extracting raw materials for export or processing a semi-finished commodity, Falconbridge has concentrated a complete mining to refining operation in the Dominican Republic...
...During and after the strike organizers from the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (CASC) began aiding the workers and influencing the direction of events.* Their role grew during the one month strike moratorium when the companies continued to refuse the workers' primary demands...
...The company, seeking to use the cooperative for its own ends, has stubbornly resisted the Dominicans' attempts to run Coofalcondo independently...
...The contractors agreed to some secondary demands, but no agreement was reached on the key issues of salaries and social security...
...Given the self-sufficiency of its operations, the company could easily have built housing facilities close to the plant, at a significant distance from Bonao...
...Access to and from the old town is limited to a single road at each end of the barrio...
...The Falconbridge installations became an armed camp...
...A hint of the company's labor orientation was in fact revealed as far back as the pilot phase of the project (1955-1968...
...Recruiting these otherwise jobless people to build U.S...
...El Caribe, Feb...
...5. El Caribe, June 29, 1970...
...By May 1970, over 2000 workers had been hired from the thousands of readily available job seekers...
...Listin Diario, Dec...
...From the early planning stages, Falcondo had anticipated the problems which inevitably arise in a traditional rural community faced with sudden penetration by North American investors...
...Coofalcondo can import medications tax free and thereby undersell local pharmacists who not only have to pay high import taxes, but moreover, must buy their products from wholesalers at very inflated prices...
...They were determined at the outset to break any labor actions-through force if necessary...
...Canada...
...Sept...
...The working class of Bonao was hit especially hard by this rise in the cost of living, since the vast majority were not employed to any significant extent in the project...
...It so happens Falcondo secured the services of one of the most infamous social democrats in all Latin America-the Rumanian exile and CIA operative, Sacha Volhnan.11 This anticommunist missionary has centered his career around subverting and manipulating popular struggles to protect U.S...
...For more on B&R's labor policies, domestic and foreign, see Victoria Smith and Jeff Shapiro, "Brown and Root: How to Build an Empire," Space City (April 27, 1971...
...In June of 1972, Batista Canturrencia, the council member who disclosed the road matter, became the center of yet another controversy...
...While the union demands were at this point straight bread-and-butter issues that could be met without too much expense to Falcondo, this would entail union recognition and bargaining...
...The contract took six months to negotiate and most of the social demands were rejected...
...15...
...Coofalcondo has also organized a transportation coop to carry workers between the town and plant facilities, take children to school and provide shopping trips to Santo Domingo...
...Workers who live in Bonao and adjacent communities pay an average of $5 weekly for the service...
...In addition, since Falconbridge is not a construction outfit, it had to operate through a set of sub-contractors, some local and others foreign, who hired the construction workers...
...A 22-member negotiating team was elected to represent the workers...
...As a result, criticism and conflict have surfaced time and again in the form of anti-Falcondo demonstrations...
...The preface to the 1971 contract spelled out the company's ideology which was considered an integral part of the agreement: -the parties recognize the necessity to promote good worker-management relations as the most constructive means of achieving the development and stability of national economy and the welfare of the community in general...
...This advanced technological complex manufactures a readily marketable industrial product, making expropriation more feasible...
...With patriotic fervor, UNATRASIN explained it was acting out of its great desire "to defend the well-being of the country, and the sacred and legitimate interests of the workers...
...Ian Keith, Falcondo vice president and manager, also claimed that the union leaders were trying to provoke a political crisis since the strike was "illegal" under Dominican Labor Law...
...The school has both an English and Spanish program, with about 130 to 160 students, respectively, and prepares them to enter American, Canadian and Dominican universities with proper credit and course requirements...
...The company knew that any successful disruption would cripple the firm, dry up profits and weaken the confidence of international investors...
...A more independent union movement could mean that companies would be less subject to politically oriented demands...
...This is not done out of generosity, but out of shrewd recognition of the long-term benefits such policies bring to foreign investment...
...Despite the drought, company executives and their families enjoyed an excess of water from their barrio's private water tank and swam in their large private swimming pool...
...Leith, former chief of U.S...
...A company ad accused "minority groups with extremist tendencies" of using violence and intimidations against the majority of workers who simply wanted to work...
...While the people of Bonao suffered and tried to endure, foreigners lived in ease on the wealth extracted from the natural resources and labor of the community...
...2 5 Faced with the threat of nationalization and waves of popular protest, multinational companies like Falcondo have reformed their mode of operation.In the first decades of the twentieth century, a foreign mining company investing in Latin America needed a large, unskilled labor force...
...Falcondo construction workers on strike...
...The anger of the local population increased with the disclosure that Falcondo's chief security guard, an excaptain of the National Police, had circumvented local Bonao authorities and asked the higher police officers of La Vega to intervene in making the arrest...
...Keith had announced the very same day that Falconbridge could not tolerate any more "interruptions," that could lead to financial disaster...
...Within hours, military troops and armed police units occupied the Falconbridge complex with an alleged mandate from the company, and violently removed the strikers...
...While minimizing the disruptive effects on the town, this alternative would have required a large company investment in housing, recreation facilities, stores, schools and maintenance...
...The union leaders clearly stated that they were not holding the military and police to blame, but Falconbridge management itself, and specifically Ian Keith and A.A...
...In October, 1971, the Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (UCMM), a private Dominican university specializing in technical training, inaugurated an extension in Bonao...
...Thus the lines were drawn quite clearly and the companies prepared for a full confrontation to break the union...
...The contractors were led by Brown & Root of Houston, Texas, third largest private construction outfit in the world...
...1 6 Relations with the Community The Falcondo mining project disrupted the social and economic life of Bonao...
...9, 1971...
...Faced with high levels of unemployment and the rising cost of living, townspeople became highly critical of the Falcondo operation, which despite their expectations and company promises, has not improved the general situation in Bonao...
...As a result, a very small percentage of the town's population was employed...
...Unemployment and underemployment in the Dominican Republic run as high as 50 percent in some areas...
...Faced with growing criticism from various sectors of the population, Falcondo was forced to respond through its Public Relations Director, Mario Mansfield...
...a place where it could co-opt the infrastructure and services of UCMM in order to train personnel in business and technical skills...
...5, 1973...
...This steep decline contributed to workers' hostility and led to several actions around specific grievances...
...The plant has a clinic and on ambulance, in case of emergency, but the doctor and the nurse are not the correct specialists, and they "only work from 8 a.m...
...the philosophy that guides Falconbridge in its community relations is to support existing or newly created institutions . . to share their burdens, but not to stifle their initiative...
...The companies dealt with most of these actions through bureaucratic maneuvering whereby the slow moving government apparatus is utilized to defuse immediate demands...
...After four days of bargaining the workers called off the strike and gave the companies one month to consider their proposals...
...unions.**A new strike under its leadership might place the whole project in jeopardy by triggering a mass movement to expel Falconbridge from the island...
...In providing cooperative services to workers, Coofalcondo has, in some cases, provoked conflict in Bonao...
...Listin Diario, Dec...
...He further threatened serious trouble if the workers insisted on maintaining their negotiating team...
...Such strong job competition and insecurity encouraged the contractors to pay low wages, maintain dangerous working conditions, and use deteriorating, second-rate construction equipment...
...My concern is that this will affect the image of the company regarding its good relations with the workers...
...Once their legitimacy is established, these union officers in effect become company agents within the working class...
...Support for the workers came from many organizations in the country...
...His appearance at Falcondo as assistant to the president on labor relations once again points up the strategic importance of this project for the United States, for a seasoned agent like Volman only takes on big assignments...
...Workers building the pipeline accused the sub-contractor (Slack & Sons) of discriminating against and underpaying Dominican workers...
...so far not one strike or major disruption has broken out at the Falcondo complex...
...The success of this strategy emerged during the 1973 contract negotiations...
...8 The CASC called upon the Latin American Confederation of Trade Unions and the World Federation of Labor to pressure Balaguer to release the imprisoned union members...
...8. Wall Street Journal, Sept...
...Some landowners subsequently accused the company of making threats and refusing to pay indemnities...
...Falcondo, however, refused to hand over the money and the struggle escalated...
...This physical and social segregation extends into the schools...
...The three sub-contractors building the main processing plant and thermoelectric power station, who knew such conditions tend to foster discontent and organized protest, were firmly anti-union...
...With this plan, Falcondo would be more likely to become embroiled in social problems, but with a little "diplomacy," it would still be less costly for the company...
...Much can be done to gain labor and the unemployed as allies...
...In the city of Bonao, high school students began protesting the military presence...
...The Construction Phase In 1968, when Falconbridge first publicized its intention to construct permanent facilities at Bonao, thousands of workers who heard that the company was hiring poured into the city.* By late 1969 all the final corporate agreements were signed with the Dominican government and the construction of the $180 million metallurgical complex was put in high gear on a tight completion schedule...
...worker-management harmony is an objective to be reached and maintained as the essential condition22 for the increase in production and the improvement of individual or collective output...
...Coofalcondo's most ambitious project is the building of a workers' housing-complex...
...The first decision in attempting to minimize these problems was where the company would house its labor force...
...35-37...
...A 7c increase was granted to all workers in 1972...
...A CASC leader, Jose Gomez Cerda, makes this charge in a book he authored, La lucha es diaria (Santo Domingo, 1972), p. 165...
...Address by lan Keith to a businessmen's association in Santo Domingo...
...Wages paid to these workers . .. could buy very little in the inflation economy...
...2 Throughout the time Brown & Root worked in Bonao for Falconbridge, it maintained major operations in Viet Nam, including the construction of dreaded "tiger cage" prison cells on the island of Con Son.3 Brown & Root's labor orientation, whether in Viet Nam, the United States or the Dominican Republic, flows from the structure of its operations...
...Theoretically, the school is open to the entire Bonao community...
...Many Bonao residents see the foreign ghetto as a continuation of traditional colonial attitudes and racist practices...
...practice to do hiring at nearby in- ternment camps among the "refugees"-most of whom had been either forcibly removed from their homes in NLF-controlled areas in preparation for a U.S.-allied attack, or driven out by U.S...
...A year later, UCMM expanded its program to include courses in education, communications and instrumentation technology...
...With this orientation labormanagement relations could be firmly fixed around "common interests," instead of class struggle, guaranteeing smooth production for years to come...
...Falconbridge plans to avoid this threat by maintaining close ties with the U.S...
...Despite this clash with local farmers, the company was able to boast that the fuel pipeline had been finished in record time...
...This article was prepared from materials provided by the Latin American Working Group-LA WG , Box 6300, Station A. Toronto, Ontario...
...The (construction combine headed by B & R in Viet Nam) depended on mass labor from the (Vietnamese) countryside...
...For background on Volman, see Carlos Maria Gutierrez, pp...
...that is, the municipal government only administered policies set by Santo Domingo...
...Capitalist mining operations supply the world market, but provide little for the social, and economic development of regions in which they operate...
...Community aid programs designed to head off or co-opt opposition may temporarily mislead some Latin Americans in their judgement of the potential benefits of foreign investment...
...Local pharmacists tried to block the project, loudly protesting that they could not compete with the coop and would surely be run out of business...
...The lowest paid workers who received from$.82 to $1.37, in 1972 faced the most dangerous working conditions...
...Journalists were warned to stay away...
...El Nacional, Nov...
...When Falcondo decided to create an educational facility for the foreign community, Ian Keith sought the services of the Adrian Sisters who since the time of Trujillo had run the Colegio Santo Domingo, a private school for daughters of the oligarchy and foreign residents in the capital...
...More specifically, by granting bread-and-butter demands at specific times, and cultivating special relations with certain leaders, the company can assist the rise of the most friendly union officials...
...In contrast, the Dominican schools in the region are over-crowded, delapidated shacks...
...American employees earned on an average nearly 60 times the wage of Vietnamese laborers . .. When labor discontent erupted into 11 separate strikes or riots on company sites, there were charges-and some vague admissions--that Americans were treating their Vietnamese workers as slaves...
...Rumors circulated that the company planned to fire the 600 workers who had signed the founding union constitution...
...It was the company's hope that the cooperative would encourage workers to deal with socio-economic problems on the basis of their own resources, rather than place demands on the company or on political parties, and would mitigate the disruptive effects of Falcondo operations in Bonao...
...The social life of the barrio is self-contained and revolves around a private club whose entrance, as seen by local residents, is "reminiscent of the aristocratic Havana in pre-Castro Cuba...
...The contract excluded the office personnel and the small number of construction workers still employed by the sub-contractors...
...El Nacional, July 25, 1973...
...Without doubt, both the construction companies and Falconbridge viewed all these moves with particular alarm...
...Peace Corps operations in rural Brazil, has been described as "deeply sensitive to the fears of rural people in Latin America suddenly surrounded by quick social change they cannot understand...
...The membership of the municipal council had not changed in over twenty years, and roads, buildings and parks were badly deteriorating...
...The $2 billion Vietnam construction operations were organized around a consortium of firms -RMK-BRJ, which included three other giants besides B&R...
...It behooves foreign investment to help the cause of bread-and-butter unionism...
...El Nacional, Nov...
...The North American Barrio A constant source of resentment among townspeople has been the extreme contrast in living standards between Bonao and the North American barrio, home of managerial and administrative personnel...
...Several of the workers were beaten and 92 were arrested and imprisoned, including Henry Molina of the CASC, and Dr...
...Business International, a leading consultant firm for multinational corporations, recently noted that Unions in Latin America are generally socialist in outlook and have not reached the near capitalist orientation of their U.S...
...Today, it is the most powerful Bonao's other side of the tracks.24 cooperative in the country, with $1.5 million in capital and 1600 members...
...When farmers began protesting, Falcondo called in the National Police...
...At this point the Falcondo executives had some basic policy decisions to make...
...The plant presented dangerous work conditions...
...1, 1971...
...They have thrown rocks at the cars of high-level company staff, painted anti- Falcondo slogans, such as "Sacha Volman-CIA," on several walls of the old town, and even placed a fire bomb under the car of a Falcondo employee...
...The range of salaries for full-time workers varied from $.75 an hour for unskilled laborers, to $2.30 an hour for the higest skilled machine operators, mechanics and electricians, etc...
...Considering that these lands are among the most fertile in the Caribbean, their future condition is crucial...
...The situation was aggravated by a number of layoffs at the Falcondo plant...
...18, 1971...
...The mass of the labor force, unskilled workers, were making as little as $21 a mon- th-or 8 cents an hour, at the real market exchange rate, for a 60-hour week...
...Newspaper reports contradicted the company's position, and the matter flared up in a local council meeting, where John Leith allegedly told the council to do whatever it wanted, the Dominican people were savages anyway...
...18 The club has an olympic-size swimming pool, tennis court, billiards, dance hall, movie theatre, bar and restaurant...
...Today mechanization has made mining one of the most capital-intensive industries, second only to petroleum...
...In addition all workers suffered from one kind of pollution or another: escaping gases, dust, extreme noises and high temperatures...
...Given the large reserve of unskilled labor ususally capable of replacing strikers, construction outfits rely on pitting worker against worker to undermine labor struggles and union organizing...
...Chamberlain...
...On June 9th, the workers formed a union and unanimously voted to affiliate with the CASC...
...18, 1968...
...Some local residents and most of Falcondo's foreign personnel began to make their purchases in Santo Domingo, while local retailers reported a 60 percent drop in sales...
...Company tactics began to pay off...
...Conclusion Bonao, for the most part, is worse off today than it was prior to the arrival of Falcondo...
...The Association of Bonao University Students protested, charging that the council member had been arrested because of prior disputes with the company...
...2 325 Agriculture in the Valley The mining company also created serious problems for the agricultural population in surrounding communities...
...Together, INCO and Falcondo have created a desert of slag in the Sudbury region in Canada, where no trees can grow...
...After the 1961 assassination of Trujillo CASC rapidly organized several sectors of the Dominican working class and gained strong support among rural, textile, and public work employees...
...Denying company responsibility for the economic situation, Mansfield commented: "I don't know why there is so much talk about us, since in fact we are not municipal executives...
...Since the early days of the Falcondo operation, workers have complained about the lack of housing and eating facilities, and resentment heightened with the growth of the luxurious foreign ghetto...
...Those returning would be given the salary raise offered by the company, retroactive to May 22, an offer that was identical to one already refused...
...Any rise in wages--usually the direct consequence of unionizationquickly erodes profits...
...There is some indication, however, he was responsible for the violent strike breaking strategy during the construction phase...
...First, a long-running battle began between Falcondo and the Bonao council over the question of roads...
...8, 1971...
...He was arrested after being thrown out of the North American barrio for serenading the foreign community with traditional folk music on the feast day of a patron saint...
...9 The strike was broken in eight days thanks to the intimidations, firings, imprisonment, persecution and job competition...
...They were dispersed by army gun fire, and the troops surrounded the local high school, forcing it to close down...
...As mining operations expanded in 1971, Falcondo again took the initiative by drawing up a collective bargaining agreement, offering to pay some of the highest salaries in the country...
...This is one more example of meddling on the part of foreign companies in the country...
...In the most mechanized mines, like those of Falcondo, only a small, skilled labor force is required and labor represents but a small portion of the cost of production...
...John Harbron, "Falconbridge Finds the Key to Financial Succes in Latin America," Financial Post, May 12, 1973...
...The new community would have running water, electricity, two schools, a cultural and sports club and a food coop, all to be administered by Coofalcondo...
...1 4 "Harmonious" labor-management relations prevailed...
...Over 60 workers had already been fired, including members of the negotiating team...
...Hoping to be viewed as a responsible and cooperative benefactor, Falcondo set up a community development office in the middle of town and hired John Leith as director...
...In addition to damages caused by the pipeline construction, local farmers and residents fear that the mining operations will ultimately devastate the rich agricultural valley...
...In June, the union, which represented 900 of the 1,300 production workers, drew up its own contract demanding a 40-hour week, salary increases, protection against firing, better working conditions to prevent accidents, 1 3 a grievance committee, free transportation, eating facilities at the plant, vacation pay and scholarships, etc...
...Their working and living conditions were quite poor and they received wages as low as 21c an hour...
...Even for the largest firms like Brown & Root, using advanced machinery, labor constitutes a significant expense...
...A narrow trade union consciousness would guide all actions which in turn would tend to separate the Falcondo workers from the rest of the Dominican proletariat...
...High profits depended on keeping the cost of labor to a minimum, implying extremely low wages and harsh working conditions...
...1 7 As the Falcondo representative most accessible to the community, Leith works as a "troubleshooter" for the company, detecting and attempting to de-fuse local conflicts...
...Listin Diarlo, Dec...
...CASC, a powerful nationwide labor organization closely linked to a secondary political party, espoused an anti-imperialist ideology (especially anti-United States) and practiced a brand of political unionism that went beyond the bread-and-butter, collective bargaining strategy of most U.S...
...Municipal Council After the fall of Trujillo, Bonao's municipal affairs were largely controlled by the national government...
...Beatings were reported with monotonous regularity, and one worker was fatally shot by an American guard . .. In some areas it was common...
...The high rate of accidents and deaths exceeded that in most other Dominican industry...
...Footnotes 1. Dominican Newspaper Advertisement, June 29, 1970...
...As an independent, the union's political bent would be diminished in favor of immediate conomic concerns, thus cutting its propensity to strike around broader questions (e.g...
...On the basis of the Catholic University social study on Bonao, the company opted for the second strategy and set about trying to make the community an "ally" of foreign investment...
...Employment in this sector grew from 291 workers in 1970 to about 1,400 in late 1972 when full scale production got underway...
...This is essential for the consolidation of conscientious, mutually beneficial and responsible worker-management relations," says Keith...
...Political unionism sees workers' movements as part of a broader struggle for longer term economic and social objectives...
...Through his office, Falcondo supports local initiatives by meeting half the cost of various projects, be they sports clubs or businessmen's associations...
...Coolalcondo On November 6, 1970, upon the advice of Sacha Volman, Falcondo set up for its workers the first multi- purpose cooperative in the Dominican Republic: Coofalcondo...
...El Nacional, June 11, 1972...
...Their teachers are paid only one-third as much as those in the American school, a cause of considerable friction and criticism...
...The success of this venture was assured by the lack of any other means of transportation...
...6. Listin Diario, July 2, 1970...
...Relying more on labor and less on machinery, the profits of construction firms are extremely sensitive to wage rates...
...We have a great desire to maintain harmonious labor/ management relations, as well as a desire to win affection and respect from the workers-the most important human element, appreciated by all good industrialists...
...Falcondo has publicly boasted of not having created a ghetto of affluence in Bonao, yet the luxurious barrio, with its schools, club and related services, is surpassed only by other foreign enclaves belonging to the Gulf & Western Company in La Romana...
...25, 1973...
...Such an investment strategy, resting on a capital intensive structure and round-the-clock production, dictates specific labor requirements at different stages of operation...
...7 Meanwhile the arrested workers were charged with inciting a strike, holding an illegal meeting, etc...
...Thus, the university extension was a convenient arrangement for Falcondo...
...In Bonao, no effort has been made to research and evaluate the potential ecological effects on the region...
...The project is still in its planning stages and workers are still without decent homes...
...bases, after uprooting them from their land and source of livelihood, amounts, in the kindest terms applicable, to forced labor...
...Workers complained that ventilation fans were often not in working condition...
...Membership is limited to those employees paid on a monthly basis, thereby excluding the 1300 production workers paid by the day...
...It began with only 192 members and little more than $900...
...Gonzalez Canahuate, the union's legal advisor as well as financial secretary to Juan Bosch's party...
...2 0 Such courses are reminiscent of earlier, CIA-funded projects set up by Sacha Volman in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere, which included training centers for young political organizers and the peasant leagues of 1962...
...They could count on the backing of the country's weak labor legislazion, the bulk of which was written during the Trujillo era and made it virtually impossible to hold a legal strike...
...Wholesale and retail prices soared, creating one of the highest rates of inflation in the country...
...A. A. Chamberlain, Falconbridge spokesman and construction manager, accused Henry Molina, Secretary General of the CASC, of being a political agitator rather than a trade union leader...
...In November, 1972, the Dominican Agricultural Institute donated land to Coofalcondo for the construction of 500 low-cost houses, 75 percent to be made available to company workers and 25 percent to the community...
...The sub-contracting construction outfits to which Falcondo was allied vehemently opposed this strategy on the grounds they could not absorb the added labor costs...
...government and corporate interests...
...The conflict escalated and reached a climax on July 1, when military and police units broke into the Bonao country club, where 150 workers, union leaders and lawyers were holding a meeting...
...In 1962, a company union was set up for the 175 project workers who were hired for only three month stints...
...Road building, the council said, was a municipal responsability...
...Some workers were beaten while others were arrested and imprisoned in the local military garrison...
...Only a few of the construction workers were carried over into the production phase...
...Courses are offered in leadership training, the democratic process and workermanagement relations...
...For example, one aspect of the cooperative's activities promoted by the company is political education...
...However, once again Falconbridge refused21 to recognize the workers' elected negotiating team...
...the prosperity of the company is the best guarantee for the prosperity of the workers...
...to 4 p.m., though the workers continue to work around the clock...
...But it is only a matter of time before Latin Americans take decisive steps to control their national wealth...
...The document went on to criticize the company's "inhuman treatment" of workers and called for the establishment of a revolutionary government so that "the country's mineral resources would be exploited by Dominicans rather than foreigners...
...Another firm (SCECA) was denounced for gross irregularities in the payment of social security...
...The community viewed the arrest as an insult to the city official and to Bonao, and even the local deputy of Balaguer's Reformista Party was outraged...
...It does not restrict its activities to the work place but instead is usually linked to a political party and other mass organizations that can mobilize support for workers' demands...
...The workers employed in developing and running the mines were paid more than most other workers in the Dominican Republic, but the flow of money into the town from these relatively high wages, especially during the development period when as many as 4,000 construction workers were hired, had an inflationary effect on local market prices...
...With the plant and mining facilities fully operational, a relatively small but highly skilled and permanent work force is essential...
...An emergency council meeting demanded that Falcondo condemn the persons responsible for the Canturrencia's detention...
...The company has claimed that 597 local residents, only 2%/ percent of the population, hold jobs with Falcondo...
...One example is the protest which arose in the community when Coofalcondo established a low-cost pharmacy in the fall of 1973...
...Private guards patrol the neighborhood on bicycles and are instructed to inform any Dominicans who "don't belong there" how to leave...
...political repression) or in support of other workers' struggles...
...Similar plans to establish local food coops will undoubtedly spark new conflicts between retailers, Falcondo and the population...
...The union has repeatedly proposed an alternative plan, in which workers could build houses in the locality of their choice, and not be cramped together in a company ghetto...
...Volman accomplished the task of stabilizing the labor force by using the trade union structure instead of trying to smash it.12 Falcondo with its small labor force, can afford to raise the salaries and benefits of the workers above the national standard to reduce militancy...
...and Dominican governments as well as depleting the nickel deposits within a short period of time-20 to 30 years...
...Under no circumstances could they tolerate a long strike given their tight construction schedule...
...The available labor force in Bonao was very large, consisting mostly of unskilled labor...
...Listin Diario, Nov...
...The community development program has become a kind of social experiment for the corporation, and a model to be emulated and perfected by other investors operating in Latin America...
...2. David Welsh, "Building Lyndon Johnson," Ramparts (Dec...
...6 Many unemployed workers started arriving in Bonao to replace the strikers...
...This type of trade unionism, with its heavy emphasis on class collaboration or the "mutual" interests of labor and capital, has been peddled world-wide by anti-communist forces in the social democratic movement...
...El Nacional, May 11, 1973...
...Volman's programs attempt to ward off revolutionary movements by directing popular dissent into "democratic," non-violent channels...
...There were two alternatives...
...1 9 This very power, however, has created serious conflicts between Falcondo and its workers, over how it should be used...
...In a two-hour meeting with Ian Keith, Bishop Flores pleaded in the name of the Church that Falconbridge at least meet with the workers' representatives...
...The plant was producing at full capacity and the company could not afford even a slowdown...
...However, high academic standards and prohibitive tuition fees make it virtually impossible for local residents to attend...
...Coofalcondo grew rapidly and developed great economic potential...
...In July, the striking workers were invited to attend a meeting and negotiate with the company along with Bishop Flores of La Vega and the local police commander who had been called in as a "mediator...
...The other alternative was to let workers live in Bonao, placing the burden of providing adequate facilities on the townspeople and Municipal Council...
...Brown & Root left a notorious labor record in South Vietnam, where it served as the primary U.S...
...Given the limited supply of skilled Dominican labor, these workers must be "loyal" to the firm, not militant, class-conscious or strikeoriented...
...Local residents complained that the company offered no explanation for the cut-back in the labor force...
...5 In a further effort to break the strike, Falconbridge placed large ads in the Dominican papers, and distributed leaflets asking the workers to return to work...
...In the last labor negotiations, the union demanded an end to such inequalities, and free transportation for workers...
...On July 2, Falconbridge announced the return of 1000 workers and stated that others were expected to return soon...
...The rapid rise in rural to urban migration has swelled the ranks of the unemployed in the last 15 years...
...In 1971, the company built the Haina-Bonao pipeline across agricultural lands of La Vega and San Cristobal provinces...
...While the company offered to build roads using its own equipment and materials, the council insisted on controlling this money to build its own roads...
Vol. 8 • April 1974 • No. 4
