Portugal: LUTA SOCIAL - three years of a project

Editorial from "Caderno Luta Social", No.1

Let's have the critical intelligence to understand that it is not possible to learn from other experiences mainly in the social domain, if we do not share their constructive practices. Therefore, we appeal for cooperation and mutual aid, permanently, in our camp.
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LUTA SOCIAL: three years of a project.

"Caderno Luta Social" No.1: Editorial

The Luta Social Collective was born at the end of 2004, after the Setúbal Libertarian Conference, of which some who founded the Collective were among the organisers and participants.

From the start, the Collective's basic positions were anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian, and devoted to work in the social struggle.

Since the beginning of its activity (March 2005), the Luta Social Collective diagnosed the obvious need for an anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist type of union in the Portuguese context, one that could renovate syndicalism and present itself as an alternative to reformist and bureaucratic syndicalism.

It was not by chance, of course, that the first grassroots union since 25th April 1974 in Portugal was born as a result of the action of the Collective, whose members decided to found the "Associação de Classe Interprofissional" (Inter-professional Class Association, AC-Interpro) in June 2006.

One year earlier, these same militants had already taken part in the creation of the Portuguese branch of FESAL-E, the European Federation of Alternative Syndicalism in Education. The following year, it was thought that the conditions were ripe for the creation of a trade union with anti-authoritarian principles.

After the founding Assembly in June 2006, the process for legalizing the union began, requiring a statute change to put it in accordance with the law. Its final approval occurred at the end of October 2006 and publication in the Official Bulletin of the Department of Labour Relations and Welfare was in November of the same year, which meant the grassroots union was now legal.

In parallel, the union started its activity:

• it took positions, in various press releases, on questions affecting Portuguese workers and also spread information about social struggles in Portugal and around the world;


• it held meetings with militants and sympathizers to define strategy;


• it organized the "Interprofessional Days" festival in 2006, with public debates on labour and social precarity, privatization in education and the globalization of the class struggle;


• in 2007, a seminar was held in Lisbon, on "Violence in schools, violence in society", an initiative by the Education sector;


• in April-May, AC-Interpro took part in the Paris i07 Conference, which gathered revolutionary and autonomous unions from the 5 continents.

But obstacles soon appeared.

At times, meetings had few participants. Horizontal organization needs the active participation of all those concerned; the absence of hierarchies implies that everyone takes responsibility.

One unexpected obstacle was the legal action that the State prosecutor took against AC-Interpro in January 2007, to seek its extinction, on the allegation that the Statutes were not in agreement with the law.

The arguments made against AC-Interpro were somewhat dubious. But a lack of financial means meant that a lawyer could not be afforded for a situation that would have dragged the union into a costly trial with an uncertain outcome. Given the general situation, it was therefore decided not to contest the action. The judgement in the matter finally arrived at the end of 2007, legally abolishing the union.

The Luta Social Collective then re-formed. Its militants are mostly ex-members of AC-Interpro, but this time they have grouped together as an autonomous Collective, without aiming to satisfy legal requirements which are designed to suppress any contestation of the instituted system. Until such times as there is a substantially higher number of activists, we are conscious that building a trade union in Portugal which corresponds to our wishes is not possible.

Now with a new statute and a new Internet presence (both website and the associated discussion list*), the collective will hopefully be able to learn from our experiences and continue to develop its intervention, following the same principles, adapting them to the circumstances that we face.

One distinctive approach is horizontality. All members have equal weight in the decision-making process.

Another is openness: we are prepared to cooperate with other collectives whenever our aims converge, even if it the cooperation is limited to certain areas.

It is this spirit that has inspired our decision to launch a series of "Cadernos Luta Social", in which we will be relying on collaboration. We want a good part of the content to be from people outside the Collective, friends from Portugal or abroad, who wish to contribute with their thoughts and analysis to launch and deepen the debate, over a wide range of themes, such as:

• the class struggle, which has not died off, but has simply taken on new forms. What are the challenges we are confronted with, both on a tactical and an organizational level?


• facing up to capitalism: faced with the internationalization of capital there is no corresponding internationalization of active solidarity between the exploited and oppressed. Which pathways are open to direct cooperation between peoples, in their struggles?


• many transversal causes exist, such as gender equality, fighting racism, xenophobia, defending theenvironment, and many others; these should be confluent with the strengthening of non-reformists, of the anti-capitalists and anti-authoritarians. How can we act to make it happen?


• Authentic culture and education are a horizontal, non-hierarchical exchange. How to self-organize to produce our own culture, in dissent with the schizophrenic consumer society, but not isolated from the great majority of the people, not closed into a ghetto?

We are well aware that we can only begin to give answers to these - and other - issues, if we act in solidarity and cooperation in the social aim.

Neither do we pretend to have "ready-made" solutions, nor think that presenting recipes or models is of any interest.

Let's have the critical intelligence to understand that it is not possible to learn from other experiences mainly in the social domain, if we do not share their constructive practices. Therefore, we appeal for cooperation and mutual aid, permanently, in our camp.

(*) Web site: http://www.luta-social.org
discussion list: http://groups.google.com/group/iniciativalutasocial

Article from "Caderno Luta Social", No.1