(Puerto Rico, July 9 1998) Last night, the 'People's Strike Against Privatisation', a 48 hour-long nationwide work stoppage in protest against the privatisation of the Puerto Rico Telephone Company (PRTC), concluded with a massive rally in front of the company's main offices. The stoppage was called for by the Broad Committee of Labour Organisations (CAOS), a civil society coalition composed of unions and allied pro-independence, leftist, student, religious and community organisations.
The participants in the 'People's Strike' included, among others, the Puerto Rico Independence Party, the Socialist Front, the University Front Against Privatisation, the Puerto Rico Workers' Central, the General Council of Workers, and the member unions of the American Federation of Labour (AFL-CIO).
The struggle over privatisation in Puerto Rico is centered around the PRTC. Back in May, a majority stake of the company was sold to a consortium led by the US-based GTE Corporation.
Governor Pedro Rossello first announced his intention of selling the PRTC to the private sector in April 1997. In response, the CAOS carried out a general 24-hour work stoppage on October 1 1997, which culminated in a rally of over 100,000 people in front of the San Juan capitol. It was the largest gathering of Puerto Ricans in history.
On June 19, PRTC employees started an indefinite strike against the company's privatisation. The strike, now in its 20th day, has been marked by numerous violent clashes as riot police attempted, sometimes unsuccessfully, to break the picket lines. Dozens of arrests have taken place and in one occasion, on June 22, strikers were brutally beaten bloody and unconscious by police in front of press photographers and television cameras.
The strikers, who were spread all over Puerto Rico, very much succeeded in shutting down the economy during the 48-hour period that covered Tuesday and Wednesday. The major shopping malls were closed, as were most fast food outlets, supermarkets, Wal-Mart chain megastores, banks, the University of Puerto Rico, public transportation, hospitals, and even the docks and the airports.
Essential services, like water, electricity and emergency medical attention, however, remained uninterrupted.
A particularly tense situation developed on Tuesday as members of the Teamsters Union, the Industrial Workers Union, the Aqueduct and Sewers Workers Union and other syndicates successfully blocked the entrance to the international airport, located in the town of Carolina.
Anticipating the strikers' arrival, dozens of police were stationed in the area as early as 7:30 am, causing a mammoth traffic jam. Tempers were increasingly heated as the day wore on and Puerto Rico police chief Pedro Toledo repeatedly told the demonstrators to clear the road in front of the airport.
Two hundred riot police, some mounted and some with long firearms, were about to charge at the strikers, some of whom were masked and had baseball bats, when Toledo and the union leaders reached an agreement: most of the police force would leave and the strikers would clear two lanes for traffic. The agreement was honored by both sides and so a major tragedy was averted.
Several near-riots also occurred in the central offices of the Department of Education in San Juan, as police officers escorted employees who crossed the picket lines to report to work. Members of the PR Teachers Federation (FMPR) used everything from persuasion to civil disobedience in order to dissuade the picket line crossers. Indeed, some were turned around, but others forced their way in with the help of police.
"Many of those strikebreakers are not even Education Department employees. They're agitators sent by [Rossello's] New Progressive Party to provoke us", said an FMPR member at the picket line who refused to be identified.
Similar incidents took place in other government offices, but for the most part the 'People's Strike' has turned out to be a peaceful protest. Many Puerto Ricans had feared that it would be a tragic bloodbath.
The main rallies took place on Tuesday and Wednesday in front of the PRTC's main offices, which are located in the town of Guaynabo. Thousands of members of dozens of unions and other activist groups marched, blocking traffic for several blocks, while diverse musical performers, from traditional to rock music, provided entertainment.
"This general strike has been a complete success. We have achieved our objective of paralising the country and established a historical precedent", said Annie Cruz, president of CAOS and of the Independent Brotherhood of Telephone Employees.
Nationalistic imagery permeated the strike. The strikers and their supporters waved Puerto Rican flags of all sizes in the picket lines and rallies. They view their opposition to neoliberal policies as a way of affirming Puerto Rico's nationhood and of countering assimilation to the United States. Governor Rossello's NPP intends to make Puerto Rico into a state of the American union.
An increasing number of citizens from all ideological camps are calling for a dialogue to get out of the current impasse. A group calling themselves 'Citizen Initiative' have called for a referendum on the PRTC privatisation, and are beginning to gather signatures to that end.
"We believe that dialogue is the only way out of this conflict. If the governor wants a million signatures calling for a referendum, then we'll get them", said Citizen Initiative spokesperson Maria Judith Oliveras.
"We hope that this general strike will make the governor reconsider his position. I'm all in favour of a referendum on the issue", said father Pedro Ortiz, a Catholic priest who has devoted much of his time and energies since 1993 to establish a 'Dialogue of National Reconciliation'.
However, the governor steadfastly refuses to negotiate with the strikers or even to meet with them.
PRTC sale opponents are confident that they would win a referendum. Polls carried out by major local newspapers have concluded that a solid majority of Puerto Ricans oppose the sale of the phone company.
In the meantime, the indefinite strike of the PRTC workers continues.
Translation notes:
CAOS- Comite Amplio de Organizaciones Sindicales
Puerto Rico Independence Party- Partido Independentista Puertorriqueno
University Front Against Privatisation- Frente Universitario
Contra la Privatizacion
Puerto Rico Workers Central- Central Puertorriquena de Trabajadores
General Council of Workers- Concilio General de Trabajadores
The last "o" in Pedro Rossello's name is accented
Independent Brotherhood of Telephone Employees- Hermandad
Independiente de Empleados Telefonicos
Citizen Initiative- Iniciativa Ciudadana