The Miners’ Struggle in Bizkaia: A Call for Mobilization
Introduction
This document analyzes a primary source document classified as propaganda text and narrative with socio-political content.
Authorship and Audience
The authors are Socialists associated with the bulletin “La Lucha de Clases,” published by socialist committees in Bilbao, Gallart, and L rboled, inspired by Facundo Perezagua. It is addressed to the workers of Bizkaia, particularly miners, and also serves as a public text directed towards the government.
Objective
The document aims to denounce the working conditions of miners and call for mobilization to address these issues.
Historical Context
The text originates from the period of industrialization in Bizkaia (1896), characterized by capital accumulation by the bourgeoisie and poor living and working conditions for workers. This context led to the emergence of the labor movement.
Content
Main Idea
The main idea is to expose the harsh working conditions of miners and advocate for collective action.
Supporting Arguments
- Explanation of the Situation and Complaints: The document highlights the poor working conditions of miners on the left bank of the Bilbao estuary. It denounces the violation of the Loma agreement, which was established after the “Great Strike” of 1890 to improve working conditions. The entrepreneurs, referred to as “little-kings” (P.2), resisted implementing the agreement’s terms, perpetuating conditions deemed inhumane, such as the maintenance of company barracks and stores.
- Government Appeal: The text demands government intervention to enforce compliance with the Loma agreement. It references the objectives pursued by miners during the 1890 strike, including a reduced workday (10 hours) and the elimination of company-controlled barracks and stores (P.2,3).
- Call for Worker Mobilization: The document emphasizes the effectiveness of worker pressure in achieving concessions during the 1890 strike and urges continued mobilization if the situation persists. Paragraphs 4, 5, and 6 invoke principles of democratic liberalism to condemn the prevailing conditions. They criticize the infringement upon freedom of work (paragraph 5), unsanitary housing and inadequate food (paragraph 4), and exploitation that violates human dignity (paragraph 5), characterizing these as signs of a new form of slavery (paragraph 6).
Context
Precedents
Industrialization in Bizkaia
The introduction of the Bessemer converter, which utilized Bizkaia’s iron ore with properties ideal for steel production, fueled industrialization. Open-pit mines, readily available unskilled labor, low production costs, and proximity to transportation routes (the Bilbao estuary) created favorable conditions for the growth of steel companies and the emergence of a new industrial bourgeoisie in Bizkaia.
Exploitation and Capital Accumulation
Colonial exploitation and the entrepreneurs’ organization of mining operations resulted in significant capital accumulation among families within the Biscay oligarchy. However, this came at the expense of workers who endured deplorable living and working conditions, including arbitrary dismissals, long work hours, and company-owned housing and stores.
Present Moment
Emergence of the Labor Movement
The emergence of the labor movement, particularly its association with socialism and the influence of Facundo Perezagua, was a direct response to these conditions. Perezagua’s efforts to disseminate socialist doctrine and activism throughout Bizkaia from 1886 onward shaped the initial phase of Basque socialism. This period was characterized by a radical, worker-centric, revolutionary, and anti-clerical approach that prioritized union struggles over electoral participation. The first socialist group in Bilbao was established in 1887.
The Great Strike of 1890
This period, known as the “militant period of socialism” in Bizkaia, emphasized union action. The Great Strike of 1890 played a pivotal role in the development of the Bizkaian labor movement. The strike was rooted in declining purchasing power due to lower real wages and rising food costs, coupled with long work hours, company-controlled housing, and mandatory purchases from company stores. The “Loma agreement,” signed to resolve the strike, secured a 10-hour workday and abolished the requirement for workers to reside in company barracks and purchase from company stores, marking a significant victory for the strikers.
Consequences
Legacy of the Loma Agreement
Despite its significance, the Loma agreement was not universally respected, leading to subsequent strikes in 1891/1892, 1903, and 1910. Nevertheless, the 1890 strike remained a potent symbol of worker power and the potential for achieving change through collective action. The strike’s success demonstrated the viability of the socialist approach in Bizkaia, leading to the formation of new socialist groups and culminating in the establishment of the Socialist Federation of Bizkaia in 1903. In the early 20th century, under the leadership of Indalecio Prieto, the movement shifted towards moderationism, eventually gaining control of several institutions.
Conclusion/Importance of the Text
We are facing a text that describes the situation in the mines of Bizkaia and the struggle of the workers in them, their painful living conditions and that explains the insatiability of the capitalism of the time (accumulation of capital).
On the other hand we find ourselves with the militant period of Basque socialism and the work they did in the expansion of the workers' movement in Bizkaia: to give workers a class consciousness, mobilization capacity ... and all this in the importance that it could have a weekly like "La Lucha de Clases".