Por el Triunfo de la Confederación: 80th anniversary of the newspaper CNT

80th anniversary of the newspaper CNT

Through more than 100 years of struggle, the CNT continues fighting tirelessly for a free and egalitarian society.

Despite the long path we still have to travel before the CNT once again becomes a reference point for the working class, over the past few years the union has definitely laid some solid ground that justifies optimism in this sense.

Occasionally we see sparks that reflect the potential that remains in the anarcosyndicalist organization. As an example we could point to the General Strike that the CNT led in the Sevillan city of Lebrija in February, 2009, the first since the crisis began. And speaking of the crisis, we can’t forget to mention the avalanche of mobilizations in which fellow workers of the CNT have participated, in general strikes as well as industry- and company-wide (Madrid Metro, Iberia Airlines, ABB [a major temp agency], Ludotecas [municipal toy libraries]…), all of which were highlighted during its moment through the newspaper’s pages. The union has also brought strength to various campaigns based around the problems facing us, such as the campaign against the Social Pact, the various labor law reforms, against unemployment, for redistribution of wealth, or the most recent for dignified retirements.

We should also add the growth in membership, the creation of new union branches and confederal nuclei [small groups that are not yet branches], the constantly growing workplace presence through job branches [secciones], and most importantly: the high percentage of union victories, which is also a fruit of the continuing education and preparation of the membership. All of this was confirmed during the 10th Congress, held in 2010 in Cordoba.

On the social level, the newspaper enthusiastically embraced the eruption of the 15M movement, without a doubt one of the most significant things to happen in the last several decades and with principles and criteria very similar to those of the CNT. Therefore it isn’t very strange that many cenetistas approached this movement and collaborated very heavily in various cities. The so-called “indignado” movement did nothing more than to make visible the long struggles in various spheres: ecology, feminism, occupied social centers, immigrant rights, etc., areas in which the various branches of the CNT are also occupied in the day-to-day.

Special mention goes to the celebration of the CeNTenary with the proliferation of cultural acts reclaiming the past, present, and future of anarchist thinking, as current today as in its foundation in 1910. Without a doubt, those of us who’ve been able to participate in this major anniversary will never forget it. And as the CNT has been a collective effort during generations, the monolith raised in Montjuic will testify immortally to those men and women who came from the heart of proletariat, arm in arm, without leaders nor vanguards, in order to bring to birth this new world that all of us anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists carry in our hearts.