The Rise of the Labor Movement: A History of Workers’ Struggle
The Rise of the Labor Movement
The Industrial Proletariat and Early Resistance
The increasing industrialization of the nineteenth century gave rise to a new social class: the industrial proletariat. These workers often faced exploitation, excessive hours, and harsh working and living conditions, especially women and children. In response to this situation, the labor movement emerged, driven by the proletariat’s growing awareness of their shared identity and the need to fight for survival.
The early stages of the labor movement were characterized by increasing radicalism, organization, and numbers. Initial demands for better working conditions eventually evolved into calls for complete societal change.
Luddism and Early Forms of Protest
One of the earliest forms of labor resistance was Luddism, a movement attributed to the mythical English machine saboteur, Ned Ludd. This involved the destruction of machinery, which workers blamed for job losses. These acts, however, were often isolated, violent, and had limited impact. Notable examples include the Alcoy troubles (1821), the burning of the Bonaplata Factory (1835), and the attack on the A Palloza tobacco factory (1857).
The Rise of Strikes
The next phase of the labor movement saw the rise of strikes—the abstention from work when negotiations between workers and employers failed. Strikes could be partial, affecting only one sector, general, affecting all sectors, or revolutionary general, demanding political change as well. Revolutionary general strikes were notably used during the Tragic Week in Barcelona (1910) and in 1917.
The success of a strike depended on worker solidarity, sufficient financial resources to sustain the action, and achievable goals.
The Formation of Worker Organizations
To secure financial resources for strikes, as well as to provide support during illness, dismissal, or death, workers established resistance funds, cooperatives, and charitable pawnshops. The first such association, the Mutual Protection Association of Cotton Weavers, appeared in 1840 but was banned in 1844 by the moderate regime. The progressive regime later reinstated freedom of association, responding to the demands of the working class.
The Influence of Foreign Ideologies
Foreign worker ideologies soon began to influence the Spanish proletariat. Proudhon’s utopianism was followed by Bakunin’s anarchism and Marx’s Marxism. Anarchism, introduced to Spain in 1868 by Giuseppe Fanelli, a disciple of Bakunin, gained a strong following among laborers, particularly in Catalonia and Andalusia. Anarchists advocated for the abolition of the state, authority, private property, and inheritance, aiming to eliminate economic and social inequalities and build a new society based on communes.
Socialism, brought to Spain in 1871 by Paul Laforge, had less influence than anarchism. It posited that history progresses through class struggle and that the proletariat must lead a revolution to change society. After seizing power, the proletariat would establish a dictatorship, followed by forced collectivization, ultimately leading to a communist paradise without social classes and with equal rights and living conditions for all.
The Growth of Labor Organizations and Unions
The defense of these ideologies led to the creation of various associations, parties, and unions. In 1870, the Spanish Regional Federation of the International Workingmen’s Association (FRE-AIT), based in London, was established. The FRE-AIT had a significant presence in Andalusia, Valencia, and Catalonia, reaching nearly 40,000 members by 1873.
In 1872, Bakunin’s expulsion from the International Workingmen’s Association exacerbated disputes between socialists and anarchists, with the anarchists gaining the upper hand. The events of the Paris Commune (1871) and the popular uprising in Alcoy (1873) caused significant concern among business owners and political moderates, leading to the prohibition of the FRE-AIT in 1874. The Federation continued to operate clandestinely until 1881.
Anarchist and Socialist Organizations
Anarchists founded the Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region in 1881 but failed to unite all local federations. In 1910, following the repression after the Tragic Week, they created the National Labor Confederation (CNT), which advocated for the revolutionary general strike. Prominent leaders included Salvador Seguí and Angel Pestaña.
Supporters of Propaganda of the Deed carried out numerous attacks as a means of revolution, notably the Mano Negra (1882-83).
Socialists, led by Pablo Iglesias, founded the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) in 1879 and the General Union of Workers (UGT) in 1888 in Madrid. The UGT served as a union of Spanish socialist unions, highlighting the dual membership of individuals in both organizations and the close relationship between the PSOE and UGT.
Both organizations played a role in the Second International, advocating for the eight-hour workday and the declaration of May Day as International Workers’ Day in 1890. The PSOE fielded electoral candidates and developed a possibilist approach, allowing for an electoral alliance with the Republicans in 1909, which resulted in the election of Pablo Iglesias as the first socialist deputy.
The Rise of Communism
The triumph of the Soviet revolution in 1917 and the founding of the Third International by Lenin in 1919 sparked debate within global socialism about whether to follow the Soviet model. This discussion led to the creation of the Communist Party of Spain in 1921, formed through the merger of the Spanish Communist Party and the Spanish Communist Workers’ Party.