The Rooftop Films 2008 Summer Series

The Brukman garment workers in Argentina take control of their factory during the 2001 financial crisis, winning a radical victory for worker-owned industry.

Venue: On the roof of The Old American Can Factory
Address: 232 3rd Street at the corner of 3rd Avenue (Gowanus, Brooklyn)
Directions: F, G to Carroll Street or M, R to Union Street and read here for directions from the train| Map
Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held indoors at the same location
8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music by Sharon Van Etten
9:00PM: Films
Tickets: $9 at going.com
Preview: See short films from this and other programs at www.IFC.com
Presented in partnership with: IFC.com, New York magazine, and XO Projects

PROGRAM NOTES:
It’s easy to think that small groups can’t affect nation-wide issues, such as the economy, or that individuals can’t change large companies. The Women of Brukman proves that committed workers and activists can revolutionize their workplace, their country, and the world.

In 1991, Argentinean president Carlos Menem pegged the value of the peso to that of the US dollar, opened up his nation’s trade barriers to import foreign products and international corporate ownership, and privatized many national industries. The result was a short-term influx of cash, but a legacy of hyperinflation, huge deficits, and the loss of protections for worker’s wages and jobs. In 1998, Argentina plunged into a recession, and by the end of 2001 the nation was in turmoil. By some accounts, up to 25% of the population was unemployed.

It was during this period that the employees at the Brukman garment factory showed up for work one day to find that the bosses had simply disappeared. Being owed months of back pay, and with no other employment opportunities available, the workers (primarily women) decided simply to do their jobs, with or without the company’s owners. The results were astonishing. Working collaboratively and sharing their knowledge in a way that was productive and enlightening, the workers trained themselves in machine repair, sales, and business management. Each worker could try different jobs, keeping their tasks interesting, and everyone had a say in major decisions. There were intriguing new difficulties to be worked out, to be sure, and we witness the tension of internal debates over workers’ pay, and the drama of the company bonding together to meet a production deadline under crisis. We also see the intellectual radicalization of the workers, as breakroom conversations begin to cover Trotsky and Marx. The level of investment is clearly successful, but will the workers be allowed to keep the factory when the owners return?

Perhaps the most important thing that happened for the workers is that they restored their dignity. Director Isaac Isitan has said, “When governments lose their legitimacy, mutiny becomes necessary. Argentineans exercised that right by reinventing their local economy and by occupying abandoned factories.” So when the owners do return, when lawyers tie them up in court, when the government sends the police to lock them out—beating them and shooting them with rubber bullets—the women of Brukman were ready and capable of fighting. This exciting and inspiring documentary captures the many years of their struggle as heroes of a progressive and powerful new workers cooperative movement.

Part of Rooftop Films and XO Projects’ INDUSTRIANCE™ Series: films, discussions, installations and more about the changing landscape in industry, architecture, agriculture, labor, and related fields.

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