Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A RAILWAY UNION LEADER
PROTESTS ACTIONS OF A
BRITISH-OWNED RAILWAY, 1929
T
The Assembly in Mendoza Was Large and Enthusiastic [Union
leader Becerra stated,] “The Directing Commission [of the
Mendoza Railway Union] demonstrated that during this year the
company had earned three million pesos more than in the previous
year despite the fact that the profits of 1928, as this same company
has established, were considerable, which is the reason why we can-
not comply with the economics that the company desires.
“The company has acquired in Europe a half million square feet
of finished wood, pursuing without doubt the aim of favouring
the interests of foreign governments while damaging those of our
Nation.
“The national government” said Becerra in his talk, “obliges our
industrialists to utilize Argentine wood, very excellent and cheaper
than the foreign product, with the objective of developing our
wealth and benefiting the working class. The company violated these
dispositions and has conspired to undermine the stability of our
workers.
“We will struggle to defend the interests of the laborers who work
in our nation and who, with their intelligence and effort, contribute to
the greater prosperity of the country.
“The money that the company obtains in our nation should be
invested, at the least, in works that translate into advantages for the
Argentine people.
“We will defend nothing less than a just cause,” Becerra affirmed
in closing. “We do not ask for a raise in salaries without respect and
work for the laborers who contribute to the progress of the country,
and this is legitimate.
“The times in which we live demand intense action to prevent this
company, imitating the other enterprises, from triumphing in its aims
against our union, and forcing workers to lose all of their successful
conquests.
“Happily, our union has deep roots. . . . The capitalist reaction will not
be able to bring it down.”
Source: El Obrero Ferroviario
(Buenos Aires,
March 16, 1929).
