La Asociación Obrera Textil (1945-1955): la dinámica sindical en los sindicatos peronistas

Abstract

The Asociación Obrera Textil was founded in late 1945, a few days after October 17. When Juan Domingo Perón assumed national presidency in June 1946, just a few months later, this young union had become a strong organization with thousands of members, and was able to negociate wages and working conditions. AOT was main protagonist of conflicts at argentine textile mills. Our research seeks to rebuild its first decade of history, through a three dimensional approach: the organizational one, the capital-labor relationships and the political-institutional one in order to understand what we call “union dynamic”. This article is focused on organizational and political dimensions. Our purpose is to show, in contrast with classical views about “union dynamic”, that this textile union was far from being a disciplined and monolithic organization. Instead it shows important internal dynamism, conflict with other unions and the Confederación General del Trabajo, and strategies of action that exceeded the identification with the peronist government. We believe that the study of industry trade unions, those who through collective agreements define wages and working conditions, allows us to approach more fully to the peronist unions, because of their everyday linkages with the government, employers and mobilized base.