MILITANT STRIKE IN CHILE
By José Valdés
Santiago, Chile
A national strike of health workers that lasted 19 days ended here recently. - Some 38,000 were involved in the struggle against the ridiculous wage adjustment offerec by the Frei government. ;
The strike was characterized by great militancy. The workers stood up to police violence in street demonstrations that were held on various occasions in the central areas of Santiago, Concepcién, Valparaiso and other cities.
The Christian Democrat government arrested the majority of the leaders of the Federaci6én de Trabajadores de la Salud [Federation of Health Workers] and kept them in jail for ten days.
Other unions like the APEUCH [teachers and employees union] began joining the strike, further strengthening the strikers.
At this point the Communist and Socialist leaders of the CUT [Central Unica de Trabajadores] went behind the backs of the workers, selling them out with an agreement to accept the government offer which had touched off the strike.
The rank and file protested by remaining out for a few more days before going back to their jobs.
The strikers belonging to the MIR [Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria] and. PSR [Partido Socialista y Revolucionario] worked together in the picket squads, advancing proposals in the struggle that were accepted by the rank and file in meetings. They
proved themselves to be energetic fighters in the street demonstrations where the police caused trouble. Three members of the MIR were arrested in Santiago and ten in Concepcién.
Leaders of the Unién Obreros Municipales [Municipal Workers Union] belonging to the MIR succeeded in getting the Santiago provincial congress of this union to declare a 48-hour sympathy strike in behalf of the Health workers. —
During the strike, the MIR distributed thousands of leaflets and three issues of the union paper La Jeringa [The Syringe].
One of the lessons of the strike is thdt the Christian Democrat government is not ready to grant wage increases but is prepared to jail workers and use violence against any protest demonstrations.
In addition, the Communist party showed once more that it aims at maintaining “peaceful coexistence" with the Frei government at the expense of the interests of the proletariat.
Finally, the recent strikes show that the workers are in process of again turning to militant struggles and want to open a counteroffensive. Coming actions will show whether or not they are capable of toppling their bureaucratic leaderships.