Neither Crime Nor Pardon: Organization, Struggle and the La Suiza 6

Cover: via https://freedomnews.org.uk/2024/09/29/rallies-for-suiza-6-syndicalism-is-not-a-crime/

CNT, via a machine || The pardon granted to the women known as the Six of La Suiza is not a gesture of generosity from those in power. It is the direct result of their struggle .

For years, six union members were persecuted, tried, and imprisoned for doing what the labor movement has always done: organizing against exploitation and defending a worker who denounced harassment and violations of labor rights. For this, they were sentenced to three and a half years in prison in a trial that has called into question the very limits of union action.

They went to prison. And they didn’t do it alone.

Behind it all was an organization, the CNT, which did not abandon its members , and hundreds of thousands of people who filled the streets, maintained strike funds, publicized the case, and denounced the injustice. There were mobilizations, union statements, social support, and constant political pressure for months, demanding a solution that the justice system denied.

We appreciate the gesture of partial pardon (the financial penalties remain in place) proposed by the Government, but it comes too late . It comes after the punishment. It comes after an attempt to criminalize solidarity.

But let no one be mistaken: if they are out today, it is not because of the benevolence of the Government, but because of the collective strength of the organized working class .

This case has demonstrated something fundamental: that unionism that makes people uncomfortable, that calls out the bosses, that refuses to compromise on dignity, continues to be persecuted. And precisely for that reason, it remains necessary.

Contrary to those who want a docile, institutionalized and conflict-free trade unionism, the experience of La Suiza reaffirms the opposite: anarcho-syndicalism, based on direct action, mutual support and solidarity, is not only still relevant, but is more useful than ever .

Because when one of us is attacked, we all respond. Because without organization there is no defense. Because no right has ever been won without a fight.

Today we celebrate that our colleagues are out.
But we will not forget: they should never have been allowed in.

Solidarity, organization and struggle.