Romanian steel workers chase U.S. capital out
Union protests, hunger strikes and fierce battles with new
management over unpaid wages have reversed the privatization
of the Resita steel mill in western Romania.
Noble Ventures, a U.S. company, snatched up the vast
state-owned steel-melting complex for a song last September
as that East European country faced heavy pressure to sell
off state-controlled interests as a condition for membership
in the European Union.
The Resita steel mill was nationalized in 1948, one year
after the victory of Romania's socialist revolution, during
which central planning and collectivization were introduced
throughout the country to help develop industry and
agriculture.
More than 40 years later, counter-revolutionaries
prevailed following the execution-style murder of Communist
leader Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, in December
1989. Despite the pro-capitalist coup, 80 percent of the
Romanian economy still remains under state ownership
today.
Steel and aluminum companies in the U.S. and Britain are
hungry to move in and devour the rich mineral wealth and
industrial infrastructure and exploit the labor of the
Romanian people, who built their modern facilities under
socialist construction. But ongoing rebellions and organized
resistance like the fight that 4,000 smelter workers and
miners have put up since December 2000 in Resita are keeping
the vultures from these big imperialist countries at bay.
Noble Ventures' so-called investment in Resita last year
was considered the most significant from a foreign company in
Romania. Now they are being chased out through an order
canceling the privatization contract. The order was issued by
Romanian courts and is backed up by statements from the
current government--under fear of more protests from the
steelworkers of Resita.
Nationalization of an industry in a country controlled by
a capitalist bourgeoisie does not mean the transfer of
ownership from one class to another. That happens only when
the state doing the nationalizing is under the control of the
workers. But it can stop the private owners' plans for
massive layoffs, at least for the time being. This is clearly
the intention of the steelworkers.
--G.A.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
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