Summary - TST 36

TRANSPORTES, SERVICIOS Y TELECOMUNICACIONES

Florencia D’UVA
Un episodio en la lucha por la reglamentación del trabajo ferroviario en la Argentina: la huelga de maquinistas y fogoneros de 1912

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Key Words: strike, workers, railways, trade union.

[ Abstract ]

This paper analyses the strike of train drivers and stokers of the Argentinian railroads at the beginning of 1912. This struggle implied a challenge for La Fraternidad union, whose members from all the country abandoned their job simultaneously for the first time in their job history. Both, companies and government, also had to face the consequences of the rail traffic paralisys. This research explores the development of the strike, paying attention to the complaints, demands and all action taken by the workers during the conflict. It is deemed that the analysis of the struggle constitutes a privileged framework to examine the way in which railroad workers experienced their job and life conditions and articulated demands addressed not only to the railway companies but also to the government. The research relies on a large documentary corpus that includes union, political and national newspapers, La Fraternidad’s intern documents, official records of the union, reports and memories elaborated by government institutions and railways companies.