- Solidaridad Obrera (historical union)
"Solidaridad Obrera" (Spanish, meaning "Workers' Solidarity"; originally, in Catalan, "Solidaritat Obrera") was a labor federation in
Spain . It was initially formed inAugust 3 1907, as a "pure syndicalist" federation, [harvnb|Bookchin|1998|p=131] incorporating the structures of the Unió Local de Societats Obreres de Barcelona ("Local Union of Workers' Societies ofBarcelona ") with the purpose of reorganizing theCatalonia ntrade union s. These unions were quite weak at the time, due to the failure of a 1902general strike which had sought theeight-hour day and the recognition of theright to strike .There were two constituent meetings of what was initially the Federació Local de Societats Obreres de Barcelona ("Local Federation of Workers' Societies of Barcelona", June 1907), which agreed to publish a common manifesto to constitute an organizing committee, which included
Antoni Fabra ,Josep Prat , andTomás Herreros .The federation established a rule that they would only enroll organizations composed exclusively of workers. They quickly acquired an enormous force among the working class, affiliating many Catalonian workers' societies in the congress of
September 6 -8, 1908, and reconstituting themselves as Catalan Regional Workers' Solidarity. [harvnb|Gómez Casas|1986|p=49] That same year the newspaper "Solidaritat Obrera" published a manifesto rejecting the proposed Anti-Terrorism Law of the government led byAntonio Maura . Though the federation initially spurned partisanship, and alignment with either the Marxist or anarchist brand of socialism, [harvnb|Bookchin|1998|p=131] the congress held onJune 13 , 1909, brought approval of thegeneral strike , and effective takeover by the anarcho-syndicalists in the federation. [harvnb|Bookchin|1998|p=132]After a major general strike in Barcelona, which ended in the executions of several anarchists, the government repressed elements of the anarchist movement, these events being referred to as the "
Tragic Week " (Spanish: "la Semana Trágica"; Catalan: "la Setmana Tràgica"). The following repression of workers' movements brought "Solidaridad Obrera's" activities to a virtual standstill.The reestablished confederation held its second congress in Barcelona in
31 October –1 November 1910, in which it discussed widening its ambit to all of Spain, a sensitive decision because the rivalUGT already had a sound foundation in the rest of Spain, although not in Catalonia, where it constituted a minority. By a wide margin, they voted to constitute themselves as a workers confederation throughout Spain: theConfederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT, "National Workers' Confederation"). [harvnb|Gómez Casas|1986|p=50]References
ources
* Bookchin, Murray (1998). "The Spanish Anarchists: The Heroic Years, 1868-1936 ", Oakland:
AK Press .
* cite book
last=Gómez Casas
first=Juan
authorlink=
year=1986
title=Anarchist Organisation: The History of the F.A.I.
publisher=Black Rose Books Limited
location=
id=ISBN 0920057381
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