The Syndical Federation of Bolivian Mineworkers (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Federación Sindical de Trabajadores Mineros de Bolivia''; FSTMB) is a

labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

that represents

miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

. Bolivia's miners are commonly regarded as the country's most

class-conscious In Marxism, class consciousness is the set of beliefs that persons hold regarding their social class or economic rank in society, the structure of their class, and their common class interests. According to Karl Marx, class consciousness is an awa ...

workers. The FSTMB has played an important role in Bolivia's recent history. The union emerged in the wake of a violent clash between government troops and striking tin miners in

Oruro Oruro (Hispanicized spelling) or Uru Uru is a city in Bolivia with a population of 264,683 (2012 calculation), about halfway between La Paz and Sucre in the Altiplano, approximately above sea level. It is Bolivia's fifth-largest city by populat ...

and

Potosí Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Potosí Department, Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the list of highest cities in the world, highest cities in the wo ...

in 1942. The FSTMB was founded on June 11, 1944 at a congress held in Huanuni, Oruro. The Huanuni Congress included delegates from 25 local unions, the

Revolutionary Nationalist Movement The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement ( , MNR) is a centre-right, conservative political party in Bolivia. It was the leading force behind the Bolivian National Revolution from 1952 to 1964. It influenced much of the country's history since 19 ...

(MNR), and the Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR, a

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

group). The newly formed union had a membership of 60,000 miners.

Juan Lechín Juan Lechín Oquendo (18 May 1914 – 27 August 2001) was a trade union, labor-union leader and head of the Federación Sindical de Trabajadores Mineros de Bolivia, Federation of Bolivian Mine Workers (FSTMB) from 1944 to 1987 and the Central Ob ...

, the leader of the miners' movement and POR member, was chosen as the union's Executive Secretary. Divisions emerged in the union's leadership over how to relate to the new government of Major Gualberto Villarroel. MNR members wanted the FSTMB to support Major Villarroel, but the Lechín and the other members of the POR wanted the union to remain independent of the government. The MNR's position was defeated in 1946 when the FSTMB adopted the "Pulacayo Thesis," which called for a workers' revolution and other radical goals. In 1947, POR members formed a caucus in the union, the '' Bloque Parlamentario Minero'', to represent their interests. The FSTMB faced renewed government suppression following a series of strikes in 1949, forcing Lechín and other union leaders into exile. New elections were held in 1951 that gave the MNR a plurality, leading the military to nullify the elections. The FSTMB and POR formed militias of workers that fought on the side of the MNR. These militias fought government forces and stormed army bases. These struggles culminated in the "Bolivian National Revolution" in April 1952, which placed the MNR in control of the government. Following the revolution, the FSTMB became the main component of the

Bolivian Workers' Center The Bolivian Workers' Center (, COB) is the chief trade union federation in Bolivia. It represents groups such as industry workers, miners, peasants and professionals, its main objective is "achieving the emancipation of workers in Bolivia, in the ...

(COB), a new umbrella organization for all labor unions. Most of the large-scale tin mines were

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

and placed under the control of a new government agency, the ''

Corporación Minera de Bolivia The Corporación Minera de Bolivia (Mining Corporation of Bolivia), also known as COMIBOL, is a major Bolivian state company that oversees the nation's mining operations. In the decades after the Bolivian National Revolution, it became the countr ...

'' (COMIBOL). COMIBOL was managed jointly by the government and the FSTMB. From 1964 to 1982, a series of military dictators ruled Bolivia. The FSTMB and the COB often faced harsh government repression, most notably under the regimes of Colonel Hugo Banzer (1971–78) and General Luis García Meza (1980–81). Many of the union's leaders were jailed or forced into exile during these years. The FSTMB became a leading force in Bolivian politics once again with the restoration of democracy in 1982. In 1985 the world tin market crashed. The MNR-led government of

Víctor Paz Estenssoro Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro (2 October 1907 – 7 June 2001) was a Bolivian politician who served as the 45th president of Bolivia for three nonconsecutive and four total terms from 1952 to 1956, 1960 to 1964 and 1985 to 1989. He ran for pr ...

conceded to an economic restructuring plan set forward by the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

and

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

. As part of the plan, the government closed or

privatized Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

most of the state-controlled tin mines. Between 1985 and 1987, the workforce of the state mining company fell from 30,000 to just 7,000. This devastated the membership of the FSTMB. Many retired mining workers remained active in political life, including as members of the Mining Pensioners' Association (Asociación de Rentistas Mineras). Despite its setbacks, the FSTMB remained active in the

labor movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

and politics. The union was at the forefront of the movement against

water privatization Water privatization is short for private sector participations in the provision of Water supply, water services and sanitation. Water privatization has a variable history in which its popularity and favorability has fluctuated in the market an ...

in 2000, and has campaigned for nationalization of Bolivia's

natural gas reserves Oil and gas reserves denote ''discovered'' quantities of crude oil and natural gas from known fields that can be profitably produced/recovered from an approved development. Oil and gas reserves tied to approved operational plans filed on the da ...

. The FSTMB was also involved in the protests that brought the resignations of President

Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Gonzalo Daniel Sánchez de Lozada Sánchez Bustamante (born 1 July 1930), often referred to as Goni, is a Bolivian-American businessman and politician who served as the 61st president of Bolivia from 1993 to 1997 and from 2002 to 2003. A membe ...

in 2003 and President

Carlos Mesa Carlos Diego de Mesa Gisbert (; born 12 August 1953) is a Bolivian historian, journalist, and politician who served as the 63rd president of Bolivia from 2003 to 2005. As an independent politician, he had previously served as the 37th vice pr ...

in June 2005. They have also pressured the government to re-nationalize the country's mines. The current Executive Secretary of the FSTMB is Miguel Zubieta Miranda, who previously led the union's local in Huanuni.

External links

Unofficial website
(in Spanish)
Interview with Miguel Zubieta Miranda
(in Spanish)
Bolivian miners reject foreign investors
(BBC News, 2002) {{DEFAULTSORT:Federacion Sindical de Trabajadores Mineros de Bolivia Syndicalist trade unions Trade unions in Bolivia 1944 establishments in Bolivia Mining trade unions Trade unions established in 1944

Further reading

External links