June 26 demonstration against fascim

SANTIAGO

hile is living through difficult days

of the sharpest class battles. Only
tne most heroic action of the workers and
their allies have, to date, saved Chile
from the bloodbath of a civil war. Last
September two and one half million peo-
ple demonstrated in support of the Popu-
lar Unity government (the population is
under 10 million). In October 25,000
young people helped unload trucks to
overcome the truekowners’ stoppage. In
March 1973 the vote for Popular Unity in-
creased to 44% from 36% in 1970. The May

TIME OF CRISIS
FOR CHILE

By Bea Lumpkin

Day march this year was record size. On
June 15 and again on June 21 and June 29
workers filled the streets of Santiago to
prevent a fascist takeover of the govern-
ment.

The Popular Unity forces are stronger
and better organized than a year ago but
the reactionary, U.S.-financed opposition
has become more desperate and is resort-
ing more openly to economic sabotage
and terror. In this framework the danger
of fascist .coup attempts and civil war has
become imminent and the slogan of ‘“‘No
pasaran’’ (they shall not pass) has been
added to the basic watchword, ‘‘Vencere-

mos’’ (we shall overcome).
Unemployment is at an all-time low
and some items in short supply last sum-
mer, like milk and potatoes, are now avail-
able. Children under 15 get a half liter of
milk a day, free. Over 100,000 new homes
have been built, but five times that num-
ber are needed. The first subway in Chile
will start service in Santiago this year.
Electricity, sanitory facilities, telephone
and medical care have been brought out
to many poblaciénes, the workers’ sub-
urbs which are often squatter shacks. For
example, the school in the La Florida
poblacién we visited last. year is now

But faster than the governmet

been able to solve old shortages: |
position has created new ones. D8
tion and motor transport are still
in private, reactionary hands. vA
we saw long lines (colas) wait
bread or for cigarettes. Yet just 4
bread and cigarettes are being one
this year as last year, when there W
lines for these.

At this very moment, the me
capitalist “clans” of Chile, heavilY

sidized by their U.S. masters, are

ag Ht

twice as large and inside plumbinb in

replaced the outhouses.
e

Bere the Popular Unity victory in
Chile, the Steel Company of the Pa-
cific (CAP) was owned by Bethlehem
Steel. Now the big steel mill at Huachi-
pato, together with the iron and coal
mines, have all been nationalized.

We asked if we could visit the mill,’

since my husband is a steelworker and I ‘

had also worked in the mills. Yes, they
did have tours, we were told, so we left
Santiago and headed south.

The trip was a marked contrast to the
desert-like mine country in the north,
where iron ore, like most of the copper
and nitrate, is located. The steel mill, lo-
cated close to the coal mines, is in the
rich green country of the south where in
winter (July) it rains all the time.

The bus rolled past many ‘‘asentami-
entos’’ where former plantations, or
latifundio, had been given to the peasants

~through the agrarian reform and were
being cooperatively farmed. There were
vineyards for the Chilean wines which
rival the French, citrus groves and vege-
tables of all kinds:

Stands of pine trees resembled scenes
from Wisconsin but more often the beauty
was distinctly Chilean... snow-topped
mountains, lines of poplar trees and the
rocky Bio-Bio river rushing, like all Chi-
léan rivers, along its short course from
the mountains to the ocean.

The CAP steel mills in Huachipato

_are a short distance from Concepcion, the
third largest city of Chile. As we entered
the Bio-Bio gate of the mill, we came up
against a major problem in Chile, lack of*
transportation. In the guard-house they
told us that some of their trucks and sta-
tion wagons were disabled because of
lack of replacement parts and sadly said
that some projects expanding the mill’s
capacity had been slowed down because
the U.S. had cut off all credit.

A camioneta (smal truck)-took us to
the recreation office which was arrang-
ing our tour. Posters on the wall spoke of
extensive union sport activities, with
special efforts to bring the iron miners
of the north into sports events with the

Union meeting at CAP, Huachipato, Chile

Metralita photo

Trip to a
Chilean Steel Mill

steelworkers of the south. They empha-
sized that new workers were made famil-

iar with all aspects of steel production

so they could better participate in plan-
ning production. |

CAP is an integrated steel mill that
produces ingots, billets, rounds, tubes,
sheets, coke and by products. It employs
6,000 workers. Annual capacity is about
600,000 metric tons, but Chile needs 800,-
000. Expansion plans are under way, in-
cluding a basic oxygen furnace, to permit
output of 1 million tons.

The Christmas holiday of 1970 was an
especially joyous one for the steelworkers
of Huachipato and all Chilean patriots. On
December 22 the newly elected govern-
ment of Salvadore Allende nationalized
the CAP steel mill and mines.

On the second anniversary of national-
ization, CAP’s newspaper, Metalito, in-
terviewed some of the senior workers.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1973 — PAGE 6

Domingo Palma, with 24 years of service,
said that nationalization’ was the best
thing that ever happened for the work-
ers. ‘‘The profits that used to go into just
a few pockets now go to the state for the

‘benefit of all workers,’’ he said. He also

noted many changes inside the mill, es-
pecially that ‘“‘we can work with more
security, without the fear that the patron
(boss) will say, ‘I think that this depart-
ment is not producing enough and it would
be better to close it down permanently.’
Such statements kept us in a state of con-
Stant alarm. But that phase is over and I
hope to God that it will never return to
Chile. We have noticed these changes
and are responding. I have participated
in voluntary labor on weekends. I went to
help other compaiieros without expecting
any pay other than knowing that I served
my country.”’

We quickly toured part of the pnill,

though Chile has lots of coal, half

- joint agreement between thé oe he

- solidarity with Chile by de

can fs
the new blast furnace and the bas rn
gen furnace still under constructs a
used by the mill is imported to on
suitable grade for steelmaking. eo bt
fluids are treated before any “ir? al
charged into the ocean or the fa,
River, and a recirculating sy§ yf ta
soon begin operation. Slag is us id gf th
tralize the acid when the soak!
are to be drained. .. |
We were shown an organizaul? rl dey
It indicated that the general aa ref hi
all workers in the plant elects te
sentatives to the top administra net ”
cil as well as its union officers: - is! ten
mental meetings also elect delee, :
the union executive. The plant ae Yo
trative council of five includes "i
ers from the mill, two from COP mY
state agency directing the mil net }
from the technical employees © jot!
Workers’ participation was still 4 g is
ing concept, having been initi@ Po

from the dock on the Pacific O

Unity government and CUT, oe the
Union Center. The plan has & sets De
workers to make many useful anil 5
for improvement of production aif),
participation in actual manage in
needed. el | Wo,
We met one of the two worker aly my
to the top council of the plant, AP fof { tty
treras, who had worked at a oy tye
years. He assured us that the © og (by
Chile would defend the gains M9 i
their government by any mene
sary. They: were aware ene Mp!
danger and the need to stop ©), | th,
before they plunged the cours yi Ro
civil war. mat ie iy
We are sure there are 46 v On
imperialist steelworkers 1 rey) Xa
States who would like to ©*P agg aR

the U.S. government restore fh
credit to Chile so that they © Hy
the expansion of their steel ™ of )
tinue to make steel for the pe°P” 7