The role of political formation in union struggle: Testimonies of the struggle of the Sindicato Nacional Revolucionario de los Trabajadores de Euzkadi in El Salto, Jalisco (1993–2005)

Abstract

This paper is the result of my research on the exceptional victory of the Euzkadi workers and their independent union, who fought to save their source of work against one of the largest multinational companies: Continental. In order to reconstruct the individual and collective memory of the workers at the time of the strike, I have employed methods of oral history and history of present time. I analyze the testimonies of some of the workers and leaders of the Euzkadi movement, in addition to other primary sources, where the role of the union leadership’s political formation of National Revolutionary Union of Euzkadi Workers (SNRTE, by its acronym in Spanish) is highlighted as an explanatory factor in the victory of their struggle.