Recuperated Factories

Recuperation refers to when workers take control over their workplace and transform it into a worker cooperative, with decisions made democratically and profits shared among all. Although often motivated by national economic crises and the resulting abandonment of businesses by capitalists, recuperation can arise from a range of situations affecting a workplace, such as strikes or bankruptcies. Unlike owner-led conversions to employee ownership, recuperation is a process that comes from the bottom up, often against the wishes of the owning class. Recuperated factory takeovers have happened all over the world.

During Argentina’s economic crisis that began in 2011, workers prevented the permanent closure of dozens of businesses—from ceramics factories to luxury hotels. One of these businesses, the towering Hotel Bauen, opened in the late 1970s in the heart of Buenos Aires. It held status as a meeting place of the ruling class during Argentina’s ruthless military dictatorship. After the hotel’s indebted owners fired the staff and permanently turned off the lights in late 2001, a few dozen ex-employees and cooperative activists banded together to reclaim it. They staged an occupation of the hotel in early 2003, and immediately began talking about how to reopen it—only this time, under democratic control. They wanted to replace the hotel’s previous culture of competition, suspicion, and chronic instability with one of solidarity. Despite continuous harassment by powerful state representatives, the worker-owned Hotel Bauen grew to become a hub for progressive politics—providing space for community organizers, discussion groups, and artists.

In 2008, during the global economic recession, workers at the Republic Windows factory in Chicago protested layoffs by staging a sit-in strike—one of the first since they were made illegal in the United States in 1939. To the surprise of many, they won. But only four years later, the new owners laid them off. This time, a group of the now jobless workers decided to do something different. Working with an organization called the Working World, they bought their old factory and started their own business, New Era Windows Cooperative.

Meanwhile in Thessaloniki, Greece, workers began occupying a factory in 2013 after the owners declared bankruptcy and stopped paying wages. With the overwhelming support of their members, the workers’ union decided to repurpose the factory’s machinery to make ecological soap products for a new business, Vio.Me, which would be run by the workers. For nearly a decade, the workers have had to defend the property with physical blockades and nightly security shifts. They also have had to defeat annual attempts to auction the property to new ownership. Meanwhile the government refuses to acknowledge the workers’ attempts to formalize their ownership of the factory and has shut down electricity to the property in an effort to drive them out. Nonetheless, Vio.Me continues. As one of the workers said in a 2019 article in Unicorn Riot, “This factory is a factory that mainly produces dignity.”

For workers, recuperating a workplace usually begins by occupying it, but that is just the first step. A lot of learning and planning is often necessary before the business can get going again. Workers who were previously employed at the factory understand parts of the manufacturing process. But because former managers will have withheld certain information from them and separated workers into isolated assembly-line roles, workers often need to combine their experiences to reconstruct an understanding of what is involved along the production chain. In cases where the owner moved or sold essential equipment, new worker ownership must replace that equipment and establish relationships with suppliers of raw materials and anticipated customers. Unless members of the previous management team are part of the takeover, the workers might need to pursue training or find trusted advisers in the areas of bookkeeping, financial analysis, sales, human resources, and more.

As a group, it is important for the workers to collectively develop an understanding of entrepreneurial risk-taking, when to delegate tasks or grant authority, and how to define success. In situations where the business is embroiled in a wider economic crisis, the workers will need to be creative problem solvers, because banks often freeze accounts. If payments in the national currency are jeopardized, workers may need to organize compensation in ways that meet their needs without relying on money. Whether or not business is good, the workers must consider how much money to save for purchasing future raw materials and equipment.

Typically, legislation protects the previous owners of recuperated businesses, and authorities may forcibly evict, imprison, or repress workers attempting to occupy and operate them.Yet factory takeovers can mobilize support from surrounding communities, as well as from academics, activists, and pragmatic lawmakers. After all, an empty factory does not produce value in the form of jobs or taxes for the local municipality.

Existing labor unions and cooperative developers can help support the process whenever the opportunity to recuperate a factory presents itself; they should prepare ahead of time for how to do so. Additionally, policymakers should consider proactively establishing legislation that facilitates recuperation, especially to safeguard manufacturing jobs in their communities. But most importantly, workers must understand that they have the power to take back any community asset that lies empty, remains idle, or does not serve them.