Tecendo uma história : a Cooperativa Têxtil Galópolis

Abstract

The present research deals with the creation of a textile cooperative that was born from a workers' strike in 1999, in the municipality of Caxias do Sul, in a working-class neighborhood where a recognized wool mill is located. From its bankruptcy, these workers who have an old history founded a cooperative, similar to that which gave rise 100 years before the old woolen mill. This story recounts the history of Italian emigrants who were expelled from a large woolen industry in Italy in the late nineteenth century. The research had as object the analysis of the construction of this cooperative that through Oral History gave voice to the multiple narratives of workers involved in this process. The study theoretically discusses the role of cooperativism and shows ways of organizing cooperatives, identifying how this organization was structured by the workers since the 1999 strike and how they dealt with the bankruptcy of the Sehbe wool mill. The research discusses the financial difficulties that the wool goes through, which began with the opening of the national market after the implantation of neoliberal policies in the country in the early 1990s. It also discusses the ways in which the administration of the company was conducted in that period which resulted in a general strike in late 1990. The union's help, after months of back pay, a large part of the employees and many negotiations, made it possible to create the cooperative as a solution to the difficulties encountered. For many, it was not just the livelihood that was at stake, but a life of dedication and hard work. The creation of the textile cooperative of Galopolis is a demonstration of the union of workers who managed with the help of the union to pay a labor debt and at the same time to take over the factory park, giving a new life to the collective work. The research describes through the narratives of these workers how this process of resistance of the workers occurred. The research contributes to the teaching of local history, and has been created as an illustrative material of this history.