Rebellion in Patagonia. Osvaldo Bayer
to the union, charging them 12 pesos in yearly dues and handing out union cards. Both men are extremely popular on the ranches and know the countryside like the backs of their hands.
Gaucho Cuello is from Diamante, Entre Ríos, where he was born in 1884. In 1912, he stabbed someone back home—it seems their wounds were quite serious—earning him five years in the Río Gallegos prison. He stayed in town after his release in 1917 and was working on the Tapi-Aike ranch when the strike broke out.
These four men are largely responsible for the complete work stoppage on the ranches of southern Santa Cruz. The ringleader is undoubtedly the mysterious El 68. They are also joined by a Chilean named Lorenzo Cárdenas: a brave, determined, cold-blooded man. This group of organizers is rounded out with the German anarchist Franz Lorenz; the Paraguayan Francisco Aguilera; Federico Villard Peyré, a French anarchist and the delegate representing the Menéndez Behety’s La Anita ranch; the Americans Carlos Hantke (who also goes by the name of Charles Manning), Charles Middleton (easily identified by his gold teeth) and Frank Cross; the Scots Alex McLeod and Jack Gunn; an Afro-Portuguese by the name of Cantrill; a handsome Uruguayan cart driver nicknamed Palomilla; John Johnston, another American; a Spaniard named José Graña, etc.
They make up the active minority that goes from ranch to ranch to organize occupations. They take the landowners, administrators, and foremen hostage and swell their ranks with the peons.
All of the ranches south of the Río Santa Cruz are paralyzed.
On November 18th, La Unión runs an article that captures the tense atmosphere:
With work stoppages on every ranch and the intransigence of the landowners, a new, more fundamental problem arises. The economic interests of the territory and its population depend on a rapid solution. What will become of Río Gallegos if the meatpacking plants don’t reopen? What will ranches do with almost half a million heads of unsellable livestock? And Puerto Natales, in Chile, will also be unable to dispose of its livestock. Ranchers have already suffered heavy losses from the strike launched by their peons during the breeding season.
It is the ranchers who will take the first step towards reaching an agreement. They make a new offer to the workers on November 17th. This time, they include the following clause:
The Río Gallegos Workers’ Society will be acknowledged as the sole representative of the workers and its delegates will be authorized to visit our ranches once per month. At this time, they will be permitted to discuss any grievances with the ranch owner or foreman as well as to meet with union members.
The following day, expectations run high in Río Gallegos. There isn’t enough space in the Workers’ Society headquarters for everyone. The offer is gone over point by point, only to be rejected. The agreement must be clear, its clauses must leave no room for doubt and points that contain little more than generalities cannot be endorsed. The workers draft a counter-offer, signed by Antonio Soto:
CAPITAL-LABOR AGREEMENT
For the purposes of mutual assistance and sustenance, as well as for the dignity of all, the ranchers south of the Río Santa Cruz and the farmworkers represented by the Río Gallegos Workers’ Society agree to the following clauses and conditions:
FIRST: At the earliest possible opportunity and within the limits imposed by specific local and regional conditions, the ranchers must implement the following reasonable improvements to the living conditions of their workers:
a) No more than three men will be required to share any given four square meter room. Bunks are to be prohibited and they must be given cots or beds, complete with mattresses. Rooms must be properly ventilated and will be disinfected on a weekly basis. Each bedroom must be equipped with a bathroom and enough water for the workers to wash themselves after work;
b) Lighting costs will be borne by the employer, who will be required to issue each worker with a monthly supply of candles. Each common area will be supplied with a stove, lamp, and benches, to be paid for by the employer;
c) Saturday afternoons will be set aside to allow the peons to wash their clothes. If this is unfeasible, another day can be substituted;
d) Meals will consist of three courses, including soup, dessert and coffee, tea, or mate;
e) Beds and mattresses will be supplied by the employer, and workers will be responsible for purchasing their own clothing;
f) In the event of strong wind or rain, work will stop until the weather improves, unless there is an emergency recognized by both parties;
g) Each ranch must be equipped with a first aid kit with instructions in Spanish;
h) If a worker is fired or is otherwise no longer needed, their employer will be required to return them to the location at which they were hired.
SECOND: The ranchers commit to pay their workers a minimum salary of 100 pesos, to be paid in Argentine currency, plus food expenses. They must also commit to not reduce any salaries that currently exceed this amount. Any raises made will be at the discretion of the rancher, provided that they are in accordance with the abilities and merits of the worker. They must also hire one assistant cook if they employ between ten and twenty workers, two assistant cooks for ranches with between twenty and forty workers and a baker if the number of workers exceeds forty. Drovers hired on a month-to-month basis will be paid an additional 12 pesos per day if they make use of the ranch’s horses and an additional 20 pesos per day if their provide their own horses. Shepherds hired on a month-to-month basis will receive 20 pesos for every foal they deliver, while shepherds hired on a daily basis will receive 30 pesos.
THIRD: The ranchers will hire at least one drover per ranch, depending on its size. Bimonthly inspections will be carried out to look after the needs of the drover(s), with preference given to family men in proportion to their number of children, which will encourage population growth and the country’s development.
FOURTH: The ranchers recognize the Río Gallegos Workers’ Society as the representative of the workers and agree to allow a delegate to be appointed on each ranch to act as an intermediary between the employers and the Workers’ Society. This delegate will have the power to arrange temporary settlements for pressing issues that affect the rights and responsibilities of both the workers and their employers.
FIFTH: The ranchers will do everything in their power to ensure that all of their workers are unionized, but they will not force them to join a union nor are they required to refuse the labor of nonunion workers.
SIXTH: The Workers’ Society commits to lift the present farmworkers’ strike and will order its members to return to work once this agreement has been signed.
SEVENTH: The Workers’ Society commits to immediately endorse regulations and instructions for its members that are designed to bring about greater harmony between capital and labor, which together form the foundation of existing society. It will use flyers, conferences, and conversations to encourage the values of order, hard work, and mutual respect among its members—values that should not be forgotten.
EIGHTH: This agreement will come into effect on November 1st and the strike will end with all workers receiving payment for the days missed, with no reprisals on either side.
Faced with this response from the workers, the ranchers reply that, “Having exhausted our options and being unable to overcome our disagreements, we regard our mission to be over.”
Negotiations break down. If we analyze the workers’ offer, we can reach a number of conclusions about the true situation of Patagonian farmworkers.
The system of bunks4 was not just used in Patagonia, but in many parts of the country. It was the “custom” in rural areas. The living quarters for peons—especially on smaller ranches—were also used to store obsolete gear or farm machinery. The menu consisting solely of capon—along with the health problems that accompany it—remains in place to this day on virtually every ranch in Patagonia. In many cases, the living quarters remain exactly the same as they did half a century ago. But the greatest impediment to progress in Patagonia—and this cannot be refuted—is the inhumane treatment of workers and the lack of thoughtfulness