Nuestra Obra

Our Work - artist unknown

Produced by the taxi drivers of the Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), the Spanish anarchist trade union - National Confederation of Labour. 

Following the failure of the attempted coup, the CNT took effective control of Barcelona and established workers collectives which ran 70% of Barcelona's industry. Democratically elected management committees were responsible for setting wage rates and working hours. Public transport systems were also collectivised - private cars became taxis that could be used by the whole community.  

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The CNT was founded in November 1910, with a membership of 26,000 at a conference of workers societies in Barcelona and had its first national congress the following year. A general strike was immediately called in Barcelona and the CNT was declared illegal.

By 1919 there were 700,000 members. As the CNT grew, employers became more worried and hired armed thugs (pistoleros) to intimidate or assassinate union members.

The CNT took part in revolutionary strikes and uprisings throughout the period leading up to the 1936 Revolution and Civil War, including uprisings in Catalonia, Asturias and Andalusia. By 1937 the CNT had 1.5 million members.

From the start of the attempted coup in 1936, the CNT had a decisive role in events - pushing revolutionary land and factory collectivisation, but by May 1937 the Republican Government, under the influence of the Stalinist Spanish Communist Party (PCE), was reversing its achievements, suppressing the collectives, forcing militias to join the regular army or be disbanded and arresting militants.