A tragic fire in a textile sweatshop fueled an Argentinian workers’ movement to form co-operatives and obtain legal rights. Epifania “Fanny” Espinola Garcia well remembers that electrical fire in March 2006 that killed five children and a pregnant woman who worked and lived under appalling conditions.
At the time, Fanny’s working conditions as a home-based textile worker weren’t much better. Her workspace in the Gabriel Miró neighbourhood, south of Buenos Aires was cramped and connected “informally” to electricity. She and her colleagues were harassed by police and inspectors who threatened to shut them down and confiscate products. They depended on the whims of intermediaries for payment and contracts and despite long hours barely covered their needs.
“It was like slavery conditions,” said Fanny, who immigrated from Paraguay with her three children. “We were suffering working from home.”
Fanny thought there must be a better way and began a nine-year journey that resulted in a remarkably innovative federation of more than 80 textile co-operatives.
Initially, after that fire, Fanny and her adult daughter started working with some Peruvian women making clothes to be sold at fairs. It was successful, but hard work and they continued to be harassed. “It was harsh,” Fanny states simply. Nevertheless, the women started a volunteer-run day care for their children. But the building’s location was contested, and they had to fight local “criminals who were stealing from us and killing people in the area,” said Fanny. Her voice breaks with emotion. “The kids were crying, they wanted to know where they would play.” Remarkably, that daycare is still open today.
Fanny decided that to improve working conditions, they needed legitimacy, and that would require a radical change: they needed to stop working at home. She found an ally in Juan Grabois, lawyer and founder of the Excluded Workers Movement (MTE). Under MTE, they launched a co-operative organization: the Federation of Cooperatives of Seamstresses, Workers of the Garment and Textile Sector (FECOSET), with Fanny as president. Their slogan is “A house to live in, a place to work in.”
The federation opened its first co-operative hub, Textil Miró, in 2015. The modern space with good infrastructure and equipment, allows them to be more productive and competitive. They began negotiating contracts directly, sharing both expenses and profits among themselves. And as a co-operative with legal rights they gained access to state social security, pensions and medical insurance for the first time.
Fanny’s daughter, Mariela, 44, who was the first to sign on, said conditions are definitely better. She works 8-5, Monday to Friday. “I’m proud of my mom, she’s our teacher and an example of how to keep going.”
The day we visit, Textil Miró is bustling as a large truck delivers kilometers worth of fabric for making bedding. Everyone pitches in to help unload it, laughing despite the heavy work. Fans twirl high overhead; the space is clean and orderly and bright.
In 2018, the federation became formally affiliated with HomeNet International (HNI). Fanny initially hesitated to join because in Argentina, cooperatives are the best place to work, not at home. However, she also saw how “It’s really important to fight together… so every worker feels included.”
Fanny has attended two HNI events abroad, meeting colleagues from dozens of countries. “The country that got the most questions was actually Argentina,” she said, smiling widely. The HNI people loved us!”
And Fanny, who has no formal studies, enjoys receiving guidance from HNI’s knowledgeable people and sharing experiences with her international colleagues. Federation members are starting to take training programs.
Over the years, the federation has flourished. Today, there are 80 official hubs with 3,000 workers, mostly located around Buenos Aires where textile work is concentrated. There are another 10 unofficial hubs. Fanny, 66, remains the federation’s president.
In 2017, the state legally recognized the federation’s daycare: the Children’s Recreation and Learning Centre (CIRA). Recognition meant salaries for workers. “My life is this place,” said Fanny, who chose the Miró centre to hold this interview. That location serves 400 children, age 45 days to 18 years, and supports vulnerable people between 21 and 25. Four similar centres have been set up elsewhere with 32 employees in all, including teachers and social workers. The federation also has a continuing education centre for workers with instruction in technology, production organization, administration and marketing.
After so much progress, things are now less stable. Fanny said the federation has been in crisis ever since the right-wing President Javier Milei took office in December 2023. There was 200% inflation and government cuts, said Fanny. Rent, water, food and equipment repairs are all more expensive, so profits are lower. Sometimes the co-op organizes fundraisers, like chicken barbeques.
At the Miró hub, 15 out of 25 workers have left, meaning that expenses per person are now higher. A sign on wall reads: “Five out of 10 machines are not working because of national government policies.”
“We stay here for the space, for what we’ve built rather than the economic benefits, which are low,” said Mariela.
But Fanny retains a note of optimism: “We’re making efforts to try to improve things and getting support or help using our many affiliations.” They’re moving ahead with marketing their collective brand of textiles called Carpincho Indumentaria (a resilient, large guinea pig-like mammal). “Our aim is to have greater autonomy,” said Fanny. “I would stay all night sewing.”
