Abstract

"IMPA Plastic Industries: A Company Managed by Its Workers"

Sebastián Elisalde, University of Buenos Aires (sebaelisalde@hotmail.com)

This work describes, analyzes and problematizes the cooperative experience of a metallurgical company: the Plastic and Metallurgical Industry of Argentina (IMPA). Founded as a German firm in 1910, it is nationalized in 1945 and transformed into a work cooperative in 1961. In 1998 it undergoes a crisis process that leads to the closure of the factory until in May of that year the workers recover the source of work, putting it back on track to this day, facing great difficulties. The company produces aluminum foil that, in its version of a flexible container or container, has its market in the food and perishable goods industry. Also, through different processes, high-security rigid containers are developed that allow the cosmetic, medicinal and chemical industries to package products that require hygiene, tightness, safety and quality conditions governed by specific legal and technical standards. Currently it processes aluminum in its smelting, laminating, extrusion and printing phases. In addition to carrying out production tasks of a factory, Impa was formed since its recovery as a cultural project, called The Cultural City Factory. As of December 2001, while the factories began to close their doors, as a result of the economic crisis that was deepening in Argentina, new experiences of companies recovered throughout the country emerged. There are currently more than 400 companies recovered and self-managed by more than 10,000 workers. Even these innovations extended to Latin America, so that countries such as Uruguay, Brazil and Peru have similar initiatives. The present study is based on the use of primary sources: documents from the manufacturing archive (minutes of assemblies, minutes, reports), as well as the use of secondary sources: publications on the IMPA company (newspaper and research articles). Interviews and ethnographic observations were also used in the firm itself.