International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

On September 22, 1912, the Casa del Obrero Mundial (House of World Workers, COM) was founded by four union syndicates – the Sociedad Mutuo Cooperativa de Dependientes de Restaurantes (Mutual Society of Restaurant Employees), the Sociedad Mutualista Union y Concordia de Ramo de Meseros (Mutualist Union and Gastronomic Unity of Waiters), the Confederación Tipográfica de México (Typographic Confederation of Mexico), and the Union de Canteros Mexicanos (Union of Mexican Stone Crushers) – and the Grupo Luz. The Grupo Luz, whose members had formerly cooperated with the Socialist Party, established the Escuela Racionalista (Rationalist School), which was comparable to the existing schools in Spain headed by Francisco Ferrer y Guardia. COM assumed the political direction of the Corte Anarchosyndicalista group, which worked to improve working conditions, create international cooperation between workers, encourage self-organization, raise standards for all workers, and reject the power of church and state. The Syndicalist Union and the Grupo Luz created COM and immediately appointed Luis Mendez as treasurer and Jacinto Huitrón as administrator. From the beginning COM was an anarcho-syndicalist center, a place for encounters and sharing ideas. Gradually other syndicates joined COM, and others were founded with COM's help. Syndicalism is the movement of workers fighting to achieve rights concerned ... log in or subscribe to read full text