José Bondía | |
|---|---|
 Bondía,c. 1979 | |
| General Secretary of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo | |
| In office 15 December 1979 – January 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Enric Marco |
| Succeeded by | Antonio Pérez Canales |
| Personal details | |
| Born | José Bondía Román Salamanca, Spain |
José Bondía Román (fl. 1976-1989) is a Spanish trade unionist who led theNational Confederation of Labour (CNT) as itsGeneral Secretary from 1979 to 1983. A leading advocate of participation inunion elections [es] toworks councils, he led a faction of the CNT that formed part of theGeneral Confederation of Labour (CGT).
José Bondía Román was born inSalamanca during the 20th century. He later moved toMadrid, where he worked forIBM. By the 1970s, he had become involved in theNational Confederation of Labour (CNT), ananarcho-syndicalisttrade union centre, as well as the Madrid section of theIberian Anarchist Federation (FAI).[1] During theSpanish transition to democracy, at a national plenary of the CNT, held in Madrid in July 1976, Bondía was elected as the organisation'spress secretary,[2] serving under general secretaryJuan Gómez Casas [es].[3]
At the CNT's 5th Congress, held in Madrid in December 1979, internal divisions over the issue of participation inunion elections [es] toworks councils came to a head. On the final day of the congress, Bondía was elected as the general secretary of the CNT; the Congress had ended with a marathon 24-hour session, closing at 03:00 with only 60 union delegates still in attendance.[2] 90 delegates walked out of the congress and held a separate congress inValencia, constituting the CNT-CV.[4] According to Bondía,Federica Montseny herself left the 1979 congress in tears, distraught at the collapse of the organisation to internal divisions.[5] In statements made after the congress, Bondía informed the press that the CNT remained committed tosocial revolution and the establishment oflibertarian communism; the congress had resolved not to sign theMoncloa Pacts.[6]
As general secretary, Bondía called for the CNT to "boycott production", but the organisation did not have the organisational strength to carry out such a campaign.[7] Over time, Bondía began to move towards support for participation in union elections. He believed that the CNT ought to be able to alternate betweenreformist andrevolutionary positions, depending on the material conditions it was presented with.[8] During the last months of his tenure as general secretary, Bondía increasingly exercisedexecutive power and made decisions without consulting the rank-and-file membership, which combined with his favourability towards union elections, caused tensions within the organisation.[8]
After the CNT's 6th Congress, held inBarcelona in January 1983, the "renovationist" delegates led by Bondía won out;[9]Antonio Pérez Canales was elected to succeed Bondía as general secretary.[4] But the issue of participation in union elections was not resolved, so in April 1983, an extraordinary congress was held inTorrejón de Ardoz, where the CNT's opposition to electoral participation was confirmed.[10] Bondía resigned from the CNT in protest and led a splinter group into a Reunification Congress with the CNT-CV.[11] They formed the CNT-Renovada, which in 1989, was compelled by a court order to change its name; this organisation then became known as theGeneral Confederation of Labour (CGT).[12] Bondía and other "renovators" were consequently denounced by Juan Gómez Casas, who called themPestañistas, in reference to theTreintist leaderÁngel Pestaña.[13]