Women of the fishing industry. Work at Engrau-coop, a factory recovered by its workers in Quequén, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

The city of Quequén was born at the confluence of salt water and fresh water, the Argentine Sea and the river that bears its name. Located in the Necochea district, province of Buenos Aires, Argentina has just over twenty-two thousand inhabitants and has one of the most important ports in the country.

In that town, Engrau-Coop is located a factory recovered by its workers, oriented to the processing of fish, more specifically of the Engraulis anchovy species, name with which the former owners baptized the original company in 1974.

Each year in its facilities, which occupy approximately one block, the anchovies fished deep in the sea by the typical fishing boats that operate during the harvest period on the coasts of the city. This process still retains a strong imprint of manual and artisanal work that differentiates it from other activities of the current fishing industry that, in the heat of the economic concentration of recent years, have incorporated new technologies and ways of organizing work.