Listas negras e protesto operário. O ferrocarril central argentino e seus trabalhadores durante a primeira guerra mundial

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to analyze the corporate policies of the Ferrocarril Central Argentino and the workers’ responses in the context of World War I. In this sense, the research question it poses is: What was the impact of World War I in labor relations within a British railroad company installed in Argentina? Based on the triangulation of diverse types of sources (company files, union newspapers, official government documents and Foreign Office correspondence) it shows, on the one hand, the company’s symbolic use of the war to justify wage cuts and layoffs and to involve segments of the working class in support of the British army. On the other hand, it also shows the limitations of the company’s patriotic discourse and how its co-optation strategies failed to block the workers’ participation in violent protests.