Factory To The Workers

“Here, the cleaning lady and the director are both workers”

Croatia, 2005. A machine tools plant is taken over by its workers. It turns into the only successful example of a factory occupation in post-socialist Europe. Ten years after this revolutionary turning point, the rebellious employee behind the occupation now strives to prevent a production shutdown. Sustainability depends on the sacrifices of the workers protecting their livelihood from the threats of a ruthless economy. For 5 years, director Srđan Kovačević follows the inside story of the people who struggle to keep the once prestigious factory running. A decade later, the question remains: can the slogan “Factory to the Workers” be kept alive, or is it just a utopian dream?

Director’s Statement

I belong to a generation whose coming of age was strongly marked by the process of Croatian postwar privatization, the transition of commonly owned resources into private hands. I’ve witnessed the shutdown of many factories which kept whole families fed. ITAS was a different example: the only factory in ex Yugoslavia (and Europe), in which the workers organized, physically took over and managed to continue the production. My initial intention was to show the good example, to share the knowledge with the hope that such endeavours can pave the way to a mor fair economy. But my daily presence among workers made me realize that the story is much more complex.

Capitalism as a system is still the frame within which all alternative forms of production have to survive. The workers are torn between the loyalty to the idea of self-management and the need for bigger incomes that ITAS can’t provide, while on a bigger scale ITAS is an outsourced plant for big German companies, and is stuck in its peripheral position. Factory to the workers aims to show the complexity of capitalist economy, which determines alternative organisational models far more than a romanticised view is ready to admit.