Frustrated Argentines take business into own hands

Perched on a ragged bar stool in front of the boarded-up Hotel Bauen, Paula Pereyra shakes a small cardboard box and asks passersby for something that is often in short supply here: solidarity.

"Help support the workers of the Hotel Bauen!" she shouts, occasionally garnering a 25-cent coin or a thumbs-up from those walking hurriedly down chaotic Callao Avenue.

Ms. Pereyra's call for support, however, is not the typical rallying cry of oppressed workers against unfair management. In fact, Pereyra is management.

A month ago, Pereyra and 40 of her fellow maids, bellboys, bartenders, and maintenance men took control of the Hotel Bauen, shuttered since 2001 by Argentina's foundering economy. The hotel's employees-turned-"owners" are now working feverishly to get it up and running again.

The Hotel Bauen is Argentina's newest "cooperative," one of scores of failed business - large and small, devastated by Argentina's five-year recession - now in the hands of former employees. With more than 1 in 5 Argentines out of work, this do-it-yourself movement has grown out of the frustration and distrust that many Argentines feel toward their government, sentiments that are sure to be on minds of voters Sunday when they go to the polls to pick a new president.

"People do not expect much from politicians here, because Argentines have been very hard hit by political and economic developments in the 20 years of democracy," says Carlos Gervasoni, a political scientist here. "We have had hyperinflation, unemployment, corruption ... devaluation, and an increase in poverty."

Poverty is what Marcelo Ruarte is trying to avoid. Mr. Ruarte worked at the reception desk of the Hotel Bauen for 20 years and is now leading the cooperative.

"This is a wish for all our families, to open this hotel up, because there is not another possibility for us," he says, sitting at a large round table in the hotel's darkened lobby.

Many co-ops are flourishing. Ice cream and candy maker Ghelco has been functioning as a cooperative since September, when 40 former floor workers took the reins. Metal factories, textile mills, and restaurants have also been given a new lease on life. And just last week, employees of the domestic airline Dinar announced plans to start a cooperative in hopes of keeping the cash-strapped carrier in the air.

The Bauen is the first hotel in Argentina to become part of this trend. Steady streams of workers now come and go from inside the towering 20-story building, there to make much-needed repairs to the hotel's infrastructure.

It's a far cry from the Bauen's salad days of 1978. The luxury hotel opened when Argentina hosted (and won) the World Cup soccer championship. For many years, politicians and celebrities often gathered here. But recession and a slew of newer hotel chains moving in forced the Bauen to close two years ago.

Walking the hotel's long, dark corridors, waiter Raul Vizgarra gazes proudly into the various ballrooms and salons as he reflects on the difficult task ahead.

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