Pau Sabater

Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Wikidata image Pau Sabater LliróTemplate:Refn (1884–1919), also known by his nickname El Tero, was a Catalan trade unionist. A leader among dye workers of the National Confederation of Labour (CNT), Sabater led a strike action at the dyeing factory La Canadenca. He was murdered by mercenaries in 1919, marking the beginning of pistolerismo in Catalonia.

Biography

Pau Sabater Lliró was born in Algerri, in the province of Lleida, in 1884.Template:Sfn He moved to the Catalan capital of Barcelona, where he went to work in the dyeing industry and joined the growing trade union movement.Template:Sfn In 1916,Template:Sfn he was elected as general secretary of the dyers' union of the National Confederation of Labour (CNT).Template:Sfnm He also regularly visited the social centre Serrallonga.Template:Sfn

By 1919, the CNT had grown to count about 500,000 members and was increasingly intervening in strike actions. In an attempt to stop the rise of the CNT, the government of Spain banned the organisation and shut down its publications.Template:Sfn In protest against this, in February 1919, Sabater led dye workers at the factory La Canadenca into a strike action.Template:Sfnm Valencian historian José Peirats described it as the "best organised strike" that had been carried out by the CNT at that time.Template:Sfn In response to the strike, business owners mobilised gangs of merceneraies known as pistoleros to attack members of the CNT.Template:Sfn Sabater, who was suspected of leading an "action group", was targetted for assassination. According to historian Template:Ill, the Spanish military wanted to send a message to Spanish syndicalists that they could no longer take action with impunity.Template:Sfn

On the night of 19 July 1919, Sabater was arrested at his home by men disguised as police.Template:Sfnm He was detained ostensibly on charges of killing an industrialist named Barrett.Template:Sfn Sabater was taken to a quiet part of town, where he was summarily shot.Template:Sfn His body was found the following morning, riddled with bullets, on the road to Montcada.Template:Sfn Sabater was the first trade unionist to be assassinated during the years of pistolerismo, marking the beginning of a string of murders of Catalan trade unionists.Template:Sfnm News of Sabater's murder outraged trade unionists, with thousands of workers attending his funeral.Template:Sfn Luis Fernández, who many trade unionists suspected of being a member of the Banda Negra, a mercenary gang led by Template:Ill, was convicted for the murder of Sabater.Template:Sfnm Bravo Portillo himself was never put on trial for the murder.Template:Sfn In revenge, syndicalists assassinated Bravo Portillo two months later.Template:Sfnm