The General Secretary or Secretary General of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo is the head of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (National Confederation of Labour; CNT), a Spanish confederation of anarcho-syndicalisttrade unions. The position is elected by a congress or plenary session of the confederation. The position's powers are limited to technical and administrative affairs.
Since the confederation does not have fixed headquarters, the elected General Secretary's local federation becomes the confederation's central operations and a local plenary session of the local federation chooses the secretariats for other leadership positions. Together they are known as the Secretariado Permanente del Comité Confederal (Permanent Secretariat of the Confederal Committee, or SPCC). They, together with other regional federation's secretaries general, form the full Confederal Committee. The first general secretary of the CNT, chosen at its 1910 constitutional congress, was José Negre. He had been general secretary of Solidaridad Obrera, a Catalan union and precursor to the CNT. Thus Barcelona was the first headquarters.
The CNT operated clandestinely during years of repression and splintered. Sources support several timelines of CNT Secretaries General during this time.
Through the Civil War (1910–1939)
Unless specified otherwise, the Headquarters of the CNT's General General and National Committee during this period were based in Barcelona.[1]
During this period, the CNT was outlawed by the Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera and carried out its activities clandestinely.[15] The identity of the general secretary at this time is unknown.[1]
Headquarters transferred from Barcelona, to Madrid and then Valencia.[34] Term ended by the conclusion of the Catalonia Offensive.[1] Died in Paris in June 1939.[35]
During Franco (1939–1976)
During this period, the CNT worked clandestinely both inside Spain and in French exile. A schism among the exiles created two confederal committees with their own corresponding secretaries general.
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