Centre Autonomista de Dependents del Comerç i de la Indústria

The Centre Autonomista de Dependents del Comerç i de la Indústria (CADCI) is a Catalan association founded in Barcelona in 1903 by a group of commercial and office clerks (dependents) with Catalanist political leanings. It was initially registered as a workers' association to avoid taxes. According to its statutes, its purpose was to group commercial and industrial employees to achieve their moral, cultural, physical and material improvement, in accordance with autonomist principles and a healthy and tolerant Catalan identity. In its early years it admitted protector members to help maintain the Catalan Commercial Schools (Escoles Mercantils Catalanes), which taught in Catalan. From 1912 it published the magazine Acció. In July 1910 the Permanent Section of Relation and Work was created, and under its impetus the CADCI began to lead the demands and convergence of Barcelona's commercial employee societies, such as the 1912–1913 campaign for the closure of establishments at eight in the evening, the campaign for Sunday rest, and the 1914 campaign to set the working day at 10 hours and abolish live-in arrangements. These efforts culminated in the First Assembly of Dependents of Catalonia (1913) and the constitution of the Federation of Dependents of Catalonia in January 1921. By 1917 it had about 10,000 members. That year its president, Josep Puig, was elected Barcelona city councillor for the Lliga Regionalista. Shortly before the Primo de Rivera dictatorship, the first Galeusca pact was signed at its premises on 11 September 1923. Miguel Primo de Rivera closed the CADCI, prosecuted its propaganda section leaders for separatism, and seized its headquarters on the Rambla de Santa Mònica, where the Sindicato Libre was installed. The CADCI did not recover the premises until 1931. It became a breeding ground for young Catalan activists such as Jaume Compte, Abelard Tona and Jordi Arquer. With the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, it leaned politically towards Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, and its president, Francesc Xavier Casals, was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Assistance in 1932 in the first government of the Generalitat formed by Macià after the 1932 elections. A group of members participated in the Proclamation of the Catalan State in October 1934; they barricaded themselves in the Rambla de Santa Mònica headquarters and were dislodged by army cannon fire. Jaume Compte, Manuel González Alba and Amadeu Bardina died. In 1936 Pere Aznar was appointed president; he was elected deputy to the republican courts after the February elections that year for the Partit Català Proletari (after the merger of several Catalan Marxist parties to create the PSUC, Aznar became a member of that party). During the Civil War the labour section adhered to the Unión General de Trabajadores in a controversial assembly. When Franco's troops occupied Barcelona in February 1939, they confiscated the CADCI premises as well as all its documentary collection and library, installing a hospital. Although it was not included among the entities listed in the Law of Political Responsibilities, a decree of 31 January 1944 ordered the transfer of the CADCI headquarters, then in the hands of Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS (it was the headquarters of the Frente de Juventudes), to the Ministry of the Army. The CADCI remained in exile in Santiago de Chile under Pere Aznar, its president since 1936, who had left the PSUC. It signed the various renewals of the Galeusca pact, first in Mexico (1944) and later in Buenos Aires (1947). After Francoism there were some failed attempts to rebuild the CADCI. It was not until January 1979 that the Centre Autonomista de Dependents del Comerç i de la Indústria, Entitat Obrera was registered. The CADCI did important work in claiming its patrimonial and moral rights.

The Centre Autonomista de Dependents del Comerç i de la Indústria (CADCI) was founded in Barcelona in 1903 by a group of commercial and office clerks (dependents) with Catalanist political leanings. It was initially registered as a workers' association to avoid taxes. According to its statutes, its purpose was to group commercial and industrial employees to achieve their moral, cultural, physical and material improvement, in accordance with autonomist principles and a healthy and tolerant Catalan identity. In its early years it admitted protector members to help maintain the Catalan Commercial Schools (Escoles Mercantils Catalanes), which taught in Catalan. In its first years, the propaganda section followed the guidelines of the Lliga Regionalista and participated in all civic and sports events organised by it, but later it became radicalised and distanced itself from the conservative regionalists. From 1912 it published the magazine Acció. In July 1910 the Permanent Section of Relation and Work was created, and under its impetus the CADCI began to lead the demands and convergence of Barcelona's commercial employee societies, such as the 1912–1913 campaign for the closure of establishments at eight in the evening, the campaign for Sunday rest, and the 1914 campaign to set the working day at 10 hours and abolish live-in arrangements. These efforts culminated in the First Assembly of Dependents of Catalonia (1913) and the constitution of the Federation of Dependents of Catalonia in January 1921. By 1917 it had about 10,000 members. That year its president, Josep Puig, was elected Barcelona city councillor for the Lliga Regionalista. Shortly before the Primo de Rivera dictatorship, the first Galeusca pact was signed at its premises on 11 September 1923. Miguel Primo de Rivera closed the CADCI, prosecuted its propaganda section leaders for separatism, and seized its headquarters on the Rambla de Santa Mònica, where the Sindicato Libre was installed. The CADCI did not recover the premises until 1931. It became a breeding ground for young Catalan activists such as Jaume Compte, Abelard Tona and Jordi Arquer. With the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, it leaned politically towards Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, and its president, Francesc Xavier Casals, was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Assistance in 1932 in the first government of the Generalitat formed by Macià after the 1932 elections. A group of members participated in the Proclamation of the Catalan State in October 1934; they barricaded themselves in the Rambla de Santa Mònica headquarters and were dislodged by army cannon fire. Jaume Compte, Manuel González Alba and Amadeu Bardina died. In 1936 Pere Aznar was appointed president; he was elected deputy to the republican courts after the February elections that year for the Partit Català Proletari (after the merger of several Catalan Marxist parties to create the PSUC, Aznar became a member of that party). During the Civil War the labour section adhered to the Unión General de Trabajadores in a controversial assembly. When Franco's troops occupied Barcelona in February 1939, they confiscated the CADCI premises as well as all its documentary collection and library, installing a hospital. Although it was not included among the entities listed in the Law of Political Responsibilities, a decree of 31 January 1944 ordered the transfer of the CADCI headquarters, then in the hands of Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS (it was the headquarters of the Frente de Juventudes), to the Ministry of the Army. The CADCI remained in exile in Santiago de Chile under Pere Aznar, its president since 1936, who had left the PSUC. It signed the various renewals of the Galeusca pact, first in Mexico (1944) and later in Buenos Aires (1947). After Francoism there were some failed attempts to rebuild the CADCI. It was not until January 1979 that the Centre Autonomista de Dependents del Comerç i de la Indústria, Entitat Obrera was registered. The CADCI did important work in claiming its patrimonial and moral rights. For this reason, during the first government of Jordi Pujol, the CADCI and UGT of Catalonia signed a collaboration agreement to return to its old headquarters on the Rambla de Santa Mònica and provide logistical support to restore the CADCI to its rightful place. In 2007 it founded with the UGT of Catalonia the Fundació Catalunya Comerç to promote and defend the interests of commerce workers, which reached about 3,000 members. In 2009 they signed a collaboration agreement with PIMEC (the small and medium enterprise business organisation) and with the Cercle Català de Negocis to strengthen their presence in the Catalan commerce fabric. In 2012 the CADCI's documentary collection, which had been seized by Francoism and was in the former Civil War Archive in Salamanca, was returned. The CADCI ceded this collection to the National Archive of Catalonia. The Rambla de Santa Mònica premises is currently the central headquarters of the Unión General de Trabajadores de Cataluña, and a plaque commemorates the death of Jaume Compte, Manuel González Alba and Amadeu Bardina.

• 2012

  Documentary collection returned from the former Civil War Archive in Salamanca; ceded to the National Archive of Catalonia.

• 2009

  Signed collaboration agreements with PIMEC and Cercle Català de Negocis.

• 2007

  Co-founded Fundació Catalunya Comerç with UGT of Catalonia.

• 1979

  Registered as Centre Autonomista de Dependents del Comerç i de la Indústria, Entitat Obrera in January.

• 1944

  Decree of 31 January ordered transfer of the headquarters to the Ministry of the Army.

• 1939

  Franco's troops confiscated the premises, documentary collection and library.

• 1936

  Pere Aznar appointed president.

• 1934

  Members participated in the Proclamation of the Catalan State; three died in the siege.

• 1932

  President Francesc Xavier Casals appointed Minister of Labour and Social Assistance.

• 1931

  Recovered its headquarters on the Rambla de Santa Mònica after Primo de Rivera's closure.

• 1923

  First Galeusca pact signed at its premises on 11 September.

• 1921

  Federation of Dependents of Catalonia constituted in January.

• 1917

  Had about 10,000 members; president Josep Puig elected Barcelona city councillor.

• 1913

  First Assembly of Dependents of Catalonia held.

• 1912

  Began publishing the magazine Acció.

• 1910

  Permanent Section of Relation and Work created in July.

• 1903

  CADCI founded in Barcelona by commercial and office clerks with Catalanist leanings.

A historic Catalan association for commercial and office employees, combining labour advocacy with Catalanist cultural and social action.

1. 1CADCI official websitecadci.net
2. 2CADCI - Wikipedia (Spanish)es.wikipedia.org
3. 3Wikidata entry for CADCIwikidata.org