Posiciones estratégicas y fuerza obrera: Apuntes en torno a un ciclo huelguístico de los estibadores del salitre (Chile 1916-1923).

This paper seeks to examine the applicability of John Womack Jr's framework on workers' strength. To do so, the paper examines the 1916-1923 strikes led by dock workers in one of the most sensitive and strategic sectors of the Chilean economy at that time: the saltpeter docks. Based on the thorough study of over twenty strikes, this paper aims to show that working in the most vulnerable place of the export circuit did not necessarily imply that these workers had the strength suggested by Womack Jr's framework. The data show that these workers were dispensable, so in most cases they were displaced from the "strategic position" where they were theoretically located. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]