Dalmatinka

nada male

dalmatinka
documentary photography
Factory Dalmatinka, founded in 1951 in Sinj, Croatia, was the
leading manufacturer of sewing thread in East-Central Europe. It
was the core of Sinjs economy as well as one of the foundations of
modernization in the southern region of Croatia. It was declared as
the most successful company in Yugoslavia at the time.
The textile factory had a direct impact on significantly developing
the citys infrastructure as more facilities needed to be constructed
to meet the growing resident populations needs; the villages were
electrified, roads were paved, schools were built, even the city
pool in 1953 which is still in use. Dalmatinka has helped a rural
community to step in to the ranks of modern society. It is also a
significant example of modern architecture in the time of socialism
made by renowned Croatian architect Lavoslav Horvat. Its size is
about 30,000 square meters.
After an economical and political crisis in the nineties, Yugoslavia
broke up bringing along privatization and bankruptcy and hence,
losing a large part of the market. After ten years of agony in the
transition in 2002 Dalmatinka was sold to Ladini brothers from Italy.
They obligated to leave 420 workers at least for 5 years and invest
1.5 million euros. Six years after the number of employees and their
wages reduced significantly. They also havent received their wages
for 9 months, which initiated a strike organised by female workers
for the first time in that area.
Thus Dalmatinka bankrupted and closed in 2009. At its peak, the
factory had around 3,000 employees. Sadly nowadays, the same
number represents the number of unemployed adults in Sinj alone.

Status of women in the industrial heritage

80% of the workforce in Dalmatinka accounted was female
population. The first generation of workers have even been subject
to ridicule by other people for wearing overalls and not dress, and
the woman behind the machine was notorious.
Initially, women from surrounding villages were coming to work
walking over 4-6 km each way because there was no organized
transportation. Over time, for practical reasons, women started
using bicycle as a way of transport which was a radical act for a
conservative environment at the time. Originally, employment and
the needs of the company for a major number of female labor was
presenting a serious social problem in the family.
It was difficult. Not to work, but to decide to work in the factory.
Our community could not understand that, it was unimaginable
that women can manage to work in a factory said one of the ex
employees, Pavica avi.
But over time as their financial status improved (also usually
women would give their monthly salary to their husbands to
promptly take care of it) so did the overall image of female workers
in the factory did.
According to the socialist ideology, women had to be socially
recognized in all spheres of life: politics, work, education, etc.,
and their role is not to be reduced to the role of mother and
housewife, but as an active participants, workers, trade unionists...
In other words, the factory revolutionized gender inequality - the
female employee status highly influenced on their emancipation
and modernization of patriarchal environment.

All for one, one for all