Salvador Seguí: The Death of 'The Sugar Boy' and the History of Labor Movement

• Salvador Seguí, known as 'El noi del sucre' (The Sugar Boy), a key anarchist labor leader and CNT figure, was assassinated in Barcelona's El Raval district on March 10, 1923.
• Seguí was a legendary orator who led the restructuring of unions into 'one big union' and secured a major victory in the 1919 'La Canadiense' strike.
• A lifelong painter, he advocated for strikes over violence as the primary weapon for labor rights, despite facing constant death threats from the employer class.

Life and Philosophy

• Born in 1887 in Tornabous, Lleida, he entered the workforce at age 12, working as a painter while rising to leadership in the CNT and the local Construction Union.
• He was characterized by a firm commitment to the proletariat, despite internal criticism for his pragmatism.
• He believed that the labor union should not only manage industrial production in a future society but also organize consumers and tenants to extend the struggle beyond the workplace.

Key Achievements

• At the 1918 Sants Congress, he successfully unified old trade associations into single, modern unions to adapt to new production structures.
• During the 1919 La Canadiense strike, he successfully negotiated a total city-wide stoppage that resulted in a historic victory for workers.
• He possessed an unmatched ability to articulate the collective sentiments of the working class, often speaking in Catalan to mesmerize massive assemblies.

The Assassination

• On March 10, 1923, at 7:15 PM, Seguí and fellow labor activist Francesc Comas ('Paronas') were ambushed by at least four gunmen hired by the hardline sector of the employer class after leaving a bar.
• Upon his death, he was found carrying only calling cards that read: "Salvador Seguí, painter."