The article looks at the occupation of factories and the takeover of production by workers in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and, to a lesser extent, Venezuela. It analyses the “recaptured factories under worker control” (RBA) as a possible revival of industrial struggles and highlights both the differences with the dominant trade union approaches and practices and the differences with traditional cooperatives. In order to examine the possible transformative potential of the RBA and its development in the current crisis, the relationship of the RBA to other popular movements as well as the regulatory initiatives of the governments and their effects are also discussed.