France at a Crossroads 06:59 Jan 16 3 comments Apoyo a los y las Trabajadoras de los Servicios Públicos en Rosario (Argentina) 01:37 Dec 31 0 comments Labor in the age of Duterte: The Pacific Plaza strike 00:20 Mar 14 0 comments The Google Walkout: An International Working-Class Movement 18:55 Nov 05 2 comments [South Africa] Stop the repression of casualised/contract workers in Ekurhuleni! 07:27 Sep 29 0 comments more >> |
Recent articles by Tom Wetzel
Σχόλια για τη... 1 comments Τι είναι ο εξε&... 0 comments La Huelga General que sacudió Oakland 0 comments Recent Articles about North America / Mexico Workplace strugglesSeize the Hospitals! ...But How? Aug 01 23 Vermont Labor Takes Sharp Left Turn: Van Deusen Elected Vt AFL-CIO Pre... Sep 17 19 Shut it Down! Jun 14 18 Misunderstanding syndicalism
north america / mexico |
workplace struggles |
feature
Tuesday December 06, 2016 21:23 by Tom Wetzel - Workers Solidarity Alliance
Published in socialistworker.org
Debate"The claim that "syndicalist unions broke off from mainstream federations to form 'purely revolutionary' unions, cutting themselves off from the mass of workers" doesn't hold up, though it does conform to the Leninist orthodoxy of "Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder. There were many countries where the syndicalist unions were the majority--such as Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Brazil. Syndicalist unions in South Africa, such as the Industrial Workers of Africa (modeled on the Industrial Workers of the World), were the only unions that organized native African workers, who were excluded from the white craft unions.At the time of the mass occupation of the factories in Italy in September 1920, the USI (Italian Syndicalist Union) was claiming 800,000 members, and the factory councils formed throughout Italy in those events were mostly organized by the USI. Moreover, it was the anarcho-syndicalists who initiated a militia movement ("arditti del popolo") to fight Mussolini's fascist squads. But the Communists didn't cooperate, and the Socialist Party capitulated to fascism.
Misunderstanding syndicalismThe claim that "syndicalist unions broke off from mainstream federations to form 'purely revolutionary' unions, cutting themselves off from the mass of workers" doesn't hold up, though it does conform to the Leninist orthodoxy of "Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder. There were many countries where the syndicalist unions were the majority--such as Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Brazil. Syndicalist unions in South Africa, such as the Industrial Workers of Africa (modeled on the Industrial Workers of the World), were the only unions that organized native African workers, who were excluded from the white craft unions. At the time of the mass occupation of the factories in Italy in September 1920, the USI (Italian Syndicalist Union) was claiming 800,000 members, and the factory councils formed throughout Italy in those events were mostly organized by the USI. Moreover, it was the anarcho-syndicalists who initiated a militia movement ("arditti del popolo") to fight Mussolini's fascist squads. But the Communists didn't cooperate, and the Socialist Party capitulated to fascism. Darlington makes the usual mistake of supposing the IWW went into decline with government repression in 1917. Actually the IWW continued to grow in the early 1920s, reaching its peak in 1923. The IWW mass unions were in industries where there either was no American Federation of Labor (AFL) union or a competing AFL union that was no larger than the IWW union. Moreover, in industries where IWW was a minority they often worked as a "dual card" pressure group within the AFL unions. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MOREOVER, THE claim that revolutionary syndicalism "rejects politics" contradicts the criticism that syndicalists have an unrealistic ideal of a highly politicized unionism that can play a revolutionary role. You need to make up your mind which criticism you want to make: Did syndicalists advocate a narrow focus on merely economic issues ("economism") or did they have unrealistic expectations of the political role unionism could play? These two traditional Leninist criticisms are logically inconsistent with each other. In Spain at present, the two syndicalist unions, the CGT and CNT, often work to develop alliances with social movements (women's groups, ecologists, housing squatters) as in general strike mobilizations. The CGT has separate encuentros (meetings) for its women members to develop campaigns--as for example their current campaign for free abortion on demand, against the right-wing government's efforts to criminalize abortion. These are examples of how the unions do develop political strategy and focus. Moreover, it was Marxism that historically proposed a division of labor, with "politics" being reserved for the party and the union relegated to "the economic sphere." In practice, this has always been used as an excuse by union leaders to avoid mass action around larger political questions. They will tell workers they need to vote for the party. This was the role the Communist Party played in demobilizing the population in France after the mass general strike in 1968. The claim that syndicalists over-emphasize "spontaneity" is also at odds with the syndicalist emphasis on preparation and building the capacity of militants, as with the many dozens of worker schools and cultural centers organized throughout working-class neighborhoods of Barcelona and Valencia in Spain in the 1930s. There is also a mistaken conception offered of the revolutionary general strike. As Lucy Parsons said in her remarks to the founding convention of the IWW, the syndicalist conception is an "inside" strike--a generalized takeover of the means of production and all the capitalists' assets. The syndicalist idea is that having a grassroots worker mass movement in the workplaces provides a movement with the skills and position to carry out this generalized lockout of the bosses, and to carry on production to ensure that people's needs are met. We have a vivid example of an expropriating general strike in the mass seizure of industry and farmland by the syndicalist unions in Spain in 1936. More than 18,000 companies and 14 million acres of farmland were expropriated, according to UPI reporter Burnet Bolleten. The CNT movement of 1936--the majority labor organization in the country--also smashed up the army in many parts of the country and built its own proletarian army of about 100,000 to fight the fascists. This is clearly a demonstration of the possibility of a union movement playing a revolutionary role. As Marx put it: "If the trades unions are required for the guerilla fights between capital and labor, they are still more important as organized agencies for superseding the very system of wages labor and capital rule." Tom Wetzel, Hayward, California
|
Front pageSupport Sudanese anarchists in exile Joint Statement of European Anarchist Organizations International anarchist call for solidarity: Earthquake in Turkey, Syria and Kurdistan Elements of Anarchist Theory and Strategy 19 de Julio: Cuando el pueblo se levanta, escribe la historia International anarchist solidarity against Turkish state repression Declaración Anarquista Internacional por el Primero de Mayo, 2022 Le vieux monde opprime les femmes et les minorités de genre. Leur force le détruira ! Against Militarism and War: For self-organised struggle and social revolution Declaração anarquista internacional sobre a pandemia da Covid-19 Anarchist Theory and History in Global Perspective Capitalism, Anti-Capitalism and Popular Organisation [Booklet] Reflexiones sobre la situación de Afganistán South Africa: Historic rupture or warring brothers again? Death or Renewal: Is the Climate Crisis the Final Crisis? Gleichheit und Freiheit stehen nicht zur Debatte! Contre la guerre au Kurdistan irakien, contre la traîtrise du PDK Meurtre de Clément Méric : l’enjeu politique du procès en appel |
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (3 of 3)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3At the top of the article we see "Published in socialistworkers.org" but on trying to access this website I found it does not exist. Do you have the correct source?
It's my fault, I wrotte workers instead of worker. sorry. thanks for signaling it.
Thanks nice to see a willingness to publish dissenting views.