Today's Topics:
1. wsm.ie: The centre collapses - the Yellow Vests emerge
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. anarkismo.net: Helen murdered by patriarchy by nornin
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Czech, afed: Cut the hooker - and condemn you for spreading
the nazi symbol (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Greece, anarchist group vogliamo tutto e per tutti:
Anti-fascist-anti-nationalist [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. Britain, af london: From London to Greece to Russia - Antifa
Solidarity (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. deliverunion.fau: Class struggle without borders - A report
from Stockholm (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. To strike, compañeras! Libertarias in 8M By Libertarian
Regeneration , Alasbarricadas and Portal Oaca (ca, it) [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
8. black rose fed: FROM UNION RENEWAL TO A
SELF-MANAGED SOCIETY
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
On the apolitical labelling of the movement - Many of us have been following the Yellow
Vest clashes on the streets of France with great interest and trying to understand this
movement that appeared to come from nowhere. It is another story of the pressures of late
stage capitalism collapsing the center of politics, a center no longer able to fool more
of the people most of the time. A movement made possible by social media but which also
reflects the often chaotic ‘apolitics' of such movements. And worrying in the context of
the millions being poured into far right propaganda a movement in which the far-right have
made some progress in infiltrating, even if our comrades in France are physically driving
them out of the protests. ---- There is no such thing as an apolitical movement, all there
can be is a movement with internal contradictions as well as internal struggles to resolve
those contradictions.
There is no way for a movement to be both anti-capitalist and in favour of capitalism,
anti-authoritarian and authoritarian, against borders and anti-immigration, anti-racist,
anti-sexist and ‘'anti-SJW'', anti-state and statist, anti-Europe and pro-Europe or
neither. Saying that none of this matters is still an ideological statement because it
suggests the economic insecurity we face is not related to any of the above.
Whether we hold one of these positions outside of any party affiliation doesn't make these
opinions less political. Politics and party politics are different things, and some
political ideologies are fundamentally opposed to party politics as a strategy.
The implication for the Yellow Vest movement is that different ideological tendencies will
inevitably try to influence the movement one way or the other. A better way to put it is
that the collision of ideologies within the movement defines the course of the movement,
it is the movement.. In this context, the claim that the movement is apolitical is simply
an opportunity for different ideologies to wear a mask while trying to influence the movement.
This is why we will not shy away from labels. We also want to argue that influencing a
movement is not the same thing as co-opting a movement (to co-opt is to influence, but to
influence is not necessarily to co-opt). Co-optation is when the control of a movement is
taken away from the original grassroots organisers and into the hands of party/group.
Instead what we want to do is insist that the yellow vest movement push its core beliefs
to their ultimate conclusions.
Yellow Vests and Anarchism
While we recognize the diverse nature of the French Yellow Vest movement, it is worth
mentioning that the core realisations which gave rise to the yellow vest movement are very
much aligned with anarchism in the broadest sense:
1) Anarchism rejects party politics. The blanket rejection of parties and electoral
strategies is something that the French yellow vest movement shares with anarchism and
with anarchism alone. No other political ideology on the spectrum rejects party politics
as definitively as anarchism does.
2) Anarchism is anti-authoritarian. This term is admittedly rarely used by Yellow Vests to
describe the movement. Yet the refusal to have spokespersons endowed with the power to
make decisions or to negotiate with the state on behalf of the movement as well as the
widespread critique of the French State as a violent top-down institution concentrating
power and wealth in the hands of a few reveals a strong anti-authoritarian current within
the movement. In the same vein, Anarchists argue that the worker-boss, the landlord-tenant
and the lender-borrower relationships are also authoritarian. These authoritarian
relationship are made possible because the State and its police force historically emerged
as a means to violently enforce property rights (that is to allow concentration of wealth
and limit redistribution to what is strictly necessary to avoid insurrection).
Perhaps the Yellow Vest movement, like Occupy before it, lacks an authoritarian center for
reasons of tactics and spontaneity, there are no leaders to arrest and no need to wait for
a founding conference before acting. But for anarchists such structures are not just
tactical ways to act quickly and avoid repression. They are principles meant to defeat by
design the corruption that comes when the authorities can buy off the leaders of a
movement, or jail or assassinate the few who don't have a price.
Anarchists also believe States and the authoritarian relationships they make possible
could not have emerged without the creation of sexist, racist and ableist hierarchies,
backed by law, which serve as divide and conquer strategies. These mutually reinforcing
and intersecting hierarchies prevent workers from forming solidarity ties and from
politically organising against the State and the capitalist system that initially was and
still is imposed onto them by force. In other words, the social contract is a myth but
some people like to believe in it because they don't have the worst deal.
Knowing where to draw the line
It must be said that if anti-authoritarianism and the rejection of hierarchical top-down
structures are a core principle of the yellow vest movement, then the far-right's role in
the movement can only ever be to try to co-opt it and drag it away from this core
principle. The far right, everywhere and since ever has reinforced violent hierarchical
authoritarian structures rather than dismantling them. This is what they do and this is
where the movement should draw the line. This is all the more urgent that we have seen, in
the last few years how the far right's absolute disregard for truth (for the purpose of
gaining power) has allowed them to win over social movements through mass fake news
campaigns. If we do not want to follow the trajectory of Ukraine, Brazil and the United
States, we need to have no tolerance for the far-right within the Yellow Vest movement.
The end of centrism
The influence of the far right is being bought with the millions of dollars a few super
rich white men and pumping into personalities and social media channels. But while this is
why they have now become an organised threat it does not explain all. Late stage
capitalism is faced with crisis it cannot solve, in particular that of Climate Change
which at its worst threatens life on the planet. Automation and the huge reductions being
imposed on workers living standards through greatly inflating housing costs is another.
For 50 years politics in the advanced economics has been dominated by technocratic
centrist parties whose policy differences were not so much about the organisation of the
economy but pace and the extent to which the liberation of oppressed groups should be allowed.
As capitalism proves unable to continue to deliver modest improvements to the many the
hold of the centerists is collapsing. Unfortunately this polarisation is not simply
pushing people to a genuine left alternative. As with the huge crisis of legitimacy
capitalism faced after WWI a entirely false and reactionary ‘revolution' is being promoted
in the rebirth of fascist movements that, as before, seek to protect capitalist rule by
instead directing anger at marginalised scapegoats. The false unity they seek to build is
that of ‘the people' rather than ‘the class' - a people defined in opposition to those who
are targeted for being different. A people that includes the billionaires who are the
cause of climate and economic disaster facing us. Indeed it is the money from those
billionares that funds fascist organising and outreach, all to protect their wealth and
ability to pollute for a few more years.
As was the case in the 1920s fascism is a disastrous band-aid for billionaires to preserve
their wealth and power that lasts only a brief while before it brings death and
destruction down on all. Those who fell for the scapegoating lies of Hitler & Mussolini
lived to see their children conscripted and slaughtered in the snows around Stalingrad,
their cities levelled and their choice remembered, perhaps for ever as the most criminal
moment in human history. The victims of their scapegoating were murdered in vast numbers.
80 million died in the slaughter that choice resulted in. This time the threat is such
that there may be no history to remember, we cannot afford to allow the mistakes of the
past be repeated in a new form, when it comes to the far right presence the Yellow Jackets
must make a choice and drive them and their bigoted scapegoating out.
As the center collapses all of us face the choices outlined at the beginning - for or
against capitalism, for or against social justice, for or against the authoritarian state.
Which choice we feed will determine the future of the planet, indeed will determine
whether humanity as we have come to know it has any future on this planet. The hour is
late and the pressures become more intense as the months pass, we cannot afford to allow
the rule of the wealthy few to continue much longer. Will the Yellow Jackets prove to be a
moment of contradictory rioting in the twilight of a dying planet or a moment when
contradictions are resolved and we set out on a global path to liberation?
https://wsm.ie/c/centre-collapses-yellow-vests-france
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Message: 2
Living in a society that treats women either as sensitive flowers that need prostate to
survive, or as prey for male hunters when they escape and resist the roles that have been
imposed on them, we do not fall from the clouds to the sound of rape, because in all of us
life is what we are trying to avoid. Sometimes we do it and others do not. ---- Everyday
is not a misfortune, Helen murdered patriarchy ---- Eleni T. was found murdered on
November 28 in Rhodes by two men Manolis Koukouras and Alexander Lutsay. Eleni T. Was
murdered after having been abused and tortured because she did not consent to having sex
with them. Eleni T. is neither the first nor the last in the long list of the victims of
patriarchy and it is definitely not an "unfortunate" or isolated incident. But we are once
again in the face of the massive speech of the media, outlining personal stories of the
victim and the victims, with the prospecting audience watching another "unfortunate
incident" shocked by his brutality. Keeping the murder in view of viewing and forgetting
with great care the grimace of the crime by disconnecting it from the social territory in
which it was committed.
Once again, we are watching a rape and a murder be used proverbially to spread racist and
racial hatred. Because in the profile of the rabbis the first thing that seems to matter
is the nationality, race and class position, which are used depending on the circumstance,
or in an attempt to justify the perpetrator as his class and upbringing will not it was of
course allowed to do so either to emphasize another characteristic, such as that of the
immigrant - let alone when it is interwoven with what society considers to be delinquent
only by its existence - and not the standards of the omnipotent culture They nurtured. In
this way, a situation whereby rape cases by migrants are reproduced without doubt and
mitigation, while those of native "reputable citizens" are built into the microscope, are
questioned, justified, and most often are the victim ultimately being tried socially. It
is the victim that will not only face the rapist but with the whole system that breeds
him. A system that violence and hostility toward any subject that comes to break down its
imposed regularity is given. Its characteristic features are the daily indulgence
experienced by a transcendent from the refusal to recognize his gender identity, comments
on the street up to violent beating or why not rape.
We should ask at this point what would happen to Eleni T. if he survived the attack he had
made. How many courts should be drawn if she found the courage, which is not easy at all
because of the way in which such incidents are dealt with, to prove that her skirt or
underwear was not coming, it was not the time she was , she did not have to do with men or
did not defend her enough for what happened to her. Until then, will the victim even be
afraid to defend himself against his rapist if the court considers self-defense to be
"excessive" and ultimately place itself in the position of an offender and condemn it? How
much should he suffer to persuade (if he finally persuaded a court) how rape is the rape?
Living in a society that treats women either as sensitive flowers that need prostate to
survive, or as prey for male hunters when they escape and resist the roles that have been
imposed on them, we do not fall from the clouds to the sound of rape, because in all of us
life is what we are trying to avoid. Sometimes we do it and others do not. The only sure
thing is that we were delighted with the wrongful looks, the hoofs from our classmates to
prove the amount of men they are, to obey the master-spouse, the comments on the amount of
shrewdness we are, to walk with the keys to hand, to ... to...
And we may not fall from the clouds to the sound of a rape, but we burst out of rage and
rage for both the rapists and the rape culture that breeds them.
WHY SIXTING VIOLENCE IS THE RULE THAT WE WILL WAVE COLLECTIVE ATTEMPTS AGAINST THAT
WE WOULD WALK DAILY PATRIARCH FOR ALL THE ELECTIONS OF THE WORLD
Anornin @
Feminist Anti-Seismic Group of Mytilene
https://www.anarkismo.net/article/31230
------------------------------
Message: 3
This is happening normally in Belarus, for the second time it has met our friend Mikol
Dziadok. ---- Against the former anarchist prisoner, Mikol Dziadok, an investigation
according to paragraph 17.11 (drafting, spreading and / or holding extremist materials) is
being conducted for a post on Facebook. Seventh of December he received a protocol by
post. It is said that the case was referred to the court (but as it turned out, he was
returned to the investigation). ---- "I came home and found that on November 25, my case,"
according to paragraph 17.11. Again, then, showing the Nazi symbolism '. This time I
showed the symbolism of the Misantropic Division - the skull with the submachine gun. I
tried to remember when and where I was doing it, climbed on Facebook and found it. July
2016 - an illustration to the post in which I criticize people for standing on the side of
the Nazis (!!!). The photos I put there as a reason for what I'm writing. Do you see the
charm of that situation? "Mikola writes on his facebook page.
Mikola wonders what could have provoked the police to write a protocol, and recalled his
participation in the flash mob #StaneMAShurnalistan in early November in support of
prosecuted Belarusian journalists and independent journalism. So this could be the main
measure of GUBOPiK (Belarusian security services to fight organized crime and corruption).
Already in July, Mikola was detained for allegations of "showing the Nazi symbolism", also
on Facebook. Then they took him to the house, and judge Anna Bujnovska gave him punishment
for pictures that ridicule Nazism. Mikola writes about the latest protocol:
"It is striking that my protocols are specifically designed for me because of the
paragraph, showing the Nazi symbolism. This is a systematic attempt to discredit. And, as
an anarchist, they could write protocols for themselves because of many other paragraphs.
But they only pick this one. The premise is simple: Fortunately, society still considers
Nazism to be bad. That's why the secret thinks that if they continue to blame me for
showing the Nazi symbolism, maybe someone will convince me that I have Nazi views. Does
not civil society and the media - all but each other - consider stupid people who can not
put two and two together.
And, of course, it is also obvious purposeful pressure. That I can never feel free. If
they did not have the picture on Facebook, they would think something different. When
there is an action - there is a reaction. Without action there is no reaction. And the
pictures are already the tenth in a row.
Now I'm consulting a lawyer before I go to the cops or the court. If the court has already
passed, of course I will appeal. After all, this no longer feels like a burglary, but as a
targeted pursuit. "
Let's recall that a couple of weeks ago, they condemned Alexander Gorbache of Hrodn for
the same paragraph (he published the picture of the bouncer ejected into the basket).
Source: https://spring96.org/be/news/91555
https://www.afed.cz/text/6914/skrtni-hakac-a-odsoudi-te-za-sireni-nazi-symbolu
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Message: 4
On Saturdays 15/12 at Syntagma Square, various fascist / neo-Nazi groups try to organize a
"student" course on the Macedonian side, investing in the small number of school
occupations in Attica with patriotic / nationalistic content. Movement at random by
considering that the political agenda of the entire constitutional spectrum and the
left-wing government has shifted to the right in recent years with clear nationalistic /
patriotic characteristics. In recent times, the public domain is dominated by the
controversy over the Macedonian and the Prespa agreement, the nationalist rallies and
other relevant events. The above conditions were the appropriate ground for activating the
conservative reflexes of a large part of society, dynamically strengthening the national /
nationalist body. Characteristically, lately, self-organized sites and occupations have
received organized attacks. On the other hand, we do not overlook the fact that parts of
this rhetoric seem to embrace parts of the patriotic left (eg, LAE, KOE), which offers
further confidence in the patriotic / extremist / fascist brush.Continue reading ->
https://vogliamotutto.espivblogs.net/2018/12/13/antifa-demo/
------------------------------
Message: 5
On 19th Jan 2019 We are hosting a night of international antifascist solidarity. The night
will start with a talk by comrades from the Libertatia squat in Greece who's building was
burned down by fascists. They'll give an overview of the rise of the far-right in Europe
and efforts anarchists are doing to combat this. ---- Then the party begins. ---- We've
got a hectic and frankly quite random lineup of bands for your musical enjoyment. ----
Special guests TBC ---- Killdren ---- ‘Sitting uneasily between straight-up nihilism and
fresh-faced naivety, Killdren pen politically charged slapstick anthems. ---- They form
the ideal soundtrack to the worst generation in history.' ---- More acts TBC shortly. ----
Tickets will be £5 on the door (donations if unwaged/carer) and all money raised will be
split between Libertatia and imprisoned Russian anti-fascists.
DIY space sells cheap booze and vegan snacks. It is a member's club. Open to members and
their guests only. Membership costs £2 and takes 48 hours to take effect. Join and pay at
diyspaceforlondon.org
FB event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1923750537661365/
https://aflondon.wordpress.com/2018/12/14/from-london-to-greece-to-russia-antifa-solidarity/
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Message: 6
Transnational Social Strike Platform is a network of base organised unions and other
leftists organisations working with labour rights. A meeting of the network of was hosted
by its local participants in Stockholm, Sweden, in 23rd to 25th of November, a rider
active in the Deliverunion campaign represented FAU Berlin. The theme, "Against the
logistics of exploitation", was related to a notion of ‘logistic control': this control
concerns the connections of production sites and labour over transnational production
chains and differentiated working conditions, including such conditions as international
subcontracting, outsourcing, privatisation and precarisation. ---- The opening session on
Friday afternoon included a panel discussion, in which the main focus was on right to
strike. One of the inputs into discussion was the recent plan of the Swedish government to
restrict right to strike: under the new law, it will be legal to strike only as part of
collective bargaining for national collective contract. Other inputs into discussion
included the struggle of Georgian metro workers, who had used a hunger strike in their
struggle as they were denied be a court decision their right to strike, as well as reports
from the International Womens' Strike. In the discussion following the panel, participants
were stressing that it is of crucial importance to defend the right to strike, and workers
should strive to defend their right by striking. Nevertheless, the focus should not be
excessively on legality issues, as it is essentially not so important if a strike is legal
or not. Furthermore, it was recognised that strikes can take many forms, and we need to be
creative in broadening our thinking and understanding on what a strike can be.
On Saturday the participants worked first in the separate parallel workshops, under the
titles ‘logistics as transnational command over labour' and ‘precarity, mobility and
migrant labour: fragmentation and challenges to logistics'. The workshops consisted of
initial inputs of three participating union or organisations, introducing some of their
strugless and issues, followed by open discussions. Workshop on ‘precarity, mobility and
migrant labour: fragmentation and challenges to logistics' included following inputs: the
representative of Central European Organising Center, from Czech Republic, reported on
situations were employers and management were using changes in labour contracts, increased
supervision and personal harassment to control workers who, in principle, had stabile
contracts in a way that, in practice, made their employment instabile and precarious. A
representative from Si Cobas Union, from Italy, reported on their struggle to organise
warehouse workers and issues faced by migrant workers: these included, for instance, that
migrant workers were in some situations able to take up only contracts up to two weeks,
and while residence permits are often tied to employment, migrants faced extensive risks
in face of losing employments. The representative of FAU and Deliverunion campaign
reported on the struggle to unionise a work force without work contracts, with a very high
rate of workers exiting and new ones entering, and with employers using withholding of
information against their work force. During the open discussion of this workshop, various
points were raised, including the variability of formal conditions that workers doing the
same work, sometimes even in same work places would increasingly face; Slovenian
participants, for instance, emphasised how in harbours it is typical that dock workers
doing the same work could be employed by the dock directly, employed on stabile contract
by a company that is subcontracting from the dock, or employed on short-term contracts by
subcontracting companies.
Workshops were followed by all the participants coming together to discuss issues raised
in the workshops. Some of the central points discussed included:
- need to organise strikes transnationally; as the logistic chain is transnational,
strikes only in one country will be inefficient.
- workers and unions need to be informed over conditions in different countries.
- the management uses the differentiation between the workers for exploitation: these
distinctions include migrants vs. citizens, contracting vs. subcontracting, permanent vs.
temporary contracts, gender inequality in labour, and indebtedness of workers. Also labour
organising needs to not only take into account the differences, but unite workers over them.
- labour struggles need to be politicised. This is to stress that they concern social
conditions of workers and opposition to exploitation, by and large, not merely demands
over wages in individual work places or under specific collective contracts.
It was emphasised by many participants that issues faced by migrant workers are at the
core of labour struggle. Furthermore, womens' struggle against gendered exploitation and
exploitation in terms of unpaid household work and care work is essential part of labour
struggle.
The meeting on Sunday focused on discussion the next steps of Transnational Social Strike
Platform. Possibilities to organise the next meeting potentially in Georgia was discussed,
involving questions around how large the meeting should be or what is it contributing to
local struggles. Another main discussion topic was potential collective action by
participants unions and organisations of the platform. Proposal for points of action were
the International Womens' Strike on 8th of March, or Black Friday in November. These
discussions will continue between members of the network and representatives wishing to
commit to developing the activities of the platform.
https://deliverunion.fau.org/2018/12/13/class-struggle-without-borders-a-report-from-stockholm/#more-446
------------------------------
Message: 7
On March 8, 2018 we experienced an unprecedented mobilization in recent decades. That day
the force of a movement determined to face the patriarchy was evident and with it, to
remove the very foundations of our society. ---- There are still several months left for
the next call, but the organizing assemblies of many localities and territories are
already gathering to prepare the next feminist strike, which will again have four axes:
work, care, consumption and student. In this context, reflecting on past experience and
working towards the future, we have spoken with compañeras of feminist and libertarian
organizations from various parts of the state about what this struggle for them, their
organizations and their environment implied.
We present here a summary of this exchange in the words of some of its protagonists:
Maribel, from Valencia , with 40 years of militancy behind him in libertarian, ecologist,
feminist and anti-prison collectives; Nora, from Sevilla , who is part of the Boreal
collective; Yolanda, from Madrid , member of CNT and Mujeres Libres who also collaborates
with the feminist collective in her neighborhood; and Kris, from the Ribera de Nafarroa ,
who, after participating in social centers in her area, is a member of the CNT de Gasteiz
union.
«We organize ourselves quickly and leaving aside political differences»
What has led to the emergence of a strike organized by and for women? Maribel tells us
about the change in mentality that she has perceived in recent years: "women have reached
a point of saturation and inflection, we are already very angry and nothing is going to
stop us. The thing about La Manada has made the glass overflow». The awakening of anger
coincides with the certainty that the judicial system is based on a deeply patriarchal and
reactionary ideology, which in Spain "has everything tied and tied, as the dictator left
it." Also outside our borders there are referents of the growing social tension in
relation to the rights and dignity of women, migrants, and other oppressed collectives,
The process of organizing and coordinating a day like 8M had different modalities,
according to the capacities of the groups involved in its implementation. Maribel values
very positively the process of self-organization that led to the strike: "a lot of
participation, many actions, a lot of organization, a lot of debate". In addition, «all
collective work creates networks, and that is something positive and essential for the
fight to be more successful». Nora lived the strike "with great enthusiasm; we never
thought that he could have so much follow-up in Seville. " He adds that "we spent weeks
with the banner, making pamphlets and attending meetings of the AFUS (Unitary Feminist
Assembly of Seville)." A call whose success was based on collaboration between different
assemblies and collectives. As Yolanda says, despite the fact that anarchist and
libertarian women were a minority in Madrid, "we organized ourselves quickly and left
aside political differences. The ends were common and that was what mattered. "
There is no shortage of critical voices, focused on the possibilities offered by a more
horizontal organization. Yolanda, for example, found a certain degree of verticality in
decision-making within the Madrid organization of 8M, despite the fact that "[the
organizers]are continually defined as an assembly and horizontal movement." For her, one
of the main problems would be to leave the leadership in the hands of a minority: if this
movement "stopped[with]the benefit of a few, it would become a bourgeois movement. I would
be disappointed enough». She is also worried about the opportunism for the organization of
the next appointment. «I expect more clarity and more objectives from the next meeting».
In spite of everything, Maribel remains optimistic: «we lack habit. There were some
confusing things; the next will go better».
«When I realized, I could not move from where I was because it was full of people»
The strike, the strikes, and the marches in the different cities of the Spanish state were
followed massively. Of the situation in Seville Nora tells us: "We were in Plaza Nueva
half an hour before the start time and there were already enough people, so I picked up
the pamphlet and went to distribute. When I realized, I could not move from where I was
because it was full of people, it was impossible to reconnect with my colleagues until the
end of the route. The police had to open streets parallel to those of the route so that
people could pass, here the streets in the center are quite narrow». "In Valencia as in
all cities, the strike was brutal," explains Maribel.
But the action was not limited to concentrations and demonstrations. Kris tells us
that»the presence of women on the street was incredible throughout the day; there were
many actions and pickets».
«Some fines. These were assumed by the feminist movement of Gasteiz collectively»
Repression has focused on the economic. In Valencia "there were fines to several groups of
women for picketing and distributing propaganda that I think are still to be resolved". In
Seville "there have been fines in the demonstrations against the Pack, and the one that
was made in favor of Juana Rivas." To these mishaps has been answered in solidarity: "as
always, we tried to help the fined by mounting acts and selling things," says Nora.
According to Yolanda, "we decided that the money that we had in the assembly would be
donated to the victims who needed it, and my union also decided to help people who were
not unionized." In the case of Kris "there was no repression or too much police presence.
In the pickets we were practically alone. We entered the building of the English Court and
had to close the doors until we left, we went to many clothing stores, we sealed open
stores, we distributed a lot of propaganda. And the police just came, at least
identifiably. Even some thirty women entered the social security headquarters and although
the police came we ended up leaving almost voluntarily. This question of the police
presence did not annoy us a little ... Do not take us seriously or what?. We made those
reflections because in most of the actions, as I say, the police hardly appeared, and that
in Euskal Herria, there are plenty of police bodies. "Later there were" some fines. These
were assumed by the feminist movement of Gasteiz collectively. In CNT a resistance box was
made and we did not have to use it.» We went to numerous clothing stores, sealed open
stores, distributed a lot of advertising. And the police just came, at least identifiably.
Even some thirty women entered the social security headquarters and although the police
came we ended up leaving almost voluntarily. This question of the police presence did not
annoy us a little ... Do not take us seriously or what?. We made those reflections because
in most of the actions, as I say, the police hardly appeared, and that in Euskal Herria,
there are plenty of police bodies. "Later there were" some fines. These were assumed by
the feminist movement of Gasteiz collectively. In CNT a resistance box was made and we did
not have to use it.» We went to numerous clothing stores, sealed open stores, distributed
a lot of advertising. And the police just came, at least identifiably. Even some thirty
women entered the social security headquarters and although the police came we ended up
leaving almost voluntarily. This question of the police presence did not annoy us a little
... Do not take us seriously or what?. We made those reflections because in most of the
actions, as I say, the police hardly appeared, and that in Euskal Herria, there are plenty
of police bodies. "Later there were" some fines. These were assumed by the feminist
movement of Gasteiz collectively. In CNT a resistance box was made and we did not have to
use it.» at least identifiably. Even some thirty women entered the social security
headquarters and although the police came we ended up leaving almost voluntarily. This
question of the police presence did not annoy us a little ... Do not take us seriously or
what?. We made those reflections because in most of the actions, as I say, the police
hardly appeared, and that in Euskal Herria, there are plenty of police bodies. "Later
there were" some fines. These were assumed by the feminist movement of Gasteiz
collectively. In CNT a resistance box was made and we did not have to use it.» at least
identifiably. Even some thirty women entered the social security headquarters and although
the police came we ended up leaving almost voluntarily. This question of the police
presence did not annoy us a little ... Do not take us seriously or what?. We made those
reflections because in most of the actions, as I say, the police hardly appeared, and that
in Euskal Herria, there are plenty of police bodies. "Later there were" some fines. These
were assumed by the feminist movement of Gasteiz collectively. In CNT a resistance box was
made and we did not have to use it.» This question of the police presence did not annoy us
a little ... Do not take us seriously or what?. We made those reflections because in most
of the actions, as I say, the police hardly appeared, and that in Euskal Herria, there are
plenty of police bodies. "Later there were" some fines. These were assumed by the feminist
movement of Gasteiz collectively. In CNT a resistance box was made and we did not have to
use it.» This question of the police presence did not annoy us a little ... Do not take us
seriously or what?. We made those reflections because in most of the actions, as I say,
the police hardly appeared, and that in Euskal Herria, there are plenty of police bodies.
"Later there were" some fines. These were assumed by the feminist movement of Gasteiz
collectively. In CNT a resistance box was made and we did not have to use it.»
«If you are a majority union, led mostly by men, you are tied to subsidies ...»
Regarding the role of unions, there is no unanimous position. In the words of Yolanda,
with "some I take off my hat[for]how they worked with the assemblies of 8M and between
us", while others "trying to skip the assemblies and doing nothing, just because they knew
it was a very media strike; Legally, they did not get wet and in practice they robbed
women of their role ". Nora is much more emphatic: "De UGT and CCOO imagine that the
assessment I can give is similar to that of other colleagues in the country: disastrous.
In the slogans they said neither feminist strike, but "egalitarian" ... No comments. It
cost us more than a cabreo». For Maribel, the fundamental thing was that "the women of a
union should organize themselves and surely they did, at least those of anarchist and
nationalist unions". For Yolanda, the strike represented a continuity with her union
militancy: "I am used, as a trade unionist, to work the strike from my organization. We
have our dynamics and guidelines to do it. On the street we had no problem. We are used to
it: we work in social centers, in neighborhoods, in popular assemblies ...».
For Kris, the performance of the majority unions was «Shameful. I believe that the unions
wanted to leave all parties happy with their proposal of work stoppages. I also believe
that the problem was with the feminist movement itself because the issue of legal strike
coverage was delegated to the representatives of the unions within the feminist movement.
I believe that after March 8, 2017, the rest of the strikes will be 24-hour strikes in
which there will not be a proposal for strikes because of the absurdity that was in
itself. There were women, who for example worked in school canteens, who had to go to work
from 3:00 pm to 3:15 pm because the work stoppage ended at 3:00 p.m. Some women who
participated in the feminist movement hid behind the fact that it was very difficult to
strike. I understand that if you are a majority union, directed mostly by men, that you
are tied to some subsidies and that you have to meet some quotas when you propose some
action, from there it will be difficult. I lacked humility. I lacked sincerity. I did not
want them to assume that these unions did not see a strike, and that excuses were left
behind». "Then, there was a process within the CNT between the cities of Bilbao, Donostia,
Iruñea and Gasteiz where all the women affiliated with the CNT created strike committees
to legalize the strike on March 8 and all the women who wanted to strike 24 hours could do
it with legal coverage. We proposed to the feminist movement of Gasteiz, in our case, and
I know that other compañeras proposed it in other assemblies of the feminist movement,
that this issue should also be disseminated, that is, apart from spreading the stoppages
proposed by the rest of the unions, it should be publicized that there was legal coverage
to carry out the strike and focus on March 8 as it had been focusing from the rest of the
assemblies. So it was. The day itself the CNT women joined all the actions that had been
proposed from the feminist movement, a movement in which some of us also participated for
March 8. "Although she points out that" it is true that the majority of women supported
the stoppages proposed by the unions before the strike. This was perceived in the shares,
since the majority shares were those that were included in those hours. " it was spread
that there was legal coverage to carry out the strike and to focus on March 8 as it had
been focused from the rest of the assemblies. So it was. The day itself the CNT women
joined all the actions that had been proposed from the feminist movement, a movement in
which some of us also participated for March 8. "Although she points out that" it is true
that the majority of women supported the stoppages proposed by the unions before the
strike. This was perceived in the shares, since the majority shares were those that were
included in those hours. " it was spread that there was legal coverage to carry out the
strike and to focus on March 8 as it had been focused from the rest of the assemblies. So
it was. The day itself the CNT women joined all the actions that had been proposed from
the feminist movement, a movement in which some of us also participated for March 8.
"Although she points out that" it is true that the majority of women supported the
stoppages proposed by the unions before the strike. This was perceived in the shares,
since the majority shares were those that were included in those hours. " a movement in
which some of us also participated for March 8. "Although she points out that" it is true
that most of the women supported the stoppages proposed by the unions before the strike.
This was perceived in the shares, since the majority shares were those that were included
in those hours. " a movement in which some of us also participated for March 8. "Although
she points out that" it is true that most of the women supported the stoppages proposed by
the unions before the strike. This was perceived in the shares, since the majority shares
were those that were included in those hours. "
Birds of Paso , by Marisol Caldito .
Kris explains why they legalized her for 24 hours: "From CNT we had to call her because
there was no other, not because we are better, but because CNT has another organization
that allows us to convene and prepare another series of things." And she stresses that the
feminist movement should take the guidelines and not become a field of struggle between
unions: "I think if the feminist strike is proposed by the feminist movement and we agree
and converge with their ideas and principles, unions should reduce their work to the
workplace, but it must be the assembly that decides. When this question was delegated from
the beginning, each union swept home. The strike proposal was absurd when the speech of
all the assemblies that called the strike for March 8 spoke of a four-axis strike, as we
know: labor strike, student, care and consumption. How to fit the proposed stoppages in
these four axes? I take care of my sons and daughters from the time they get up until 11,
from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. I do not care, and from 3 p.m. until the next stop, yes? It did not
hold. That's why I thought it was a very shameful performance, they swept for their land
without taking into account the conditions of the strike. "
«We end up very, very tired of the questions of men»
Yolanda did not live it in a very different way from other strikes. "It is not the first
time that the CNT supports with its legal call a strike with a content not only labor. We
already did it with the regional strike of the war in Iraq, when the dissemination work
was especially hard, since it was clearly boycotted by the majority unions that did not
support the strike and dedicated themselves to saying in the work centers that it was not
a legal strike». Although for Maribel "yes there were differences regarding the
preparation of other strikes." In her opinion, "it was not easy to explain and make the
outward goals understood, but there was a good reception from women outside the feminist
movement."
The role of men was another of the issues discussed. For Maribel "we end up very, very
tired of the questions of the men of" what do I do? ". I think that more than not being
able to understand, they did not want to understand, since it was very clear that the only
thing they could not do was organize; and then everyone who thinks and acts as best
believes but without any protagonism, something they are not used to». «I believe that
within men there is little active participation in feminism and half the population can
not achieve anything without the other media». For Yolanda "it was a confusing message.
But as a woman in a mixed organization legalizing a strike, my message was clear. " Kris
tells us that in CNT Nafarroa: "some of the union colleagues organized to make breakfast,
lunch and dinner for that day.
«It has given rise to weaving alliances and to grant more repercussion»
The strike has managed to put feminism on the front page. For Kris "the strike has meant
the visibility of the work that has been done since feminism in recent years, I think it
has served as a tool for both inside and outside. For outside the feminist circles because
it has reflected the commitment, the strength and the value that there is in us. The
capacity and the tools that we have acquired in order to achieve the end of patriarchy.
For inside, on the one hand, for exactly the same, for making us aware of what we are
capable of, that this path is the right one, that the majority of people who attended the
actions and the manis of that day are out there in the world watching over a more just,
more feminist society. "Nora perceives that" since then, it is easier to spread through
social networks ". Of course, as Nora points out, "everyone is a feminist. It does not
matter if you know something other than "it is that we are all the same", you are a
feminist, you have a Frida Kahlo shirt bought in ZARA. It is a neutral feminism, which
does not bother. Then we are the ones who bother a little and we are misandrics. "
The strike has also served as a revulsion within the organizations that have supported it.
Maribel tells us that "in our union organization, feminism is more present, spaces or
tools have been created". Kris tells us that for the CNT women "the strike process has led
us to join us, to organize with CNT women from other parts of Euskal Herria, to want and
start doing common projects to open an internal debate process through which to integrate
feminism within the organization». A change that is not restricted to women because "it
has been a pulse to the patriarchy that hides within some guidelines, dynamics and
relationships within most organizations and which is not exempt CNT. A pulse that we have
won and that its echo has been "we are here, we are not going to leave and anarchism will
be feminist or it will not be». A pulse that has been reflected in many processes that we
have opened up inside: expulsions of stalkers, denunciations made to sexist articles that
were linked to CNT. And in the process of internal debate and protocol of aggressions in
which we are working. "
Regarding relations between organizations and between activists, Nora believes that "since
8M[feminist women]we are much closer in Andalusia. We are trying to create an Andalusian
coordinator, and to create a feminist meeting at the Andalusian level, we would like to
reclaim the power of our land, a great forgotten one». Yolanda, in the same line, says
that "it has given us the opportunity to meet[organizations]or to create new ones that are
very interesting". Kris has observed that "the strike has given rise to weaving alliances
and to give more impact on the actions proposed by the feminist collectives." For Maribel
«all collective work creates networks and that is something positive», but within limits,
because it understands that «feminism as we all know covers the right, the left, and
anarchists;
«Stop everything. That we take the whole streets and that we are only out there»
Despite the reticence of one and the other, organized women are advancing the whole
society. Nora points out that "the girls I see in the demonstrations are getting smaller
and smaller, and they are becoming increasingly aware of the oppression we suffer."
According to Maribel "the strike has helped many people to become aware of and be aware of
feminism. To lose their fear, learn self-organization and let go of all the rage inside. "
For Yolanda, "large groups of people who do not know each other get together and do
things, it's a step. At the social level, it has given back the spark».
And for that spark to light, instead of going out, the organization for the next 8M is
fundamental. Maribel expects her to "move forward with more experience and training."
Yolanda considers it essential "to continue to demand at least the proposals that fought
last year and that neither the previous nor the current government have solved." For Nora,
her greatest hope is that this fight will continue. «I hope it has as much dissemination
as this year. I hope all the work this year has not been in vain, and everything we do and
work daily has penetrated, at least, a little in the people. Hopefully all the effort will
be rewarded little by little». Kris hopes "that more women will support the 24-hour
strike. Stop everything. That we take the whole streets and that we are only out there,
nowhere else. I would like that we could reach those women who could not support the
strike, those women who work in curros without a contract, which means a lot to stop
working that day, their work is not paid because they work at home. " But also to improve
some aspects, "the role of unions within the assemblies, the delegation of the assembly
itself, the little space for debate ..."
http://alasbarricadas.org/noticias/node/41103
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Message: 8
In the face of fiercely expanding inequality and anti-unionism in the US there is a great
deal of discussion across the left of how to revitalize unions. While we see glimmers of
hope in the recent strike wave of teachers and innovative forms of unionism such as with
Burgerville fast food workers, what would a holistic rethinking of what is possible within
unionism look like? This piece by a South African writer thinks through "how unions can
provide a space for collective action, class identity, unity across divides of race,
ethnicity, and country, and self-activity" and looks to the tradition of
anarchosyndicalism. ---- By Lucien van der Walt ---- Trade union renewal is essential but
should not be reduced to democratizing structures or new recruitment methods. Renewal
should center on a bottom-up movement based on rank-and-file reform movements, and the
direct action of workers as a precondition for radical redistribution of power and wealth
to workers, community assemblies and councils in a self-managed, egalitarian order based
on participatory planning and distribution by need. It must be rooted in an
anarcho-syndicalist understanding that unions can profoundly change society.
Trade union renewal is high on the agenda in many countries, but we need to think
carefully about why we want it. Union renewal is a profoundly political and ideological
issue.We need to have a clear understanding of how we got into the current mess where many
unions are bureaucratic, inefficient and struggle to respond to urgent issues. We need to
think carefully about what we want to achieve, not just in terms of how we organize - but
what we aim at in the long run.
We need to have some theory about what unions can be, and should be. If we have to ask the
question of why we should revitalize or expand unions, we have to decide what we want from
unions in the first place. We also need to tackle the issues of the relationship between
unions and political parties - and whether workers and unions benefit from workers'
parties that aim at state power.
What ‘Union' Means
Speaking of union ‘renewal' often assumes we had a working model in the past, and that
there is one specific way unions can and should work.
But what we can and should achieve is not obvious.It's not a simple technical question
about which structures work. It's not a simple question of democratizing unions.What is
the aim of having a well-organized or democratic union in the first place? There are many
choices to be made, even if we have democratic unions. Should unions be business unions,
basically dealing with wages and conditions? Or run by experts as service organizations,
similar to insurance firms? Or be aiming at something more?
The reality is that unions are always intrinsically political.Their very existence raises
questions around power, around class, and around identity and how we build it. Unions are
never neutral. Even if when a union calls itself non-political, that is itself a
political position, based on a theory.
Unions emerge as a response to a system that is intrinsically unable to satisfy the needs
of the great majority of the working class.They provide a key place for solidarity among
ordinary people in a very alienating society. Unions are not disappearing, and neither is
the working class. Other than faith-based organizations, trade unions are the largest and
most resilient popular organizations.
People speak of a crisis of unionism, but we need to be careful about how we measure that.
There is no proper database of unionism worldwide, but every indication is that unions,
overall, remain quite stable in terms of numbers, and viewed globally, are even expanding.
This reflects the fact that proletarianization is accelerating: despite certain
fashionable theories, class is not gone; class divides are deepening, the working dass -
those dependent on wages but lacking control -is now the biggest class on earth.
Unions persist precisely because capitalism and the state are simply unable to incorporate
or co-opt the working class. Their very existence reflects the fact that society is riven
with deep, stark contradictions. Even the most undemocratic, politically problematic union
can only survive to the extent that it represents workers' interests, no matter how
limited a way, and the reality of irreconcilable class antagonisms.
Members of South African Democratic Teachers Union take the streets during a strike.
What Can A Union Be?
None of this invalidates arguments that unions have often been undemocratic or sectional
in that they reflect and even reinforce divisions between workers -by union, by skill, by
industry, by country, between employed and unemployed, and between different federations
-or often ended up dealing only with immediate issues around wages rather than the larger
challenges in society.
But the question is: is this inevitable? Pessimistic approaches think so, e.g. Robert
Michels' iron law of oligarchy', in which all mass movements get captured by small
full-time self-seeking leaderships. He believed union democracy would die as unions
developed. Lenin believed that unions were sectional, reflecting and reinforcing divisions
between workers. Arguing that unions were normally stuck at the level of dealing with
immediate issues like wages: they bargained over the terms of exploitation, rather than
ended it.They focused on reforms -reformism -and ‘economistic' concerns. That full-time
union bureaucracies emerged to run the bargaining and held back anything - including
workers - that threatened it.
But this is all very one-sided, as a more ‘optimistic' analysis shows. There are many
examples of union bureaucracies being challenged from below, especially through
rank-and-file movements of ordinary members.The whole notion of union renewal assumes
precisely that such challenge and reform is possible. There is no link between union size
and levels of democracy: some of the most democratic unions in South Africa in the 1980s
were massive unions like those in the so-called ‘workerist' Federation of South African
Trade Unions (FOSATU) movement, and some of the least democratic were small conservative
business unions.And unions have repeatedly proved to be key sites of class consciousness
and radical politics.
And, moving beyond the ‘optimistic' analysis, to an anarchist/ syndicalist analysis, it is
also possible to show many examples of mass unions that have maintained democratic
systems, the best being the anarcho-syndicalist Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT)
in Spain. This was a radical union that, in the 1930s, came close to two million members,
yet rested on a very decentralized structure and had a tiny full-time staff. It
systematically overcame sectional divisions among workers, participated in land, community
and youth struggles, and opposed colonialism.
Contrary to Lenin's view that unions, left to themselves, were inevitably stuck at the
level of so-called ‘trade union consciousness; the CNT systematically promoted
revolutionary ideas and actions, organized a workers' army, and, in 1936, helped place
most of the land and industry in Spain under the direct control of ordinary people,
changing daily life and creating a working-class democracy.
Breaking the ‘Iron Law'
So what Michels and Lenin were talking about were tendencies - but they ignored the
counter-tendencies for democracy, and the obvious evidence that unions could achieve
revolutionary changes without party tutelage or state support.
Michels' so-called ‘iron law' rests on the assumption that top-down centralization and
full-time bureaucracy are the most efficient, technically necessary, inevitable measures
available, and that oligarchies emerge from this process. The same idea is present in
studies that suggest that unions ‘mature' over time, becoming more moderate,
professionalized and conservative.
But undemocratic, top-down unions, run by officials, are actually very ineffective, and
often fairly lifeless. They struggle to respond to changes, they place the interests of
the officials over the interests of their members, and their leaders are prone to
co-optation by governments, businesses and political parties.
Centralism, Rudolph Rocker noted in his book, "Anarcho-syndicalism," "turns over the
affairs of everybody in a lump to a small minority, is always attended by barren official
routine and ... crushes individual conviction, kills all personal initiative by lifeless
discipline and bureaucratic ossification."
That is precisely what the current push for union renewal shows: the future of unions lies
in unions becoming more democratic, more member-driven, more decentralized and more flexible.
The argument for centralism and bureaucracy is an ideological one, a deliberate choice (as
the CNT's counter-example shows) that arises from a false theory, reinforced by the
destruction of democratic checks-and-balances, the immersion of union leaderships in
political parties and states, and the ‘Moses syndrome': the idea that the masses need to
be led by a few great leaders, and the ambitions of those who hope to become the Moses.
Teachers in Los Angeles threaten to strike.
Beyond the Symptoms
An economistic and reformist unionism is always better than no unionism at all. Of course
bargaining around wages and rights is valuable, and there is not much else, besides
unions, that has succeeded in these roles.
But it deals with the symptoms of, and it simply responds to, what the capitalist system
and the state do. And since the problems facing the global working class - unemployment,
poverty, low wages, insecurity, racism, war, gender oppression and so on - are deeply
linked to capitalism and the state, real change means tackling the system itself. If you
have headaches all the time, it's not a good idea to live on headache pills; you need to
find out what is wrong and get a cure.
Capitalist corporations and the state apparatus are extractive systems that centralize
power and wealth in the hands of small elites, are profoundly undemocratic, produce and
distribute for profit and power, are prone to instability, and marked by war, imperialism
and hatred. Removing poverty and inequality, and ending class exploitation, requires their
negation by placing productive resources and real control in the hands of ordinary people
-a bottom-up society based on participatory planning, common ownership, global community
and distribution by need.
The Party is Over
So, if unions emerge as part of the class struggle, reflect class divisions, and can
certainly (as the CNT showed) make radical changes in society, can they help develop the
cure that society needs? And if so, how? And what would that cure entail?
The dismissal of unions by many self-described radicals today is not shared by the ruling
classes: the bosses and politicians.They are well aware that unions can make dramatic,
revolutionary changes. This is precisely why labor law is designed to contain unions,
limit their scope and activities, and tie them into lengthy official procedures - and why
every effort is made to weaken, corrupt and destroy unions.
Lenin, too, never denied that unions could play a role in a transition to socialism. His
argument was, rather, that unions could become revolutionary, only if led by a
revolutionary workers party aiming at state power.
But this vanguardist politics -the party first, the union as ‘transmission belt' for party
instructions -still rested on a profound underestimation of the potential of unions. It
also rested upon a fatal overestimation of the value of so-called workers parties.
Subordination to a party that aims at state power political unionism - centralizes unions,
replaces workers' control of the unions with party control; it leaves politics and
transformation to the party; rather than overcome reformism and economism, it inevitably
promotes it.
The history of workers' political parties, whether reformist labor parties, or
revolutionary communist parties, and of nationalist parties, as forces for popular
emancipation, is absolutely dismal. Rather than bring workers to power, they have
repeatedly betrayed, broken, corrupted, divided and repressed workers' movements like
unions. The fall of the African National Congress (ANC) is nothing exceptional.
The problem is not that these parties have the wrong program, or bad leaders - as those
who insist on trying to rerun the failed project also claim -but the fact that
transformation by the immense majority in the interests of the immense majority cannot
come through the state.
The state is a centralized, undemocratic structure that entrenches minority class rule;
rather than change the state, the parties are changed by the state, their leaders co-opted
into the ruling class and its agendas. Simply put: elections and dictators are not the
solution.
Prefiguration and Transition
Unions can certainly contribute to a new, better society in which there is a massive
redistribution of power and wealth to the popular classes, including the workers and the
poor. But as Lenin's Bolshevik Revolution in 1917-where a labor-repressive dictatorial
Tsarist regime was simply replaced with a labor-repressive dictatorial Marxist regime
-shows, real change must take place in a way that does not just replace one elite with
another.
This means rejecting the party form and the capture of state power, in favor of mass
movements that can transfer power directly to the people. Bottom-up participatory trade
unions are the most efficient, the most creative, the most innovative and the most
responsive types of union.
We need to move from the idea that unions must be centralized, and also from the idea that
unions' future lies in servicing members. A radical union movement of this sort defends
its members, and fights for daily improvements. lt's a participatory model where the
members are the union, not customers, and where union leadership is essentially about
facilitating a bottom-up unionism. The important thing is accumulating organizational
power and promoting popular consciousness to contribute to a society where ordinary people
are in charge.
But they can also prefigure and then help create a radical change in society, by
developing the ideas and structures that can lay the basis for a new social order. To
place power and wealth in the hands of ordinary people requires, not a state, not a party,
but a system of worker and community assemblies and councils in a self-managed,
egalitarian order based on participatory planning, common ownership and distribution by need.
This was precisely what was shown in the Spanish revolution by the CNT. After decades of
failed land reform, corrupt government, chasms of poverty and inequality, and the failure
of the parties, the CNT - with its popular allies, and providing direction to rival unions
- undertook one of the most profound revolutions in history. And the bottom-up CNT
structures formed the core of the new society.
Beyond ‘Servicing' Members
We need to move beyond the idea that unions are just needed in conflicts, to thinking
about how unions can provide a space for collective action, class identity, unity across
divides of race, ethnicity, and country, and self-activity. The core of a
counter-hegemonic project is the development of popular capacities and escalating demands.
This requires creativity and innovation.
There is no reason why union investment funds cannot be redirected into organizing drives,
an alternative mass media, and the basis of union-run clinics, recreational facilities and
schools. Along with this is the need for much more branch control of union funds.
This is not a crude workerism, but a revolutionary class politics that is solidarity
based, egalitarian, is anti-racist, anti-colonial, anti-sexist opposed to all forms of
oppression. Not a party-led political unionism, but a profoundly revolutionary unionism.
It means taking a lead in fighting against oppression, for the emancipation of women,
against war and empire, and for freedom for all. This is not new: it's the core of old
left traditions like anarcho-syndicalism.
Values and Rank-and-Files
Many challenges unions face are linked to capitalist restructuring, but we need to also be
very clear about states. Unionists commonly speak of capitalism as the main problem, but
it's not the only one unions face.
lt is clear from African and Latin American experiences that states wreak havoc. They are
the largest employers and they actively aim to capture union leaderships. Rather than
corporatist bodies and parties in government helping unions, these enable the state to
exert control over unions.
In place of parties, it makes more sense for unions to be part of a revolutionary front of
the oppressed classes, based on community, youth and other formations, aiming at deep
change, and to also expand beyond traditional constituencies into organizing the
unemployed and so-called self-employed. The muscle of unions at the point of production
can aid the rest of the front, and the front can aid unions through, for example, consumer
boycotts.
All of this requires serious reform in the unions - reform that will inevitably be
resisted by parts of the union bureaucracy, and definitely by the political parties. It
must, therefore, rest upon a rank-and-file movement to change the unions from below - a
movement in all the unions - into part of a working class counter-power, armed with clear
ideas and a program.
Lucien van der Walt teaches at Rhodes University in South Africa, has long been involved
in the working-class movements, and is a member of Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front
(ZACF). This article originally appeared as "From Union Renewal to a Self-Managed Society:
Towards an anarcho-syndicalist project," in South African Labour Bulletin, 2018, volume
42, number 1, pp. 27-3
http://blackrosefed.org/from-union-renewal-to-self-managed-society/
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