the current state of syndicalist unions & radical unions worldwide
Nov 30 2007
hi all,
I'm doing some research into current syndicalist and radical unions globally. The research is to help set up some sort of workplace resistance network here in NZ. I've got a big list of unions worldwide, but would appreciate some info in the current state of syndicalism and radical unionism in Africa, Asia and South America as i'm finding decent info hard to find.
I'm more interested in finding out about functioning unions than small propaganda groups at this stage.
What surprises me is that there doesn't seem to be a large syndicalist or semi-syndicalist union in Latin America apart from maybe the Mexican FAT (Authentic Labour Front). I would have thought there would be some popular support for syndicalist unions in places like Argentina, Bolivia, etc.
Also, i've come across a ref. to CGT-B (CGT Burkina Faso) as being the largest trade union fed. in that country, and a whole list of semi-syndicalist unions in Africa that i've never heard of, and know little about.
There is also supposed to be a large one-million strong "proto-syndicalist" union in Indonesia called the DPP-FSPNI (Dewan Pimpinan Pusat Federasi Serikat Pekerja) but info in English is hard to find and their website only has a front page
And finally, does anyone know which unions are affiliated to Peoples Global Action? I've only come across the Canadian Postal Workers but i definitely thought there was more. I've found the PGA website to be incredibly unwieldy and annoyingly hard to find info on.
thanks in advance
Nov 30 2007
#2
If you try the africa tag in news then you'll find stories there some of which will have leads on unions.
Nov 30 2007
#3
I'd be interested to hear more about this DISK federation if any of our Turkish comrades have the time...
Nov 30 2007
#4
DISK was banned for many years by the military. It came under lots of police and state repression. IIn later yeras, it was oft times supported by the social-democratic trade union international ICFTU (now IFTU).At the same time, most of the reactionary union of the Turk-Is federation belonged to the ICFTU. As I recall, it was a modertly left union.
Nov 30 2007
#5
Quote:
As I recall, it was a modertly left union.
DISK or Turk-Is?
Nov 30 2007
#6
By the way this conversation should be taken by wobs over to our wee forums. I think this kind of discussion should really inform how we make international links.
Nov 30 2007
#7
Skraeling, I would try PMing Devrim concerning Turkish syndicalist unions. Apparently there is a Turkish syndicalist union that is mind-boggling large and I was totally unaware of until he mentioned it to me. It is also mentioned somewhere in one of the more recent Libcom Wobblies threads, but I'm way too busy to find it for you now my friend.
Also, I feel like South Africa has an active anarcho-syndicalist union, but a quick google didn't bring up what I had in mind. So perhaps I'm wrong, but if I find anything I'll let you know.
Nov 30 2007
#8
ncwob wrote:
Skraeling, I would try PMing Devrim concerning Turkish syndicalist unions. Apparently there is a Turkish syndicalist union that is mind-boggling large and I was totally unaware of until he mentioned it to me. It is also mentioned somewhere in one of the more recent Libcom Wobblies threads, but I'm way too busy to find it for you now my friend.
There is but it's not any good.
Quote:
Also, I feel like South Africa has an active anarcho-syndicalist union, but a quick google didn't bring up what I had in mind. So perhaps I'm wrong, but if I find anything I'll let you know.
Yeah it doesn't. It has an anarchist group Zabalaza though.
Nigeria is meant to have an IWA section but there's been no word from them in years.
Nov 30 2007
#9
In South Africa there were unions in the 80s that were developing syndicalist approaches, usually referred to as workerist in SA terminology. Unfortunately, the ANC spotted the growth of fighting workers organisations and got them to merge with its shell union federation into Cosatu. While there are different tendencies within COsatu, it's mainly been a very junior partner in an alliance with the new ruling class.
There are quite a few radical unions in Asia, particularly the Indian subcontinent and the Philipines, though not sure that many are particularly syndicalist. Most tend to be linked to leftist parties.
Unions that refer to syndicalism tend to be in Europe, even if the degree to which that label could really be applied does vary,
Regards,
Martin
Nov 30 2007
#10
Skraeling, would you be willing to share the list you already have (including their strength/influence)?
Nov 30 2007
#11
John. wrote:
Nigeria is meant to have an IWA section but there's been no word from them in years.
yes i always see them listed, but they seem to have no web address
http://www.iwa-ait.org/links.html
Nov 30 2007
#12
An earlier thread became a discussion of Bangladesh garment unions. As the discussion shows IMO, it's better to judge 'radicality' by what the unions themselves say and do. http://libcom.org/forums/history/council-communism-library-29092007?page=2
Dec 1 2007
#13
Dundee_United wrote:
I'd be interested to hear more about this DISK federation if any of our Turkish comrades have the time...
The biggest and sole left union confederations in Turkey are DISK in private sector and KESK in public sector (Left in the broad sense, very very broad. Both are in fact social-democratic, if this word still has any meaning at all.). But there are also Turk-Is unions dominated by left or Kurdish groups. After the closure of TIP (Worker's Party of Turkey) after the '71 coup Turkish left lost all of its contact with the industrial working class movement (We love Che more than the proletariat). DISK turned to ex-elitist-Kemalist-struggling-to-be-social-democrat CHP (Republican People's Party). Of course there were left-groups in unions and especially TKP (then-illegal Turkish Communist Party) gave a lot of energy to infiltrate in DISK through pro-TKP bureaucrats, but they were quickly and successfully repelled by pro-CHP bureaucrats. But these were anecdotal to the main issues of the left groups.
'89-'92 wave was the last serious working class movement to shake the political status quo. In this time DISK was refounded after the '80 coup; social democrats allied with the Kurdish party won the elections and soon KESK would be founded. But all of these are ancient history right now. According to my experience the militancy of a union is not based on its affiliated union confederation, but the activity of radical left *inside* it. (Of course DISK and KESK have more left groups than Turk-Is and Islamic and pro-AKP Hak-Is has none; but now this is nothing more than a historical contingency since an average DISK union can be as reactionary as a Turk-Is union)
Dec 1 2007
#14
I agree with Martin.
I think there are some very flawed understandings of the "syndicalist world" or what constitutes a syndicalist union. Also, 'm at a loss as to why this dicussion would soley be the perview of the wobs. Perhaps i'm misunderstanding something.
Dec 1 2007
#15
miasnikov_perm wrote:
but now this is nothing more than a historical contingency since an average DISK union can be as reactionary as a Turk-Is union
Miasnikov is pretty clear there. That is where revolutionary syndicalist unions end up. From the first President who was assassinated by fascists to the one who was stealing money from the union to buy his house didn't take a long time.
Devrim
Dec 1 2007
#16
ncwob wrote:
Also, I feel like South Africa has an active anarcho-syndicalist union, but a quick google didn't bring up what I had in mind. So perhaps I'm wrong, but if I find anything I'll let you know.
I-07 had african delegates.
Dec 1 2007
#17
newyawka wrote:
John. wrote:
Nigeria is meant to have an IWA section but there's been no word from them in years.yes i always see them listed, but they seem to have no web address
http://www.iwa-ait.org/links.html
rata, why not send someone down to find out what happend
Dec 1 2007
#18
Thanks for all the comments.
martinh wrote:
There are quite a few radical unions in Asia, particularly the Indian subcontinent and the Philipines, though not sure that many are particularly syndicalist. Most tend to be linked to leftist parties.Unions that refer to syndicalism tend to be in Europe, even if the degree to which that label could really be applied does vary,
Yes, certainly. But i'm looking at not just syndicalist unions, but also "radical" or "militant" leftist unions, to see what tactics and strategies they use etc. So what are the "radical" unions in Asia you speak of? So far i've only got the Indonesian one i mentioned, the Maoist KMU in the Philippines. and Garment Workers Fed in Bangladesh. There is also the major trade union fed (GEFONT) in Nepal which calls itself "socialist", attended a PGA Asia conference, and seems to be critical of the Maoists. But i need to find out about what they actually do on the ground to find out how "radical" they are, and if they are independent of political parties etc. I have so little info on India it aint funny. I've heard there are some radical unions in Malaysia.
What about the radical unions in South Korea? Does anybody have any leads on them? Don't know where to start really...
Lombas, i don't have the list on the computer i'm using, so cant share it at the mo. I doubt if i have turned much stuff that people don't know.
Dec 1 2007
#19
No probs, but it would be interested to find out about organization that don't have an internet-based presentation.
Which, of course, is fine.
Dec 1 2007
#20
x357997 wrote:
rata, why not send someone down to find out what happend
Ask the button.
Dec 1 2007
#21
x357997 wrote:
I-07 had african delegates.
I didn't meet them but from what I heard they were not anarcho-syndicalists.
Dec 1 2007
#22
jef costello wrote:
x357997 wrote:
I-07 had african delegates.I didn't meet them but from what I heard they were not anarcho-syndicalists.
Dec 1 2007
#23
x357997 wrote:
ncwob wrote:
Also, I feel like South Africa has an active anarcho-syndicalist union, but a quick google didn't bring up what I had in mind. So perhaps I'm wrong, but if I find anything I'll let you know.
I-07 had african delegates.
I-07 had any delegates who they could get in order to make it look like they had some international influence to compare to the IWA. I am not a fan of either, but this much is obvious.
Devrim
Dec 1 2007
#24
Devrim wrote:
That is where revolutionary syndicalist unions end up. From the first President who was assassinated by fascists to the one who was stealing money from the union to buy his house didn't take a long time.
Devrim
The idea of a "revolutionary union" is an oxymoron from an platformist (?) standpoint (I couldnt find a better definition). In Turkey generally "class struggle unions" is used. But your comment is too baseless and wrong. As I said the organised left-wing activity determines the position of a union. Since the left was wasting its cadres in armed struggle, the shift of DISK bureaucracy to the political center was predictable. Yet it was far from a destiny. In a union with strong Leninist activity authoritarianism is the rule of the day (well, "yellow" unions are generally more authoritarian in fact), but I never witnessed corruption and they are generally quite radical about spreading the word to the other parts of the working class. You can say they are a few examples of it. That's somewhat true. (It's also one of the reasons why we -AKI- are trying to build local associations to connect workers in a region rather than direct union activity). But revolutionary working class activity in general is far less a reality than class struggle unions.
edit: I didnt want to enter another union-debate in general and especially under this thread.
Dec 10 2007
#25
KMU in the Philipines:
http://www.kilusangmayouno.org/
They seem to have come out the Maoist movement, but its hard to see any overt connection outside of being leftist radical unionists. A friend of mine from the Philipines said the IWW reminded him of KMU.
Dec 10 2007
#26
Quote:
Weaver:
http://www.kilusangmayouno.org/They seem to have come out the Maoist movement, but its hard to see any overt connection outside of being leftist radical unionists. A friend of mine from the Philipines said the IWW reminded him of KMU.
I think it's a bit more complex than this. WSA has had contact and worked with the KMU for quite a few years. This tailed off after a split in the left and KMU movement about a decade ago.
The KMU is the most militant of all the exisiting unions. The main leadership is in a certain authoritarian socialist tradition, with little desire to shift too far from that tradition.
As the situation in the Phillipines is now tense, with nightly curfews and rumors of a coup. I think it's best not to go into specifics of peoples politics at this point.
I will say that the KMU is much more centralized than the IWW. The comment about similiarities may have been made because the KMU has radical politics. And it also tries to engage on a grass roots level, it might have reminded your friend vaugely of the IWW. But I wouldn't make a comparison with the two.
Although I have many criticisms of Kim Scipes, he has written some very interesting articles on the KMU and the Phillipines in general. The basis for his book KMU: Building Genuine Trade Unionism in the Philippines, 1980-1994 was set out in an article which appeared in the WSA's ideas & action #8-- Spring 1987:
KMU: Building rank-and-file unionism in the Philippines . This article is not yet on-line.
Dec 16 2007
#27
I think your right on where KMU comes form. I wasn't trying to make a direct comparison, but yes, that's prob why my friend made that comparison. In talking with Philipino American activists familar with the Phil left, they also charactorize KMU as the most militant, but also very grassroots (which is a huge contrast to the very top down tradition and more academic/arms length which must of communist/party left relate to worker movements).
What I thought was interesting in reading the names of groups affiliated, is that many seems like industry/occupation/profession based unions, some seemed to be regional general worker federations, and others seemed to be maybe advocacy, service or resource type organizations. If you can shed any light on this, it would be interesting.
Where might I get a copy of the article/book?
Dec 16 2007
#28
Not sure who distributes Kmu: Building Genuine Trade Unionism In The Philippines, 1980-1994 in the US. The Fillipino publisher is
http://www.kabayancentral.com/book/newday/mb1009609.html
Let me also suggest checking out the Fillipino Centter for Trade Union & Human Rights. website: http://www.ctuhr.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 and a very interesting report: http://www.ctuhr.org/files/TUHRREPORT2006.pdf
I'll come back to the structure thing another time.
Dec 17 2007
#29
In Colombia anarchists support SINTRAINAL (food workers -- including coca-cola workers), in Chile there're some links with FETRACOMA (furniture commerce workers) though this union comes from a maoist past.
Dec 20 2007
#30
OK, anyone interested in KMU news can subscribe to their weekly news service.
Here's a taste of what they publish. It's both in english and tagalog. You can link directly to their main website.
------------ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER 10 - 16, 2007------------ ************* Militant workers to lead nationally-coordinated protest actions on December 1312/11/2007 HUNDREDS of workers affiliated with Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) will troop to thestreets nationwide to lead the Nationally-coordinated Protest Actions AgainstOil Price Hike this coming December 13. http://kilusangmayouno.org/militant-workers-lead-nationally-coordinated-protest-actions-december13 ************* PGMA, numero-unong tagalabag ng mga pang-ekonomiyang karapatan ng mga Pilipino- KMU 12/11/2007 ”KAHIRAPAN pa rin ang ugat ng pinakamatitinding paglabag sa karapatang pantaong mamamayang Pilipino.” Ito ang sinabi ni Elmer ”Ka Bong’ Labog,Tagapangulo ng Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) ngayong araw sa selebrasyon ngInternational Human Rights Day. http://kilusangmayouno.org/pgma-numero-unong-tagalabag-pang-ekonomiyang-karapatan-pilipino-kmu ************* KMU warns of widespread chaos and unrest if wages are not increased and ODL notrepealed amidst water & power hikes 12/12/2007 THE Labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) today urged lawmakers ‘for the bestinterest of the majority of Filipinos’ to prioritize and pass bills callingfor the repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law (ODL) and P125 wage increase forworkers before their Christmas break. http://kilusangmayouno.org/kmu-warns-widespread-chaos-and-unrest-if-wages-are-not-increased-and-odl-not-repealed-amidst-water-p ************* Nationwide protests and transport strike successful even before they werestarted today - KMU 12/13/2007 THE labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) this morning declared thenationally-coordinated protests actions and nationwide transport strike as“successful’ before they were even started today. http://kilusangmayouno.org/nationwide-protests-transport-strike-successful-even-before-started-today-kmu ************* Pambansa-koordinadong protesta at welgang transportasyon, tagumpay bago pa manito naisagawa ngayong araw - KMU 12/13/2007 IPINAHAYAG ng militanteng Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) ngayong umaga na tagumpay angpambansa-koordinadong protesta at welgang transportasyon bago pa man itosinimulan ngayong araw. http://kilusangmayouno.org/pambansa-koordinadong-protesta-welgang-transportasyon-tagumpay-bago-pa-man-ito-naisagawa-ngayong-ara ************* Huwag nang buhayin pa ang bangkay - KMU 12/14/2007 Ito ang pagsasalarawang sinabi ng militanteng Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) saposisyon ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo na buhayin ang Anti-Subversion Lawbilang bahagi ng anti-insurgency campaign ng gobyerno. http://kilusangmayouno.org/huwag-nang-buhayin-pa-bangkay-kmu
CUPW is the only one in Canada I know of that is a member of PGA, I'm a member. I wouldn't call it even proto syndicalist but there is definitely a radical side to it, the left wing of the union is quite strong.