Beware False Friends!
Submitted by Internationalis... on Aug 21 2018 18:42
Many working class people do not believe that their class has the potential to change the world. Indeed many of us do not even recognise the idea of class, let alone see themselves as part of the class of “women and men of no property”. This is not surprising. The ruling capitalist class have powerful tools to confuse and distract the working class.
Anarchism and Trade Unionism
GASTON GERARD is a lecturer in political science whose valuable discussion of an anarchist approach to trade unionism first appeared in the University Libertarian in 1957.
History and role of the Trade Union movement
PETER TURNER, born 1935 at Battersea, is a carpenter, an ASW steward, and a member of the Committee of 100.
The Black Ball - Ralph Ellison
A short story about an attempt to build an integrated union in the American south. Contains racial slurs, and references to racial motivated assault and sexual assault, among other issues.
A serious public transport strike in the Netherlands
Submitted by rooieravotr on Jul 1 2018 17:33
There is some serious strike action going on in the Netherlands in regional public transport. This is like a breath of fresh air in a country where the Right is on the rampage and workers' struggles have been quite subdued for much too long.
SNCF: The unions and the parties on the left of capital have sabotaged the strike by channelling it into defence of the rail company and the state-boss. Only a big jump in workers autonomy can save it!
A translation of a leaflet distributed to striking rail workers in France. Produced by Mouvement Communiste. Original French version provided as a PDF.
USA: The Role of the Union in the Teachers Strikes
Submitted by Internationalis... on Jun 9 2018 21:49
It should be common sense that workers can only use their collective strength if united in some body which includes them all. But that assumes that the unions today are representative of the workers. Under modern capitalist conditions the union exists to mediate wage labour on behalf of the state. The unions’ existence as permanent bodies means they have to comply with the rules of the capitalist game. They have become another layer of management within the system.
