The Foundation of a New Workers' Organization.

We have received a number of articles from trade union circles which clearly show that the spirit of the times is finally beginning to take effect even in the conservative organizations of the working class, the trade unions. The suppression and partial paralysis of the workers' struggles with the factory owners by the central executive committees etc. must finally have opened the eyes of even the last worker. For actions enlighten the workers better than all speeches and all writing. The following article provides some valuable suggestions for the oppositional elements of the trade union movement, which is why we are bringing it to the attention of our readers.

Red. der „Arbeiterpol."

The founders of the Independent Social Democratic Party in Gotha have shown that they are not yet capable of anything new. Instead, they had to revert to the old, partially outdated program. Every worker knows that this led to the collapse of the party.

Should this experiment now be repeated?

So far, the left-wing radicals have been content to criticize the majority and the party center. They saw this as a precondition for eliminating the social-patriotic ideology among the working masses. However, this clarification process could not be interrupted at the half-finished stage. This moment has now arrived. The working class now knows what to expect from the party center.

The clarification in the trade unions, however, is less advanced; there it is only in the early stages, but since they are the actual recruiting ground of the new organization, they must be given the greatest attention.

The left-wing radicals are now gradually penetrating the trade unions with their criticism. In this way they have achieved what they want, namely to shake up the entire working class.

All workers are thus spurred on to think, examine and judge for themselves.

If criticism is to have a stimulating effect at this time, it must not only deal with combating the existing, but must also show the new and better things to be striven for. Only if it demonstrates the foundations for the new will it emerge as the bearer of progress.

As is generally known, left-wing radicals stand on the ground of mass action, i.e. they want to seize the masses in all their feelings, will and actions. They should appear on the scene as a compact entity. This requires a united organization that is guided solely by the standpoint of international socialism.

The worker does not have two souls, a trade union soul and a party soul. In the enlightened worker the guild spirit has disappeared; he knows only one interest, for which he works incessantly, the just distribution of the goods created by the workers as a whole. In short, his aim is the achievement of social conditions.

The old apparatus with its many trade unions and, more recently, the party with all its shades seems to us little suited to satisfying the working class in the long term.

We are about to change the constitution in the Reich as well as in the individual states. This will entail the reorganization of electoral districts. This will only be successful for the working class if it forms a self-contained whole.

Moreover, economic and political issues are so closely intertwined that in many cases they cannot be separated. In addition, when peace is concluded, the switch from a war economy to peacetime work will have such an enormous impact on our economic life, given the existing shortage of raw materials, that only a clear, purposeful policy will succeed in overcoming these difficulties.

Only the broadest possible representation of the working class itself will make it possible to restore normal conditions in the shortest possible time, as is already the case today with food distribution. On the other hand, if the workforce remains divided into many professional groups, the guild spirit would cause the most serious damage to the general public.

The causes of the ills in our economic life should be identified. To give an example, unemployment cannot be eliminated by unemployment benefit, which, if it is unionized, only burdens the workers themselves, if it is state-run, it burdens the state budget, but without getting to the root of the problem.

Just as food can be rationed today, working time will have to be rationed if necessary. Unemployment benefit, the army of the unemployed, will thus be eliminated. In the near future, we will return to these and other questions that were often at the heart of the old movement, but which resulted in the wrong reforms in the fight against them.

Our goal is a unitary organization that encompasses both trade union and politically organized workers.

We therefore appeal to all opposition workers to discuss this question in their trade unions and associations. The prerequisite for the creation of this organization is seen in the elimination of the old unfortunate conditions in the party and trade unions. This is even a prerequisite, otherwise the situation would only get worse instead of better. All groups and organizations that agree with the idea of a united organization should begin the preparatory work; a thorough discussion should first be held on all areas of the labour movement. The outcome of these debates in the individual localities can then serve as the basis for a conference to be convened. Now is a particularly good time to create a unitary workers' organization.

In many places, majority politics has deprived the workers of their newspapers. The unitary organization will make it possible for the workers to once again create organs for the interests of the working people.

The new organization must be a large-scale, self-contained, yet structured organization of labour. The individual professions will form sections within it, in which they can represent their own professional interests, but since the contact with the other professions will be closer than in the present cartels, their policy will also have to take greater account of the interests of the working class as a whole. But since the new organization is also political, it will be possible for it to elect its parliamentary representatives from among its members.

Bureaucratism will be reduced, as a later paper will show. Contributions will be reduced, as the support system will be superfluous. Administration will become cheaper. Collecting contributions is only necessary once. This workers' front will be able to confront big business as a strongly united force. It will then no longer be possible for a few people to determine the fate of a country, as was clearly the case with the Chancellor's Front.

Many of the questions only touched on here will be discussed in more detail in later articles.