The new general secretary of the anarcho-syndicalist International Workers’ Association, Laure Akai, answers questions from the newspaper “CNT”, organ of the Spanish section of the IWA-AIT.
Question: How did things go at the IWA congress? In what way did it further the development of the IWA?
Answer: In the International we can see signs that our activity is improving. In various places our sections have launched struggles in the workplace and achieved concrete results. Various organizations have experienced important changes in their development: some have seen their situation improve, others have been accepted as members of the IWA. Nevertheless, we have a lot of work to do to deal with the problems confronting us, problems which must be resolved in the future.
One of the things which was approved at the congress was the idea of developing networks for different industrial sectors. This is very important, so we can go on the offensive, organize on a deeper level, and organizationally enforce our demands.
Concerning the issues which are confronting workers globally – this is not a simple question. Capitalism is concentrating its forces, using the exploited peoples of the world to strengthen its position. This means, on a global scale, that some regions play an important role in maintaining the present order of things. But these regions may very well be situated where the working class is in the most desperate condition or badly organized.
Here’s an example: the capitalists are using workers from Eastern Europe against the gains achieved by workers in Western Europe. Thus even when these workers are organized, the capitalists have a simple means of undermining their struggle. This is what is happening with the Amazon workers in Germany. Management simply decided to shift the workplaces to Poland, where people will work for a quarter of the wages and are unorganized.
Another problem which we must recognize is preserving the libertarian aspect of the IWA at a time when extremely authoritarian methods are gaining popularity throughout the world.
Question: What is the role of the general secretary in solving these problems?
Answer: The effectiveness of the IWA depends, above all, on the active participation of the sections themselves. The secretariat can encourage participation and help in coordination on a global level. But, ultimately, success depends on the participation of the sections themselves.
In addition, the secretariat has been tasked with developing contacts in Southeast Asia. In various sections of the IWA there are people who can help with this problem, but we have to remember that we have limited influence on what happens in other places, especially when they are far away.
Question: Do you think it’s important that a woman became the general secretary?
Answer: In general, there exists a gender imbalance in the movement. In some cities, or on the “national” level, all the more or less responsible positions are occupied by men. And women can run into sexist behaviour on the part of certain individuals.
Such problems can’t be solved by one person, even if that person is a woman-secretary, since these are collective problems. But if you see a woman doing the work in spite of all these problems, this can inspire other women to be more active and overcome any discrimination they might face, and so it could play a positive role.
Published by CNT. 2014. № 407. January, p. 21.
Comments
Thanks to the comrade who
Thanks to the comrade who translated it.
Personally, I'd have to say I am a little uncomfortable with this sort of stuff, having my photo in the paper, etc.. Am fine with saying my opinions, but would like to stress that people taking on positions in a federation like ours are not the deciders of politics or policy and people should understand it and not pay any special attention to whether a member is a secretary, a member of some working group or anything like that.
This little disclaimer aside, I found it difficult to say anything too meaningful in the short space provided, which was further cut down. Some things were omitted from the original interview and some things got changed in various stages of translation. They are not such a big deal, but one thing which was different was that, when talking about the situation of the IWA, I mentioned that some organizations gained membership, meaning got more members - not that they became members of the IWA. (Of course that is important too.) I am sad that this was not put correctly in the CNT paper because I think that it is an important fact that we are seeing some development and some Sections have been picking up. At a time where some of the larger organizations actually lost membership, the mid-level of the IWA is growing and will, in the future, be playing a different role. I see this as a very positive development.
What was edited out was also my opinion about the need for increased work in areas of the world where there are sharp class conflicts but where there traditionally have not been anarchosyndicalist movements. I also am sad that this opinion did not make it into the CNT paper. Because the IWA, in order to really confront the situation, cannot continue on as a federation which is only strong is a few countries with established traditions. My opinion is that, on the global level, the actual role of workers in those countries in fighting against capitalism is diminished. This does not mean that it is not important - but that capital is very quick in reacting to workers' organization by moving workplaces and other methods. This was connected to my comment about Amazon. Because it is clear to us that Amazon is coming here because the working class is in a weak situation and the unions have retreated. When our workers' organization and ability to struggle is poor here, it can undermine the efforts of the rest.
For me those questions are more important and it is sad the answers were editted down so much but the decided to keep questions about the role of the secretariat. As I said, the main thing is the activity of the Sections and their efforts to go forward.
As for the question relating to my gender, unfortunately for us, it is still a relevant one. It would be interesting for the IWA Sections to reflect on this more. The gender imbalance can be seen at places like the Congress, where only 10% of the delegates present were women. However, it seemed like around 50% of the observers there were women. (Most of the observers were, naturally, from the CNT, an organization where currently no women occupy any nationally delegated position.) We have been developing a deeper analysis of what goes on and have some ideas that some of the organizational values being presented are more geered towards males - but I think it is worth taking time to write this out and argue it well before the AFem event since I am afraid that, despite everybody's claims that they would like to solve the gender imbalance, some will obviously be not to willing to go through the steps that might improve the situation.