Taking Control of the Unions
Frank | 26.01.2004 21:13 | Analysis | Globalisation | Social Struggles | London
New ideas of thinking and organising are needed.There needs to be a break with labour and its trade union machine.
Unions taking Control.
We are living in a age of crises.Questions should be asked about the death of the left and defeatism.We should not give up hope but we need rethink and learn some lessons from past defeats and present struggles.One of those is the self inflicted wounds by the Labour Party and the trade union machine. We want and indeed demand a better life in short we want the World.
1.A philosophical break with Labourism and social reformism .
2Maxium unity at the shop floor
3.For power to the rank and file
4.Opposition to sweet heart management and union agreements.
5.Develop and build links across across unions and industries.
6.Build links in communities and defend public services
7.Opposition to anti working peoples legislation
8.In support of humans before profit and capital.
9.Solidarity across nation states
10.Opposition to all forms of oppression.
11.For peace and a end of the bosses wars.
Its true that its legal to join a union.Some industries even have a high level of union membership.But what in practice does that mean.In many places it is difficult to distinguish between management and the union.The role of the unions is to police and discipline the ordinary work.Even where union membership is taken as a form of insurance .It sometimes does not pay.
Industrial relations anti Labour laws coupled with aggressive management have undermined union organisation.Add to this union busting stratergies and experts.Thus the story for many years is that of victimisations and sell outs.
The scale of this offensive does not end there.Excessive work demands and long hours has its effect on humans.It undermines family and social life.For many work is not a release but a trap.Humans in a cage will tend to behave like animals..
What are the consequences for the worker then.?Karl Marx in his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts described it a experience where the human was never at peace.Even at home they carried the burden of their work.They became a lone in a world of objects.
Humanistic Marxists have long asked the question What kind of work should labour do?They have argued for a philosophy that unites mental and manual labour.They have further questioned the limitations of simple revolutionary rhetoric.What happens after the revolution?Why has the past century seen so many failed revolutions and successful counter revolutions.
Alternatives need a little more questioning than we have seen todate.Some socialists and anarchists argue in terms of parties or no parties.We acknowledge he organisational difficulties but we say that theory needs not only to explain the nature of this crises,further to articulate a opposition in support of all labouring people but also a deeper vision of a new kind of society.One in which all social relations are uprooted.Towards this end we encourage the development of the Hegelian dialect of Marx.The capitalists would have you believe we need them but in tuth they need us.What would happen if we decided to stop playing their little game and started one of our own.?
We are living in a age of crises.Questions should be asked about the death of the left and defeatism.We should not give up hope but we need rethink and learn some lessons from past defeats and present struggles.One of those is the self inflicted wounds by the Labour Party and the trade union machine. We want and indeed demand a better life in short we want the World.
1.A philosophical break with Labourism and social reformism .
2Maxium unity at the shop floor
3.For power to the rank and file
4.Opposition to sweet heart management and union agreements.
5.Develop and build links across across unions and industries.
6.Build links in communities and defend public services
7.Opposition to anti working peoples legislation
8.In support of humans before profit and capital.
9.Solidarity across nation states
10.Opposition to all forms of oppression.
11.For peace and a end of the bosses wars.
Its true that its legal to join a union.Some industries even have a high level of union membership.But what in practice does that mean.In many places it is difficult to distinguish between management and the union.The role of the unions is to police and discipline the ordinary work.Even where union membership is taken as a form of insurance .It sometimes does not pay.
Industrial relations anti Labour laws coupled with aggressive management have undermined union organisation.Add to this union busting stratergies and experts.Thus the story for many years is that of victimisations and sell outs.
The scale of this offensive does not end there.Excessive work demands and long hours has its effect on humans.It undermines family and social life.For many work is not a release but a trap.Humans in a cage will tend to behave like animals..
What are the consequences for the worker then.?Karl Marx in his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts described it a experience where the human was never at peace.Even at home they carried the burden of their work.They became a lone in a world of objects.
Humanistic Marxists have long asked the question What kind of work should labour do?They have argued for a philosophy that unites mental and manual labour.They have further questioned the limitations of simple revolutionary rhetoric.What happens after the revolution?Why has the past century seen so many failed revolutions and successful counter revolutions.
Alternatives need a little more questioning than we have seen todate.Some socialists and anarchists argue in terms of parties or no parties.We acknowledge he organisational difficulties but we say that theory needs not only to explain the nature of this crises,further to articulate a opposition in support of all labouring people but also a deeper vision of a new kind of society.One in which all social relations are uprooted.Towards this end we encourage the development of the Hegelian dialect of Marx.The capitalists would have you believe we need them but in tuth they need us.What would happen if we decided to stop playing their little game and started one of our own.?
Frank
