class struggle unionism

8/12/2019 Class Struggle Unionism

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Copyright 1975 by Son Press, 14131Woodward Avenue, Highland Park,Michigan 48203. An InternationalSoclallst pampblet. Single copies: S.2S.Ten or more copies: $.15 each. Layoutand design by KJt Lyons. Artwork onpages 9,17 and 19 by LlSB Lyons. OurNorman" reprinted from Socialist Worker, the n e ~ : : p e r of the British international Soc tli. Labor donated.

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lass truggleUnionismThis pamphlet is a da pted frOm th ,e text of a document that was present e dto th e Interna tion al Socia li sts Nati on al Comm ittee meeting in J une. )974and the n to lhe nat iona l conventio n hel d in Detroit ove r La bor Dayweekend , 974 . It pr ese nt s a revolutionary socialist a pproac h to TradeUnion work . That is. it comes 10 gr i ps with what has be e n a major poi nt ofcont roversy in the left: what is the re lat ion be tween mass work . pa rticu la rlywit hin the working clas s" and buLi din g the revolutionary par ty?Virtually every left gr oup has fa lle n apar t on this q uestion. consistentlycou nt e rpos ing the two tasks. The In terna t ional Socialists has always he ldthaI Ihe two are in tertwined, that one cannot be carried out without theother. We stated in a 1973 convention documen t :

To counterpose these two tasks (the crea t ion of a revolutionaryvangua rd party as part of a self conscious working class movcment; and lhecreal ion of that movement ilself) and to sec ou r role as related to only thebuilding 01' a revolutionary party, is to misundcrscand the rel ationship ofthat party to th e class- th e relalionship of Ihe leadership of the class 10 themassc . of worker... The qu estion of party and a ~ s dOes not aris -: on ly atth c point Orlnk ing po er. when the workers' stale must be based upo n theb roades t organ il.a tions of the wurkin g c 1 a s s ~ \ ( l r k e r s counci ls- a nd therevo lu tionary pa rty making up its va nguard e lemen ts - its leadersh ip. Noris it a q u e ~ t i o n o nly \\ heTl the masses of adva nced workers are begin ning toror m and join the revolut iona ry party. It is as im por tant tod ay as at any ofIhu conclu sion. We urge th ose who agree with us to joinus in this task.5


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1. Revolutionary StTateg.v in a Time of CrisisThe starting poin t of IS labor pcrspet,tives is the need ltl build itrcvoluti, ary socialist party in the working cia .... . We have adopted

c > s e n t i a l l ~ the >ame method and approach as Ihal cmployed by the earlyCominlcrn in Britain and the U.S .. by the Trotskvist movement in the lat e1930 s and 40s. and nv the British International Socialists loday. That is.ours is a specific strategy for building the revolutionary party in asitutlt on\

here the general crisis of capitalism S sharpening but the part} itself isonly a tin: minority in the class . t demands of revu lu tionaries that theyfunction wi th in the existing unions and that they exp loit the con tradicti(lnsbetween the needs of the ranks and the collaborationi st methods of thebureaucrats to build a movemen t in wbich the par ty can g row byparticipating in the st rugg le and providing leadership.Objective condi tions are laying the bas is fo r the developmen t of a rankand fil e movemen t inside U.S. labor. Conti nuing dec line, grow inginstability, inilaUon and stagnntion. sharp fluchlations. shorter and shorterbooms followed bv e\ er more severe economic crises. will be characteristicof the com ing period.As conditions of economic stagnati on and decline intensify. the presentlabor bureaucracy will find itself unable to respond in a fashion thateffectivel\ satisfies the ranks. It is a bureaucrac\ whose co llaboralil)nistmethods and consciousness were molded in the years of post war capitalistprosperity. It will become increasingly disoriented- caught between avicious capi ta list attack on the wo rkers and growing unrest in the ranks.Under these conditions, a layer of mililant activist workers will emerge.

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The IS wishes to embed itself in th is emerging layer, help ra ise itsconsciousness. to participate with it in building a rank a nd filemovement giving what leadership and direction we can. We wish to winthis emerging movement to a policy of Class Struggle Unionism.Neither collaborationists. reformists or stalinists will be able to providesatisfactory leadership that meets the real needs of this layer. Our politics,on the other hand. will permit the IS to playa leadership role thoroughlydisproportionate to our present small size and influence.Our presence in this emerging layer will permit us to influence it withUl revolutionary Marxist politics and to recruit workers from it whothrough their experience in working with us, learn the value of our full

poli tical program. In this process . the IS will be able to transform itse lf intoa revolutionary workers organization.Parallel to the development of a militant layer within the unions will besimilar developments among unorganized and unemployed workers, anda lso in relationship to black work and community movements andstruggles. The revolutionary workers organization will participate in thesemovements and struggles as well. giving what leadership it can. With.n allstruggles. we will attempt to relate the specific to the general: the unionstruggle to the community st ruggle to the political struggle . It will a ttemptto break th rough pa rochial and sectional consciousness.The revolu tiona ry party will be buil t through the interaction between therevolutionary worKer s organization 3.nd the growing ra nk and file andinsurgent movemen ts tha t it helps to shape and lead . We cannot predi ctthe exact way the party will be built. It could be through direc t recru itment , th rough regroupment, through the crystallization, under theinflue nce of a revolutionary organ izat ion, of a revo lutionary te ndencywithi n a mass workers organization, or throu gh some combnat ion of thosedevelopments.

This outline of our overall labor perspectives leaves a number of concretequestions still to be answered. In day to day trade union work. whatdistingu ishes t he functi oning of an IS member from that of a non -Marxisttrade union militant? How do we use our trade union work to interjectrevolutionary Ma rxist ideas into the emgerging advanced layer? Are ourtrade union work and our fight to bring revolutionary Marxism t() theworkin g class basically separate tasks which relate to one anothe r onJy byvirtue of the fact that the same individua l member does both? What is therelationship between the politics we fight for inside the trade un ionmovement and our full revolutionary Marxist program? In short. what isinvolved in our policy of Class Struggle Unionism and how do we fight tobring it into practice?2. Class and Ideology. Spontaneism and Consciousness

Before going on to an swer these quest ions, we need to take a closer lookat the emerging layer of mil ita nt, act ivist wo rkers toward whom our wholepe rspective is oriented. A sure feel for working class consciousness and thedynamics of its struggles is required of any effective proletarian group.The IS has been able to move forward only on the basis of paying carefulatten tion to the expe riences of our indust rialized comra des.We have learned the great difficulties we face even in just deve loping arela lively solid rank and file opposition caucus. The prima ry problemis bourgeo is ideology . It is rare for even the most angry and mili ta nt worker7


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to reject, spontaneously, the ideological basis of the class coUaborationistpolicy of the bureaucra cy. They know they are getting screwed. Some thinkthe problem boils down to dishonesty and payoffs from the company .Others feel thaL the problem boils down to one of sincerity, intelligence,having a sharp tongue, or just some undefined quality of personal strength,will and charisma. They conclude that to improve the union you put intooffice young er people who are more honest, more sincere , more dedicated,more intelligent, and more strong willed. Those who get into office on thebasis of these VIews , of course , end up just Like the people they replaced.Most workers become apathetic believing that the problems of the unionare the problems of human nature, that you can t do anything about itanyway. And what s to keep a militant oppositionist from going over to theunion administration when he or she discovers the kind of pressures theyare under and that rcally. they re not such bad people after all?Bourgeois ideology pervades the working class of every capitalistcountry. But its opposite. proletarian class consciousness, also existsthroughout every working class. The two co-exist with a contradictorytension that determines the actual consciousness of the class. The pole ofproletarian class consciousness is weaker in the United States than in theworking class of practically any other capitalist country. This country lackseven such minimal class institutions as a rotten mass social democratic,Communist or labor party. Revolutionary Marxism. the only true repositoryof consistent proletarian class consciousness, bas been absent from theU.S. working class for a quarter of a century.The growing capitalist attack on the working class provides the objectivebasis for a resurgence of class consciousness. The class has newexperi ences which it finds increa singly difficult to satisfactorily understandon the basis of bourgeois ideology. Workers are more and more open toanswers other than the traditional ones. They find themselves increasinglydissatisfied with the dominant instituti.ons of leadership and authority andare open to considering alternatives. Often. conditions impel them intoactions which contradict the values they hold t is aL this which creates\ the material preconditions for the emergence of a new militant activistlayer within the working class .Objective conditions are determinant in creating a rank and filemovement. That is. workers do not give up their free time or make realsacrifices unle ss they feel they have no choice; that is. t hings are vieweCl asbeing so bad (this is not a matter of starvation) that one must do what isnecessary. While the first workers to feel this are necessarily small innumbers, that is the dynamic.Fu.rthennore. the nature of the conditions that impel workers to buildrank and file organizations determine to some degree the nature of theideas these worker leaders develop. Rank and file leaders are stronglypushed toward opposition to any sort of productivity dea l because of thenature of the crisis. The movement they lead will certainly be opposed towage controls now that they have experienced them.Nevertheless. objective conditions cannot. by themselves. determine thespecific outlook of rank and file leaders. Nor can conditions save peoplefrom becoming demoralized or falling for opportunist leaders or solutions.ro become a stable leadership, rank and file rebels must be won to aI onsistent POIDt of vicw, mllst become in fact an self-conscious cadre with aclass struggle outlook. This is not to say that the emergence of a rank andfile movement in the unions requires the presence of class consciousrevolutionaries. II is to say, however, that a rank and file movement cannot

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achieve s abHity or win long term victories without that participation .Certainl y. the greater th e objective contradictions between the rank s andthe bureaucracy unde r impact of obj ect ive cond itions. the greate r will bethe tendency for eve nt s to genera te such a leadership group . But no on eshould count on a naively spontaneou s view tha t this will just happena utom atica lly . The collective class memory of U.S. workers has beenlargely eradicat ed. At present , even the simp lest of class concepts.require d to s llstain su ch a k adership, don t just float in the air- --nor canthey be easi ly rei ntrocluc,ed into the working class. Objective conditionsmake this possible . But they don t automatica lly do It for us .Class concepts reintroduced into the working class can rapidly take on alife of their own ins ide the class. if they speak to the real questionsplaguing workers and provide sat isfying answers. t is difficul t for aworke r to e nter in to principled and sustained opposi tio n to thecollaborationist bureaucracy unless thaI worker is in the process ofmoving bey()nd the con fines of bou rgeois ideology . in the direction of 3Marxist world view. t is possible for workers to move spont aneously in thedirection of Marxis1 ideas - but only after these ideas have already be enintroduced into the class from the outside. Ideologically, the main task 0the presen t period in the United States is the reintroduction of elementarybasil: Marxisl, class struggle concepts into the col lective consciousness ofthe working class .3. The Marxist Method Applied 0 Trade Union QuestJons

Ideas have meaning only insofar as they have practical consequencesonly insofar as lhey lead to or influence action . The only reason that we. aspoltical people, and as Marxists, want to influence the way people thin k, isbecause we want to influence the ' way they will act . Looking at the samequestion from the other direction. we can only say that an individual' sconsciousness has changed. if there has been a change in the w a ~ thatindividua l acts and in the way the individual re lates to others.

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Our immed iate goal is to establish consistent and systematic methods ofwinning workers to take a Marxist approach to trade 'union questions th equestions that have the most immediate and practical consequences. Thisdoes not yet make the worker a Marxist. To be a Marxist, one mustunderstand broader political questions: the dictatorship of the proletariat .the Stalinist degeneration of the Russian revol ution, the popular front, thenat ure of fasc ism. the historical materialist world view. etc. Few U.S.workers today have the experience on which to really make up their mindon these questions- or the inclination to do the study necessary. With onlyrare exceptions. when we attempt to win workers today to these broadrange of questions we usually find ourselves. more or less . asking them totake our word for it. And even if they do. we can normally only convincethem in a sha llow way. until they can relate this broad range of importantideas to their own experiences and activities. Until then, it is difficult tomake Marxism much more than a bunch of interesting ideas. This is muchmore difficult among workers than among intellectuals who are trained todelve in systems of ideas.It is much easier to win workers to take a Marxist approach to tradeunion questions. We can base this on concrete experience. on observablefacts , on testable activities. We need not ask anybody to take our word foranything. Rather. we use common experience as the basis ofthe politics weteach. In this practical and concrete way. a worker can learn the Marxistmethod at least as it applies to trade union questions. But once this methodis internalized. that worker is well on th e way of grasping and accepting theful range of Marxist politics.With our trade union work. IS members carry out two tasks at the sametime. We act as the best and most consistent trade union militants. But atone and the same lime, we use every experience, every struggle. everycampaign- as an opportunity to win our co-workers to a Marxist approac hto union questions. The two tasks are parallel and of equal importance. Astrade u.nion militants. we attempt to convince a worker, for example, toparticipate with us in a campaign of some sort . But at the same time. we\ use the experience of the campaign as an opportunity to influence theworker into generalizing the experiences and d rawing t he poHticai lessons.If we do the one without the other. we are acting just like any other tradeunjon militant- and we fail to function in our trade union work 3Srevolutionary Marxists. To consistently make this error would end up asO e flip side of the coin of those would-be revolutionaries \\ ho are too pureto get their hands diny with day to day practical trade union work.What we are t t e m p t i n ~ to do is to develop a tendency and a leadershipn the labor movement whIch stands for class struggle unionism as opposedto class collaborationist leadership which already exists. Class struggleunionism is nOlhing more or less than the name we give to a union policywhich is based on the Marxist method as applied to trade union quest ions.It is our for a union policy based on consistent proletarian classprinci ples. When we fight for class struggle unionism within the workingclass. we are fighting to re introduce the basic concepts of proletarian classconsciousness into the V S working class . Class struggle unionism is thebanner under which we fight the collaborationist trade unjon bureaucracy,the only mass organized expression of bourgeois ideology inside the U .S .wo rki ng class .Ev ery demand. every policy. every program that the IS puts forwa rdin side the labor movemcnt . we put forward as a demand, a policy. aprogram of class struggle union ism. If we be lieve that W militants

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shou ld run Dump Woodcock campaigns for convention delegateelections. then we argue for such campaigns as the policy of class struggleunionism Inside the UA W. We do more than try to convince workers ofactivities, campaigns and issues . We try to win them to appro ach laborquestions the way we do. We try to convince them to view developmentsinside the labor mmemelll the way we do. And to sum it up, we try toconvince them to think of themselves and to think of us, the IS members,both as part of the small. but growing. self-conscious class struggletendency inside the labor movement.

4. The Principles of Class Struggle UnionismTo the IS. the policies of class struggle unionism are nothing more orless than our own trade union policies. the trade union policies ofrevolutionary marxism. But of course , you don't have to bea marxist to bea class struggle unioniST, and in fact . it's possible to express the basicpolitical ideas from which class s trugg le pOlicies flow in quite simple tradeunion terms. Wc can detine class struggle unionism to be union policy thatflows from the sev en basic principles of class struggle unionismFor us, each of these prin ciples bas a basically algebraic character.This means that they can be easily understood and accepted in a simpleand shallow way. But through an individual's grov,th and politicaJdevelopment, they can take on an increasingly rich meaning . III fact. eachprinciple represents a fundamental Marxist concept. translated into thenarrower language of trade unionism. Taken together, these principles

form a bridge from trade unio n practice to revolutionary politics. In thest ruggl e to politically influence the consciousness of the emerging layer ofmilitant workers we press, to the extent possible. to make these sevenprinciples the underlying ideas which shape the politica l common sense ofthis new strata.I Class Struggle PoUcy: One of the most basic ideas of Marxism is theclass exploitation of the proletariat through the extraction of surplus value.For the capi talists. labor power is just a commodity to be bought at theminimum wage sociaUy required to maintain and reproduce a productiveproletariat. Translated into 'trade union terms. this means that workingpeople only get what we tightIor and only hold onto what the boss is afraidto take away. Our desire for a decent human life, for oursel es and ourfamilies. both on and off the job, conflicts with the boss's greed for thegreatest p o ~ s i b l e profits. Workers and bosses have basically conflictinginterests . For this reason there can be no peace between us. The weaker we

are, the more the boss will take advantage. A class struggle union policy isone that can recognize these basic facts and understands that the mainp u r p o ~ e of a union is to strengthen the position of workers in our fight withthe bosses for a decent life.The class collaborationists \\ ho now run our unions try to preach theopposite. They try to tell us that we and our bosses have basica lly the sameinterests . Conflicts happen when one sidc or the other steps out of line andacts in an u nfair or greedy way. The job of a union. according to them. is toavoid conflict and bring about labor peace. When conflicts do arise,according to them. the union and the company should try to sit downtogether and fin d out who is to blame. If the workers are in violation of thecontract . the union he lps the company bring them in line. The only kind ofunion struggle the collaborationists consider to be legitimate, are Ones that

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ouR VNID OfFWALM. o A

folio,", the procedures laid out in the contract. And then these are only to beresor te d to wben the collaborationists believe Ihe company acts In anunre-8sonable or irrationa l way.- To r - ; A ' H ' ~ f There arc thousands of examples we can point to every day to show thediffe re nce be tween a class struggle pollcy and a class collaborationistpolicy . We as opposed to the collaborationists. believe that the worker isalways righl. the company is always wrong. We view the contract asnothing more than a written truce in the class war. If we can violate the) cOntract to our advantage and get \\ ay with it we will-- just like we knowIhe boss Will When we obey the contract it is out of respect for the power ofthe company. not out of any moral obligation. Our only mterest in theCOnlraet is to use it 10 the advanlage of lhe worker. We are perfectly willingto deceive or manipulate the boss if we can get away with it. In makingdemands (In the c o r n p a n ~ we consider only the needs of the workers anduur bargaining strength. How easily the boss can afford to meet ourdemands is nol ( lUr concern-providing we are strong enough (0 force him10 pay.

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II. Rank and Ole approach: Another basic idea of Mailusm is thaI theemancipation of the proletariat is the task of llle prOletariat- the workingclass advances only through self-activity . consciousness and self-confidence.We lranslate these concepts into trade union terms as the rank and fileapproach to unionism The purpose of a union is to bring logether theweak. isolated. individual workers into a single. powerflJl body. A umon isstrong only when the membership as a body is strong. The main job ofunion leadership is to keep the membership informed. educated andaware . They should alwavs be seeking to iIlStill in the membership anunderslanding thaI il must remain active , Vigilant. self-confident. united.and ready tll srand up and fight fnr '"' hat's nght. Class struggle unionistsrefuse to gel cOllfu sed or lost in the maze of official procedures and redtape. but merely U'ie Ihe (.'ollecti"e bargaining p r o c e ~ s and grievancept'ocedures as tactical parLs of a total approach .

This IS the opposite of the bureaucratic and elitist approach of thecollaborationists All they really \1,3 nt the membership to do is passivelysupport the leadership and do what the leadership says . They .see no needfor an informed. self confident. self activating membership . Tn their view ofhow a union works. union officials and management gel togetherbehind closed doors and settle things . The collaborationists think that theunion officials make up the union. not the tOlal membership " They see the

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8fl 10 JUS job of the unton as a middle man between the l'ompany and the workers,? ~ K E 1>OU6LY not as the organization and orgamzer of the workers in their fight againstthe company.,U R ~ rn Workers control: Marxists understand that it is the struggle againstcapital that prepares workers themselves. as a class , to rule. To us tradeunions are a school for socialism.We t r a n ~ l u t e thi .. intD trade union terms through the colH:ept of workerl(Jntl'nl. The main reasoll why we as workers organizc llurc;cl\,cs into unionsis I II ga in morc contr ll l over our ow n lives and ou r destinies. This is therca.,c," \\ c light for h ighcr wages and benel1h . This is \\ hy we light for

more humane working cond il illns . In e\er} area, we light to limit ande m r o a ~ h on the pcrogulivc i r ma nagement and 10 increase l)Ur ownfrcecl\)111 or a,:t iJ o an d init iative 1'; wMkcrs . We try to limit and control Iheautho r iTa ria n and arib itrarv power management tr ies III exe rcise over u


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and try to extend to the grealest degree possible the rights of workers andour fre edom of action. We press from within the s ystem for the greatestpossible power ( 0 organize and control our own work processes.The nolion of workers control and that of democratic unionism are closely\ related . We can't use our union to fight 10 gain more control over our ownlives unless we democratically control Our own union. And workers whodemocratically control a union always use it to fight to gain more conrolover their lives as workers.n practice, collaborationists always reject the notions of workers controland democratic unionism. They respect, defend and enforce theperogatives of management. They help management limit .workerself.activity directed at gaining more control and help to maintain theauthori tarian stru ctur e of the work place. They do all in their power to free

themselves from the controlling pressures of the workers who want theunion to fight for their real needs. They not only unde rmine uniondemocracy, they also enforce and defend rules and procedures which limitthe range of effective action open to the union.TV. Class soUdarlty: Marxists believe that the interests of workers as aclass supersede all individual, sectional and parochial interests. Wetranslate this into the terms of today's tr ade union movement as classsolidarity. Every victory of workers advances all workers- every defeatsets us all back. We fight for solidarity among all working people: thoseseeking work as well as the employed. those not yet organized into unionsas well as the organized, work ing people of all countries of the wor ld andnot just working people of the U.S. in response to every major workersstrike or s truggle , the bosses try to defeat the workers with cries of damage14

to the public interest. We recognize no such thing as pUblic interest.Ther e are only cl ass interests-the interests of Ihe workers versus theinteres ts of the bosses .The coll aborationist bureaucracy r m i n e ~ class solidarity . Theydefend the bosses notion that so called pub lic interest comes beforeworke rs' interest. They refuse to use the power of the employed worker tovigorou sly defend the unemployed; refuse to use the power of theorga nized workers to defend and to he lp organize the unorgani7ed; refusettl use the power of the union to su pport community struggles; refuse tochampion international class solidarity but rather help th e capitalists andpoliticians playoff worker of one country against worker or another. Werespond with the slogan: An injury to one is an injury to all- a victory forany workers is a victory for the whole class.

V. Champion Uberation, support all struggles against oppression:Marxists understand that capitaJists use special oppres s ion to divi de andweaken the working class by undermining class unity. Special oppressionpits white wo rkers against black, male workers agains t female. pits theworkers of one national group against workers of another. We alsounderstand that effective fighting unity c.mnot be achieved betweenworkers of the oppressed group and workers of the dominant group on thebasis of any acceptance of social inequaJity. A precondition for effectiveunity IS lhe committment of workers from the dominant social groups tobecome champions of the fight against inequality and for the liberation ofthe oppressed.We fight for these ideas inside the unions. In particular we fight toconvince workers that in order to become effective class struggle unionists,and in order to accomplish our objectives. it is necessary to join in the fightagainst black and racial oppression. women's oppression, etc. We poinl outil1at no part of the labor movemenl (not even the rank and file. classstruggle opposition) can expect to have the confidence or real support ofworkers who are subject to special oppression if it goes along with thatoppression and refuses to lead a fight against it.The racism and chauvinism of the union bureaucraC)' is covered only withthe thinnest liberal veneer. They have not only refused to champion thefight against oprression. but have shown themselves to time and again be aparty to it.

VD. Labor s need for our o ~ l 1 party: As Marxists, we understand thatbasic defense and advancement of working class interests requires apolitical and not merely an economic response. It is only in the politicalstruggle that the most fundamental class questions facing the workingclass can be raised and fought for. We call for and fight for a party whichwill co nsistently champion the interests of the working class. Weunderstand in advance , that no reformist labor party can do this . Nor do wecall for a reformist labor party. Our fight against collaborationism in thetrade unions carries over into a fight against reformism in the realm ofpol itics. In posing the need for a p arty that fights or a program to m eet thereal needs of workers. we are p osing the ne ed for a party that goes beyondrefomism. We raise the question of the labor party in a way whichalge braically poses th e question of class power and workers government.Both the Democratic alld Republican Par ties are contro lled by the bossesand by politicians loyal to them. For these people, the private greed andprofit of the powerfu l few are more important than the real interests of thevast majority. They use the govern me nt to defend the inte rests of the big

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corporations against the workers. Working people need our own party sothat we, the majority, can use the power of government to defend ourinterests against the greed of the wea lthy and powerful few. We need aparty tha.t can fight for a political program base d on real working peoplesneeds and not on the defense of private p rofit. We argue for a labor party intenns of specific issues such as inflation, llnemployment, wage controls ,government anti-labor intervention. Watergate,. etc .Our collaborationist union leadership are already fully involved inpolitics through the Democratic Pa rty. This is nothing more or less than anexpression. in the realm of politics, of the same class collaborationistpolitics that they carry out within the unions . They refuse to lead workers,

the majority, to fight for UT own interests against the bosses. Rather theyhope to get crumbs from tbe bosses in retu rn for the favor of helping tiethe workers to the capitalist dominated Democratic Party But as economicconditions ge t worse. we don t even get crumbs any mor just a kick inthe ass. Our union leaders sit on the Republican Presiden t s wage contr olboards and support the Democratic politicians who are pushing for morewage controls .Our unions are a lready involved in politics. We fight for a labor party assomething tha t will be needed before it will be possible to effectively fightin the political arena for our true needs as workers. Today, the fight for alabor party is an importan t part of the fight against the collaborationistlea dership .Bu t until the collaborationists are throroughJy defeated, even ifwe can win our unions to the task of launching a mass labor party. we wiUhave to continue to fight the collaborationists within the labor party for aprogram that really meets working peoples needs.vn An organized class struggle movement: As Marxists, we understandthat political objectives can best be accomplished through organization.We argue to workers that t will take an organized class struggle movementto eff ol tivcly lead a fight to rebuild our unions and to reclaim them fromthe collaborationist class traitors who now control t hem. We concretize thisby fighting for local caucuses and national caucuses and for the need to winthem to policies and programs based on class struggle unionist principles.We also raise the idea for a broader class struggle movement based onthese principles to connect up workers from different unions together withunorgani zed workers, unemployed workers, black. minority andcommunity organizations. Without generating illusions about the speed atwhich this can happen , this is the task we pose.To summarize, class str uggle unionists are trade union mili tantscommitted to;1. Class st rug gle app roach2. Rank and me orienta tion3. Workers control4. Cl ass solidari tyS. Cha mpioning beration and support to a ll struggles againstoppression6. Labor s need fo r our own pa rty7 An organized class struggle movemen

5. A Bridge to Revolutionary MarxismThe IS is a socialist. revolutionary marxist organization whose membersare a ll militant ,:.;:;:; struggle unionists . Class struggle unioni sm is oneimportant part of revolutionary Ma rxism. But Marxism involves much

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more tha n just class struggle union ism. t is the science that gives aproletarian class answer to all questions confronting the working class; itrepresen ts the crystalization of the international class memory and classexperience of the working class; it represents the understanding that thereis an emerging international crisis of immense proportions and that on ainternational scale. either the working class will take power. or civilizationwill be destroyed. The IS represents an organized commitment to fight tobuild the US section of an international revo lutiona ry Marxist workerspa rty. Marxism tells us that either the party will be built. or the workingclass will be defeated .We use the political concepts embodied in the principles of class struggleunionism as a bridge from today s consciousn ess and trade unionexperience to Marxist ideas. D individual who in a serious wayinternalizes these concepts will rapidly move in the direction of our totalpolitics. Besides the IS . there exists no a single organized politica ltendency of any size or consequence whose politics are consistent with aser ious commitmen t to them. No. 1 by asserting that labor peace isimpossible becau se of basic co nflicting interests between classe s. alreadybe gins to weed out reformis ts. Nos. 2 an d 3 include concepts that gnawaway at the very core of stalinism. No.6 is inconsistent with sy nctica lismand most fo rms of anarchism. No. 7 rejects dual un ionism. and the wholeapproach. taken togeter. rejects anti-union spontancism and abstractsec ta rianism.The se ven points. taken together. algegraicaUy pose a set of tasks thatcan , in fact , only be carr ied out by a revolutionary party . or at least a massrevolut ionary workers organizat ion on the verge of becoming a par ty. Thefight to win workers to a thoroug h unders tanding and acceptance of theseprin ciples. in terms of immediate tasks, is in a sense the fight to win themto the need for a party that can organize to carry out these tasks.n the middle 60's, politicaUy serious students who were an ti-stalinist.\ anti-Democratic Party, and who favored non- se ctarian full participation inthe mass movements. joined the Independent Socialist Clubs. thefo rerunner of the International Social ists. Once they were su re on thesequestions . they were willing to recei ve the rest of their pol itical traininginside the organization. Today we want politically serious wo rker s . who areclear on the questions of class struggle unionism and have drawnrevo lutionary conclusions . to join the IS and learn the rest of their politicsinside the organization .t is fundamental to our perspective that the wor ld crisis of capitalism iswhat makes both a class struggle rank and file movement and arevolutionary workers party possible . n life. the bridge betweenmilitant unionism. class struggle unionism and revolutionary marxistpoli tics is the nature of the cr isis. The ideas of class struggle unionism areessentia lly a reflection of that objective reality and the contradictions in it.As ideas they embody the direction the st ruggle mus t take to succeed atany point. Without the crisis they would be ideas that could no t win a massfol lowing. By themse lves. the principles of class struggle unionism app eartimeles s. Seen as a bridge in today's con text, however, they provide themeans for ed ucati ng workers on the nature of the capitalis t crisis byrelating it to their experience today .IS members entered industry. for the most part. just as the rank and file

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rcbc lJion of the late 1960's rcached its limits. Nixon s New Economic Policyand the employers' speed-up offensive succe :ded in desuoy itl g themomen tum oftha t moveme nt and we spcn t three years experiencing thatdefca a de feat of the e ntire working class. Nevertheless . the trade unionwork carried out by the IS. especially give n the small forces a t our disposal.has been qualitatively su perior to tha t of any other leftis t organization inthis country. The members of our tiny indust ri al frac tion s have establishedthemse lves as res pected militants and unionists. We have participated inbuilding we ll -rea d and we ll- respected publications . we have made stridestowards eSltablishing rea, caucuses, we have joined and he lped leadnu merous struggles and campaigns. and our wo rk has bad sign ificantinrlucnce on the consciousness of broad lavers of workers a round us. Mostimporta :n t. ou r trade un ion work has become the cente r of the life of theorgani1.a1ion, and helped place us so lidly on the road toward becoming aworkers organization.Now we are work.in g to complete the transformation of the IS into arcv lu lonary workers organization. Our approach is to group around the ISa milieu of workers won to a conscious conception of the mselves as classstruggle unionists. and to recruit increasing numbers of revolutionaryworkers to the organization out of that milieu. This strategy for building arevolutiona ry pany and our conception of the rank a nd file movlllenl (themateria l embodimcn t of c l s ~ s trugg le unionism) is one of the .distinctchara rteristic


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We stand for: IatemaUonal Soclal1811u the replacement Ofdecaying A pitalism and bureaucratic collect ivism( Communism ) by a revolution from below,controlled by the working and aimed atdemocrat ic rule over. aU social institutions. WoDen Power as the solution to Am erica 'sever-deepening social crisis: rank-and-file committees in the unions to struggle for democratic powerand to fight w.bere and when the union leadersmuse to fight - independent political action byworkers' organizations to fight for labor's needs, inopposition to the Democratic and Republicanbusinessmen's parties - toward a workers ' party tofight for a workers' government.The Uberadon of all oppreNed pup. : independent organization of blacks and womell to fightdiscrimination - an end to all radal and sexualoppression - the uniting of separate strU8$les in acommon fight to end human exploitation andoppression. World-wIde opposJtion to ImperiaUsm andexplolta&Joas for the self-determination of a1l peoples- for an end to US domination of the world's peoplesin the interests of corporate power - for w o r krevolts against the bureaucratic-collectivist (socalled Communist ) reg imes - for wO ken ' powerEut aod West to build lnt.ematJoaal lOdalIua.

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JlntematlonaJ Socialists Name .. ...................14131 Woodward Ave.BJghland Pk., MJ 482 3 Address ....................I wouJd like more InfOt- CIty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..matlon about the InternationaJ Socialists. Occupation .................

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Workers' Power is rapidly developing a reputation ashaving the best labor coverage of any r,aper on the left.It reports on the growing rank and me movement andincludes regular articles on auto, steel, telephone, theTeamsters, the Farmworkers, and CLUW (Coalition ofLabor Union Women).Workers' Powerdiscusses theproblems ofbuilding a revolutionary movement around theworld to overthrow Capitalismand Stalinism. Itdiscusses developments in theblack and women's liberationmovements and

. 1\ , .... ,Company Tels Workers:Y(UNIOtYORy(uLH

-_ - -- _ ..~ . . . : : . . . ~ - .. -- ---_ ....deals with the . ~ : : : : : ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ f : : : :ocial problems -=-=.:-:.=facing working I:. . -people.ecent issueshave Included anexclusive inter ICIvciBI foI tam...... .. pp 8view with Bernadette Devlinon the Irish fight for socialism, 8 discussion of racism Inthe steel i n d u ~ t r y with Jim DaviS, black leader of theAd Hoc Committee of Concerned Steelworkers, aneyewitness account of the farmworkers struggle in

Coachella, childcare problems facing working womenand much, much more.Workers' Power, the newspaper of the InternationalSoctallsts, discusses the growing crisis of capitalismand poses a solution - socialist revolution and workers'cont rol.Subscribe Now!Workers' Power, 14131 Woodwud Avenue, IDghland Park, MI 48203.Subscriptions: 55.00 per year. Supporting: $7.50. Introductorysubscriptions: 51.00 for Dve issues.

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sun press IInternational Socialist Pamphle tsWalt Castle and Ma rilyn Danton, Chile: The Road to Disaster $.50Bernadette Devlin. The Irish Fight (or SociaUsm .05Hal Draper, The Two Souls of Socialism .25Joel Geier. The Task for Socialists: BuIlding the Revolutionary P arty .25Celia Emerson. Revolutionarv Feminism .50Duncan Hallas. et. aI., PoUdes as Religion: Tbe Degeneration oftbe Fourth Intemallonal .9SChris Harmon. Part) IlDd Class .25NigeJ Harris and Michael Kid ron. Tbe Emerging Crisis of Capitalism .75AlexandraKollonlal,lntematlonal Women's Day .25Laurie Landy, Women in China .60Lori Larkin. Productivity: The Employer's Attack and How to Fightil .50Kim Moody. The Sb'uggle In the Coal Fields .25Jack Trautman. ed . Bureaucratic Collectivism: The StallnlstSocial System .75Steve Zcluck. Towanl Teacber Power .60Workers' Power Reprin tsBlack Workers on the Move .15The Coalition of Labor Union Women: Wbat t Is and Bow To Build It .25Don't Buy " Buy American .25SociaJist Experience Series(a se ries of educational reprints )1 War and the Middle East /52. The Popular Front of the 1930's .353. The Cinese Revolution 1 004. Read ings in the Political Economy of CapitalIsm 1.005. The So-C.Ued Socialist Countries: A Marxist Analysis 1 00Network Pam phletDetroit Auto Uprising 1973 .50

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