New Perspectives on Anarchism, Labour and Syndicalism: The International, the National and
the Transnational. Edited by David Berry and Constance Bantman. Published by Cambridge
Scholars Publishing ---- Syndicalism in a Neo-Liberal Climate ---- Some contemporary
syndicalist writers (favouring ultra democratic principles, industrial unionism, direct
action on the job, independence of unions from all political parties and workers control
of industry and communities) have argued that with the steady roll back of the welfare
state, relentless privatisation pushes and the adopting of neo-liberal programs by
various social democratic parties and bureaucratic unions in the advanced capitalist
world, since the 1980’s orchestrated and facilitated by various agents of international
capitalism e.g. the CIA, international management consultant firms such as Price
Waterhouse, etc, important preconditions for the resurgence of a mass syndicalist union
movement on an international scale are emerging.
As workers presumably will be compelled to self organise and take direct action to counter
the continuous deepening attacks of the employer offensive, assisted by Governments and
the bureaucratic unions. Whilst the bases of support of these formally social democratic
organisations will radically decline and associated illusions will be dispelled with the
parliamentary electoral road and the smoke and mirrors of the bureaucratic union
negotiations game.
In the Australian context, the bureaucratic unions have particularly played a vanguard
role in the neo-liberal onslaught via the ALP/ACTU Wages and Incomes Accord and
subsequently “Enterprise Bargaining” from the mid 1980’s onwards and the current
“unofficial accord” – the close cooperation between ALP controlled bureaucratic unions and
ALP/Liberal Governments and managements to facilitate various neo-liberal attacks.
The international syndicalist movement which had emerged in the late 19th Century and
early 20th Centuries, reached its high point in the immediate post WWI period, when the
International Workers Association formed in 1922 from mostly syndicalist union
movements in mostly European and Latin American countries with a membership of over 2
million workers. It had declined in the late 1920’s and 1930’s associated with a range of
factors such as the rise of Fascism, a number of
dictatorships in Latin America, the rise of mass Stalinism associated with the
proliferation of Communist Parties, the Welfare State and fixed term contracts. In the
immediate post WWII period, the outbreak of the “Cold War” and the associated US financed
boom in particularly European countries in the “Western Orbit” and the emergence of the
welfare state phenomena, created seeming insurmountable obstacles to the resurgence of
mass syndicalist unionism.
An important factor in the emergence of the embryonic syndicalist movement in many
countries during the harsh labour organising and Laissez Faire environment of the late
19th Century and early 20th Century was the initial support of state structures and
electoral competition between political parties. In the case of the French Syndicalist
movement, the Bourse du Travail – state sponsored labour exchanges formed in the late 19th
Century led to the formation of local alliances of unions and subsequently a federation -
the Bourse Du Travail
Labour Federation, which in 1900 merged withthe CGT (General Confederation of Labour).(1)
Until the immediate WWI period,
it had a syndicalist orientation and major influence on the internationalsyndicalist
movement. Whilst, in Spain
during this period, the early syndicalist unions which went on to affiliate to the
CNT(National Confederation of Labour) formed in 1910, were
greatly assisted by the Republican movement, which was competing for working class support
with the Socialist Party in elections and provided a range of assistance e.g.
offices,legal help, publishing, etc. Most significant was the Blasco tendency in
Valencia.(2)
In the contemporary Anglo World situation, it’s likely syndicalist catalyst groupings will
have to do much of the “heavy lifting” in providing the infrastructure to assist major
breakaways from the formerly Social Democratic unions which would form transitional steps
to achieving mass syndicalist union centres.
The essays in this volume were mostly presented at the Anarchist Studies Conference held
at Loughborough University, UK in 2008. They focus on four key areas. An overview of the
syndicalist movement in Europe from the early 20th Century to WWI, key
militants in the movement, studies of aspects of the movement and interpretations.
“Uneasy Family: Revolutionary Syndicalism in Europe From the Charte D’Amiens to World War
One” by Wayne Thorpe, examines the profound influence of the syndicalist oriented French
CGT (General Confederation of Labour) on the emergence of the movement throughout Europe
at this time, and conflicts between it and allied movements in other countries.
Whilst “From Trade Unionism to Syndicalisme Revolutionnaire to Syndicalism: The British
Origins of French Syndicalism” by
Constance Bantman, examines the critical influence of British industrial unrest in the
late 19th and early 20th
Century on the formation of the French CGT.“Analysing Revolutionary Syndicalism: The
Importance of Community” by Bert Altena, shows the difficulties in explaining the
emergence of syndicalist unionism in different countries. He agrees with the views of the
historian of revolutionary syndicalism, Marcel Van Der Linden that major reasons for the
decline and marginalisation of syndicalist labour movements particularly in the post WWII
period was the existence of national fixed term labour agreements and the emergence of the
“Welfare State” phenomena.(3) Altena, also considers that the emergence of commercial mass
entertainment and sport, played a key role in undermining syndicalist influence and
culture amongst workers. However, the most interesting essays in this volume shed light
on the above phenomena in Poland and the role of the Cold War in severely weakening
resurgent syndicalist unionism, particularly in France in the immediate post
WWII period and a possible “realistic” approach for establishing mass syndicalist
unionism in Australia and elsewhere today.
Polish Syndicalism & Anarchism
The emergence of the Polish syndicalist movement is discussed in the essays, “Polish
Anarchism and Anarcho-Syndicalism in
the Twentieth Century” by Rafael Chwedoruk and “Internationalism in the Border Triangle:
Alfons Pilarski and Upper
Silesian Anarcho-Syndicalism during the Interwar Years” by Dieter Nelles, and shows this
pattern. These essays
sketch the background to the emergence of the ZZZ(Central Wydzial Zawodny (Union of Trade
Unions, Poland) which was the largest union confederation in Poland in the interwar
Period, with a peak membership of 170,000 and the key role of Alfons Pilarski in its
syndicalist wing. Rafal Chwedoruk, sketches the character of the Polish Anarchist
movement in the 1920’s. It was
grouped around the Anarchist Federation of Poland (AFP), formed in 1926 and lacked much of
an industrial base. Its social composition consisted mainly of young people of the middle
class and the Jewish minority. The most important would be considered in Marxist terms
déclassé. Unlike the so called anarchist milieu in the contemporary Anglo World, which
has a similar social base but
also includes apart from students, workers with high levels of autonomy in their work, is
characterised by tiny bourgeois subcultures merging into largely sectlets and cults.
Notable for all manner of navel gazing, Stalinist legacy influence, grotesque ”political
correctness displays”, fascination with bourgeois identity politics, the typical
“oppression mongering and guilt tripping” of middle class leftists,
introversion and bizarre antics and generally “running around like headless chickens”
chasing any fashionable issue and struggle going. The AFP developed a serious orientation
to the workers movement.
The author looks at how these elements were drawn into engagement with the ZZZ via the
influence
of Pilarski. The type of absolutely dedicated and dynamic figure, the syndicalist movement
has often thrown up throughout its history. He had been the political editor of the
syndicalist paper, “Freedom” in Upper Silesia, Germany and had also initiated
the Black Cohorts, antifascist fighting organisation. As a result of his involvement with
it, and the coming to power of Hitler, Pilarski was forced to flee to Poland. There he
also became employed by the ZZZ Secretariat and subsequently became the editor of its
national daily
paper “Workers Front”. He was also employed in the Polish State Radio as a speaker
broadcasting to Nazi Germany. Subsequently, he was co-opted to the ZZZ national
executive. With the agreement of the International Workingmen’s Association (IWMA)
international
syndicalist organisation, he was able to persuade members of the AFP to leave and become
involved in the youth and cultural associations of the ZZZ. The anarchists in the ZZZ were
pushing for the merger of the socialist unions with the ZZZ. The authors look at how the
ZZZ in 1931 formed via the merger of the GFP (General Federation of
Labour-Poland)influenced by the French CGT (General Confederation of Labour) during its
syndicalist phase and smaller non syndicalist unions. Government support for the ZZZ to
counter the influence of the Socialist
Party allied unions, greatly assisted its expansion in Govt. owned industry. As a result
of Pilarski’s efforts and the influx of young anarchists from the AFP, the ZZZ
increasingly moved toward a syndicalist orientation. The authors show how this involved
participation in
numerous strikes and conflict with the Polish Govt, resulting in a counter attack by its
former sponsor. It entailed
the Govt. provoking a major split in the ZZZ, via threats of the withdrawal of employment
privileges to ZZZ members. Resulting in its shrinkage
to 40,000 members in 1937. The Polish State proceeded to wage a campaign of harassment
against ZZZ militants. The ZZZ went on to adopt an explicitly syndicalist program and
became drawn into relations with IWMA sections. By the
onset of WWII it had become a small, but very combative union centre.
Syndicalist Movement Crisis in Post WWII France
“How and Why The French Anarchists Rallied to the CGT-FO (1947-1950)”, by Guillaume
Davranche, examines how the French syndicalist and
anarchist movements were severely weakened by the outbreak of the Cold War. The author
particularly focuses on
the resurgence of a diverse but minority syndicalist movement in the wake of industrial
unrest during 1946-47 amongst workers in diverse industries e.g. postal and
communications, railways, metal working, etc, against the close collaboration of the
Communist Party controlled CGT - main union centre with the French Govt. in post war
austerity policies and reconstruction. It was characterised by one small explicitly
syndicalist union centre the CNT (National Confederation of Labour) which split from the
CGT in 1946 and a range
of “autonomous” unions with vague syndicalist orientations, which formed in the context of
the Post WWII wildcat strike wave.
Whilst a “reformist” opposition also developed in the CG to oppose the Communist
leadership, the Amis de FO supportive of the US foreign policy agenda.
A serious omission in the essay, is any discussion of the role of the CIA in helping
provoke the split leading to the CGT-FO and
its continued funding up till the Reagan Administration. Around this time a similar
rightward split in the SAC(Swedish Workers Centre) – a small
syndicalist union centre, increasingly moving toward orthodox social democratic unionism
and integration into the Welfare State) occurred and has been alleged by veteran SAC
militants to be also engineered by the CIA.(4)
The author particularly examines the failure of the FA (French Anarchist Federation)
attempts to establish a syndicalist
union centre with a mass base to counter Soviet imperialist and US imperialist influence
in the French labour movement, as manifested in the CGT and CGT-FO. The Post WWII FA
appears to be a far cry from the contemporary tacky groupings of oppression mongering,
guilt tripping, amateur “social worker” activoids and navel gazers in the contemporary
Anglo World, which abuse the anarchist label. Like Polish AFP, it had a serious
orientation toward building a syndicalist movement in strategic industries. A key aspect
of the FA strategy was to encourage the formation of a new union confederation comprising
the CNT and the various autonomous unions. The author shows FA was unsuccessful in this
strategy. It’s call to establish a new syndicalist union centre was rejected at the first
conference of the autonomous unions held on 19-20 Nov. 1948. Whilst Trotskyists were
successful at the conference in establishing the CUAS (United Syndicalist
Action Cartel), a liaison committee linking up autonomous unions. The FA saw this new
structure as a partial victory. However, the author shows it dissolved in a few years
time, due to centrifugal forces unleashed by the main union
centres. In the process the CNT which initially had very promising prospects with an
estimated
100,000 members and bases in strategic sectors such as auto, transport, etc, also
underwent a severe crisis,
losing most of its base to the CGT-FO or the independent unions.(5)
Perspectives for Syndicalists in Contemporary Australia
In Australia today, we appear to have reached a dead end with any electoral approach to
help establish the transitional steps
toward a mass syndicalist union centre, associated with the rorting of the 2014 elections
in the Rail Tram & Bus Union(RTBU). Prominent roles in the rorting apart from the ALP
union hierarchy were played by the AEC (Australian Electoral Commission) and the role of
ASIO must also be considered. Certainly important precedents have been set for these
forces rorting any further elections for important positions in unions. Whilst, the
openness to rorting via hacking and lack of independent scrutineers of the internet
ballots for the RTBU enterprise agreements in 2014, also sets precedents in other
industries and unions. (7)
As in the post WWII French situation, break away unions seem to be the only way forward,
which could federate to form a syndicalist pole of attraction in the Australian labour
movement. Such a union centre would need to bases in strategic sectors so as to launch
direct action to slow the tempo of the employer offensive, break out of enterprise
bargaining, and defy repressive industrial
legislation. Consequently, an expanding syndicalist union movement would emerge to wipe
out the bases of ALP aligned bureaucratic unionism.
In conclusion, the collection of essays in the volume do an excellent job sketching
various factors leading to the emergence of the international syndicalist movement in the
late 19th and early 20th Centuries. It also does a very effective job in sketching the
role of exception militants in helping achieving important organisational break throughs
for the syndicalist movement. The light it throws
on important reasons for the decline of mass syndicalism in the post WWII period, would
benefit from some discussion of the role of such international agencies of global capital
such as the CIA.
Mark McGuire
NOTES
1. See, Wikipedia “Bourse du Travail”.
2. See, “Democracy, Trade Unions and
Political Violence in Spain: The Valencian Anarchist Movement 1918-1936” by
Richard Purkiss, Published by Sussex Academic Press.
3. See, “Revolutionary Syndicalism: An International Perspective”, Ed.
Marcel Van Der Linden and Wayne Thorpe.
4. See, Wikipedia “CGT-FO”.
5. Discussion with veteran SAC Stockholm Local
Member.
6. See “Introducing CNT-F” on
www. iww.org
7. See, “NSW Railway News” in RW Vol.34 No.1(222) Mar.-April 2015 p3.
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