For workers’ unity across different sectors! For a General Strike against Capital!

[The following leaflet was distributed at the March 26, 2011 demonstration against the government ‘cuts’ in London. These cuts, defended by the government as necessary to ’balance the budget’ were, of course, nothing other than direct attacks on the working class, and have resulted in drastic cuts to the social wage, as well as direct attacks in terms of wage reductions, mass redundancies in the public sector, the introduction of short-term contracts and reductions in the level of unemployment benefits. Major strikes by sectors of the public sector followed later in 2011, culminating in the November 30th one day strike, for which see other articles in the current edition.
     As usual, the workers’ anger was carefully dispersed in the processions and demos, as they were ‘marched up to the top of the hill, and marched back down again’: for having processed for miles in the expectation of hearing some kind of inspiring rallying call, they were forced instead, as usual, to sit through the depressing, opportunist ramblings of various labourites and trade union leaders whose only message was ‘go home, and leave it to us’.
     In the face of this, we continue to encourage groups of discontented workers, frustrated by the trade union leaders and their continual kowtowing to the bosses and the ‘realities’ of capitalism, to start the process of organising on their own. During the present crisis, in which masses of workers from different sectors are being attacked hard and simultaneously, the need for a class union, prepared to fight for class demands is moving further and further up the agenda. Clearly this is more than the catch-all solution put forward by the labourites and leaders of the official unions: “let the union leaders negotiate with the bosses, and vote for Labour!” If that continues to be their position, it is difficult to see how the workers are going to find any other solution apart form organising outside and against the official unions!]

The current crisis is the result of over production and the tendency of the rate of profit to fall. As the rate of profit plummets and vast masses of commodities sit rotting in the warehouses, the forces of capital want the wage earning class, whether in or out of work, to pay for the crisis. The slashing of wages, the extension of working hours, the increased pace of work, and the move away from full time work to temporary contracts and even unpaid work is now reaching an insupportable level. Along with this the social wage is also being reduced, that is, the safety net for the proletariat that provides a buffer against ill health and disability, unemployment and poverty and finally, in the twilight of our lives, old age. Now the bosses and their government are telling us we will have to retire later, pay significantly more into our pension pots and get less when we retire. No wonder we are worried… and angry.

Comrades! Workers! The frantic land speculation and dealing in junk bonds which marked the beginning of the crisis is a symptom of the capitalist crisis and not its cause. The massive bailout of the banks by the government, followed by the spectacle of their senior executives awarding themselves disgustingly large bonuses, nevertheless shows precisely who calls the shots in this society. The bankers and the other plunderers of what is ultimately socially generated wealth are effectively saying “f**k you!” to the working class. They are saying “we can get away with this because it is not the politicians telling the bankers what to do. It is we tell them what to do!” Indeed, it is becoming very evident to all that the political parties are nothing but gangs of political speculators; and the elections nothing more than competitive tenders for the lucrative job of running capitalism.

Faced with these intensified attacks by Capital, the workers need to forge a united front to defend their standard of living. But it will need to be a proletarian united front, organised on class lines and incorporating both those in and out of work. It will need to be centred on real economic demands and head ultimately in the direction of a General Strike. The workers would be mugs to consign their fate to the loose coalition of miscellaneous political parties, bishops and do-gooders which will volunteer to act on their behalf today!

Comrades! Workers! In Italy, the vanguard of the workers has been compelled to organise outside and against the official trade unions such as the CGIL. These unions have clearly gone over to the side of the bourgeoisie, since they are prepared to modify all there demands to fit around the requirements of the bosses and the national economy. Rather than just offering a mediation service, and cheap car insurance or whatever, perhaps the trades unions need to recall that it is force which is the deciding factor; as the whopping 15% wage rise recently won by State employees during the recent uprising in Egypt so graphically illustrates.

The rediscovering of working class consciousness will be more and more likely, even in this so-called ‘classless society’, as the bosses’ offensive becomes more and more intense and, well, obvious. But to make sense of these lessons the class also needs its party, which functions as the repository of its history – its past, present and its future – and as the force which focuses the working class on its historical mission, of finally settling accounts with the source of all its ills – Capitalism.