FOR A CLASS UNION: News and interventions of the class struggle Class Union or One Big Union?

The ICP argues for a class union dedicated to protecting the economic interests of the entire working class. The class union organizes workers across employers, industries, and national boundaries. It encompasses all occupations no matter if “skilled” and “unskilled”, “blue-collar” and “white-collar”. It promotes the unity of action of the entire working class. It maintains a completely combative position against the bosses, never collaborating or cooperating with them under any circumstances. It pays no respect to the laws that protect the bourgeoisie, especially those that limit the workers’ right to strike.

The class union should be as widelybased as possible. In this respect it differs from party-unions and parties in place of unions, which are both promoted by the various opportunist factions. This is not to say that it should be apolitical. Not every worker is willing or able to join the communist party at any given time. Even so, they can still be of great help in workers’ struggles.

The IWW

For the most part, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) is mired in the anarchist and ”libertarian socialist” ideologies which failed so badly in the post World War One revolutions and, more importantly, the Spanish Civil War. The concept of “autonomy” of local unions, individual workplaces, etc was alien to the classic IWW. IWW in the 1970s abandoned the industrial outlook of the OG IWW. So they “unionize” individual workplaces, which no longer seek unity with even other workplaces in identical industries.

The ideology of autonomy means the IWW currently lacks the ability to capitalize on its strengths. For example, its membership amongst workers in Education is not insignificant – 1300 across the US. Members in the “Educational Workers Industrial Union #620” – were leaders in the 2018 West Virginia School Strike. But there is no strategy for turning isolated groups of IWW militants into an organization fighting for the unity of all workers and unions. As long as it holds onto localist autonomy it cannot become the power it should be. Instead of unity of actions, there are small handfuls of Educational workers working on their own individual and local agendas.

“Local Autonomy” also encourages IWW projects like the “Burgerville Workers Union” – a union of fast food restaurant workers in Portland, Oregon in one business. It encourages them to think it is ok to negotiate a No Strike Clause in their contract with employers, even though such a clause is in direct contradiction to the IWW’s constitution. Instead of attempting to spread their occasional successes to other restaurants, the duplicate autonomous unions for every workplace – a different burger chain is a separate and isolated union. One donut shop in a business of 10 shops (Voodoo Doughnuts Workers Union). As well as a bar going out of business! Each union is a little more tenuous and isolated for the collective power of workers to be effective.

The failures outlined above don’t mean that the IWW should be written off. It still does many good works despite the above weaknesses. For example, it’s organized militants within a number of major Canadian unions encouraging workplace actions which have won significant workplace improvements in a very hostile political environment.