[news] Anarchism & the Trade Unions

[Resist!ca]

Rarely do we hear the words "anarchist" and "trade unionist" in the same 
sentence; however, as Brian Sheppard writes below, this has not always been the 
case.  For example, anarchist militants played a crucial role in many of 
the working class battles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, like the 
struggle for the eight hour day, as well as those of the radical Industrial 
Worker's of the World ("Wobblies").   There are no laws, graven in stone, 
which say that trade unions have to be organized in a hierarchical, top-down 
manner or that a bureaucratic class of "trade union professionals" are needed 
to "manage down" struggles to conform to the need to maintain "labour peace." 
 Indeed, the history and traditions of working-class anarchism has much to 
offer today's generation of class conscious workers, who are quickly coming to 
the realization that the TU "movement" is even incapable of doing what is 
necessary to protect the hard-won victories of the past, let alone play a 
constructive role in the more fundamental victories of the future.

URL: http://resist.ca/story/2004/8/10/182317/419