Alienation of the working class

I think one of the main problems within Anarcho syndicalism is that modern unions have been altogether hijacked by state socialist groups and even worse - social democracy. This follows wide move away from anarchism within the working class - esp in the US. The problem dosn't seem as bad on the European continent so much - where Anarchism is still regraded in much the same way as it has always been.

Anarchy has an uphill battle to fight, in that we need to re-legitimize the movement in the public eye. Unfortunately many working professionals see anarchists as ''out of touch''. I think much of this has to do with the fact over the last few decades anarchism has 'unfortunately ' adopted the image of an upper middle class youth fad as opposed to a legitimate social movement . I think its important to educate working class people about the history of traditional anarchism.

+ unions have a leader which will in itself form inequalities I think we should be ran by worker councils if people can't accept anarchism

Killuminati wrote:

+ unions have a leader which will in itself form inequalities I think we should be ran by worker councils if people can't accept anarchism

Many modern unions are rotten to the core.

The union I used to be in was a joke - all the union reps where made supervisers and given frequent wage rises by the company. Upper management had them in their pocket. It took a while to notice but after a few months I had the place totally figured out - corruption of the highest order.

well obviously unions functioning within a capitalist government aren't good representations of how trade unionism should function

Alek4a wrote:

well obviously unions functioning within a capitalist government aren't good representations of how trade unionism should function

now thinking about it...that's true....

I don't think the current state of unions is any reason to oppose Syndicalism or Unionism or whatever. There's no way an Anarchist can deny organization at the workplace is very important, what with our culture of workplace occupation, protest, etc. I mean, with a political basis as well -- the workplace is where the exploitation happens, the workers controlling their workplaces is what we want as Leftists anyway.

So sure, unions at the moment are a joke, but we cannot deny their potential.

Alek4a wrote:

well obviously unions functioning within a capitalist government aren't good representations of how trade unionism should function

Where else would you need a union? Unions are a necessary product of capitalism. If it wasn't for capitalism, all society would be one big union (thus the name 'union' wouldn't be necessary). If anything, the unions within a capitalist society have a lot to prove. They need to set a precedent for labor solidarity.

Inkus2000 wrote:

Anarchy has an uphill battle to fight, in that we need to re-legitimize the movement in the public eye. Unfortunately many working professionals see anarchists as ''out of touch''. I think much of this has to do with the fact over the last few decades anarchism has 'unfortunately ' adopted the image of an upper middle class youth fad as opposed to a legitimate social movement . I think its important to educate working class people about the history of traditional anarchism.

American anarchy. *gag* All they do is spray paint (A)'s all over rich people's homes. Though there is no revolutionary situation in Amerika, and won't be for some time, i think, they are making it all the more difficult to create one. What we really need is some way to distance ourselves from those bourgie mother-fuckers. Since that seems difficult given the fact that there is no significant anarchist organization in this country, i just leave the word anarchy out of my vocabulary. If you teach in a way that relates to the people, they will learn, i guarentee it. Just don't alienate them with words they've been indoctrinated to react unfavorably to. For now, this is my strategy.

Ink, what kind of anarchist are you? Are you communist? Cos i coulda swore you were syndicalist.

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Where else would you need a union? Unions are a necessary product of capitalism. If it wasn't for capitalism, all society would be one big union (thus the name 'union' wouldn't be necessary). If anything, the unions within a capitalist society have a lot to prove. They need to set a precedent for labor solidarity.

Exactly. The previous post barely makes sense. It's not that unions need to be improved, they're always going to be, well, capitalist unions (excepting some wonderful organizations such as the IWW), it's that there's no sense of anti-Capitalist or Anarchist-Syndicalist worker organization at play. There's not much class consciousness -- sure, there are most likely an abundance of workers who feel they're being exploited, but they're not turning to Communism or Anarchism or Syndicalism -- mostly because of the public portrayal of these things. Communism = Stalin, Anarchism = Chaos, Syndicalism = what the hell is that? Social misconception of leftism is seriously one of the larger plagues of the entire movement; this is because our ideologies depend solely on the support of the people.

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Exactly. The previous post barely makes sense. It's not that unions need to be improved, they're always going to be, well, capitalist unions (excepting some wonderful organizations such as the IWW), it's that there's no sense of anti-Capitalist or Anarchist-Syndicalist worker organization at play. There's not much class consciousness -- sure, there are most likely an abundance of workers who feel they're being exploited, but they're not turning to Communism or Anarchism or Syndicalism -- mostly because of the public portrayal of these things. Communism = Stalin, Anarchism = Chaos, Syndicalism = what the hell is that? Social misconception of leftism is seriously one of the larger plagues of the entire movement; this is because our ideologies depend solely on the support of the people.

The workplace is highly divided and complex - Modern unions are ineffective for numerous reasons not least the undemocratic mode of organization and total lack of inclusiveness. Union representatives are secure in their position and not accountable to the will of the workers. This is bound to end in corruption - reps are bought up by the companies. An effective union would need to based on rotational representation - nothing less.

Those wage earners who are members of the management class will consistently pose a problem to the radicalization process within the labor movement. While the hegemony of the upper class is reproduced upon the populace the leaders of the unions ''invaribaly middle class'' will act to undermine any proposed counter-culture. What is called for is a new revolutionary labor movement under our flag to act as a countervailing force standing in opposition to buguarsie unionism. Unions of various categories should unite under our alternative banner.

Organized labor will be at the heart of any future revolution - workplace occupation en - mass will end capitalism.

I believe that a big problem with Unions is greed. If that trait was eliminated then there would be less corruption.