Page THE MILITANT Saturday, December 14, 1929 Communism and Syndicalism. by Trotsky ComThe trade union question is a most im It is by embracing large masses that decide the question of knowing if the strike The Proletariat Does Not Demand the portant one for the labor movement and, the trade unions best fulfil their mission, is opportune and well engaged, by means Autonomy of the Trade Unions consequently, for the Opposition. Without an proletarian Party merits its name only of its political and economic information but a Correct Leadership exact position in the trade union question, if it is ideologically homogeneous, bound and by its advice. It serves the strike with the Opposition will be unable to have a by unity of action and organization. To re its agitation, etc. First place in the strike 16. The right of a political party to real influence upon the working class. That present the trade unions as able to suffice belongs, naturally, to the trade union.
fight to win the trade unions to its influence is why believe it necessary to submit here, to themselves, as though the proletariat had The situation changes radically when must not be dented, but this question must in the discussion a few considerations on the already attained its majority. is to deceive the movement rises to the general strike be posed: in the name of what program and trade union question, the proletariat, is to picture it other than and still more to the direct struggle for what tactics is this organization fighting?
The Party and the Trade Unions it is and can be under capitalism, which power. In these conditions, the leading role From this point of view, the Syndicalist The Communist Party is the funda keeps enormous masses of workers in a of the Party becomes entirely direct and League does not give the necessary guaranmental arm of revolutionary action of the retarded state of ignorance, leaving only the immediate. The trade unions naturally, not ees. Its program is extremely vague, as are proletariat, the combat organization of its vanguard of the proletariat the possibility those that pass to the other side of the its tactics. In its political estimations, it vanguard that must range itself to the role of carrying out a passage through all the difacts only according to circumstances. Acbarricade become the apparatus of orgaof guide of the working class in all the ficulties, up to the clear comprehension of nization of the Party which, in the preknowledging the proletarian revolution and spheres of its struggle and consequently in the tasks of the Its whole class.
sence of the whole class, stands forth as even the dictatorship of the proletariat, It the trade union field.
the guide of the revolution, assuming the ignores the party and fights against ComThe Real Autonomy of the Trade Unions Is Those who, in principle, oppose Not Assalled by Party Leadership whole responsibility.
munist leadership without which the protrade union autonomy to the leadership of In the field extending between the isoletarian revolution would greatly risk rethe Comunist Party, oppose thereby 10. The real, practical and not meta lated group strike and the revolutionary maining a phrase devoid of sense.
whether they want to or not the most back physical autonomy of trade union organiza Insurrection of the class are divided all the 17. The ideology of trade union indeArd proletarian section to the vanguard tion is not disturbed in the slightest degree possible forms of reciprocal relations bependence has nothing in common with the of the working class, the struggle and it not diminished by the struggle for tween the Party and the trade unions, the ideas and sentiments of the proletariat as or immediate demands to the struggle for Influence of the Communist Party. Every various degrees of direct and immediate a class. If the party, by its direction, is the complete liberation of the workers, remember of the trade union has the right leadership, etc.
capable of assuring a correct, clear sighted formlem to Communism, opportunism to reto vote as he thinks necessary and to elect But under all conditions the Party tends and firm policy in the trade unions, not a volutionary Marxism.
the one who seems to him most worthy. to win general leadership, by relying upon single worker will have the idea of rebelling Revolutionary Syndicalism and Communism Communists posses this right in the same the real autonomy of the trade unions against the leadership of the Party. The Pre war syndicalism, at the enthusway as others.
which, as organizations, it goes without historical experience of the Bolsheviks has lastic epoch of its expansion, by fighting The conquest of the majority by the saying, are not submitted to it.
proved that This also holds for France, where the for trade union autonomy, actually fought Communists in the directing organs takes place quite in accordance with the principles The Politieal Independence of the for its deliverance from the bourgeois govCommunists received 1, 200, 000 votes in the of autonomy, for example, the self adminiTrade Unions is a Myth ernment and its parties, among them the electlong while the has only a parliamentary socialist party. It was the stration of the trade unions. On the other 14. Facts show that politically indefourth or a third of this number. It is struggle against opportunism for revolu hand, no trade union statute can prevent or clear that the abstract slogan of autonomy pendent trade unions exist nowhere. There tionary methods. Moreover, revolutionary prohibit the Party from calling the general have never been any. Experience and theory cannot permit one to touch the masses.
syndicalism did not make a fetich of the secretary of the Confederation of Labor to say that there never will be any. In the Quite another thing is trade union buautonomy of the mass organizations. On the its central committee, for here we are United States, the trade unions are directly reaucracy. It not only sees professional contrary, it understood and preached the entirely in the domain of the autonomy of bound by their apparatus to the general competition in the Party bureaucracy, but leading role of the revolutionary minority the Party.
It even tends to make itself independent of staffs of Industry and the bourgeois parties in the mass organizations, which reflect the 11. In the trade untons, the In England, the trade unions which, in control by the vanguard of the proletariat.
working class with all its contradictions, munists, of course, submit to the discipline times past, mainly supported the liberals, The slogan of independence is, by its very its weaknesses, Its backward point of view. of the Party, no matter what posts they at present constitute the material basis of basis, a bureaucratic and not a class slogan. The theory of the active minority occupy. This does not exclude but supposes the Labor Party. In Germany, the trade The Fetich of Trade Union Unity was, in reality, an uncompleted theory of their submission to trade union discipline. unions march under the banner of the social a proletarian party. In all its practise, re In other words, the Party does not impose democracy. In the Soviet Republic, their 18. After the fetich of Independence, volutionary syndicalism was an embryo of upon them any line of conduct that con direction belongs to the Bolsheviks. In the Syndicalist League transforms the ques.
a revolutionary party, contrary to opportuntradicts the state of mind or the opinions France, one of the trade union organization of trade union unity into a fetich also.
ism which was nothing but a caricature of of the majority of the members of the trade tions follows the socialists, the other the It goes without saying that the mainrevolutonary Communism.
unions. In entirely exceptional cases, when Communists. In Finland, the trade unions tenance of the unity of the trade union or5. The weakness of anarcho syndical the Party considers Impossible the sub were divided only a little while ago to go ganizations has enormous advantages, as ism, even in its classic period, was the abmission of its members to some reactionary one towards the social democracy, the other much from the point of view of the daily sence of a theoretical basis and, as a result, decision of the trade union, it points out towards Communism. That is how it is tasks of the proletariat as from the point a poor understanding of the nature of the openly to its members the consequences that everywhere.
of view of the struggle of the Communist government and its role in the class strug flow from it when it is a matter, for The theoreticians of the independence Party to extend its influence over the mas.
gle; an incomplete and, consequently, a instance, of measures enacted against the of the trade union movement have not seg. But the facts prove that since the first successes of the revolutionary wing in the wrong conception of the role of the revolu Communist concerning trade union posts, taken the trouble up to now to think of tionary minority, for example, the Party. expulsions and so forth.
this question: why thelr slogan not only trade unions, the opportunists have set Thence the mistake in tactics, such as the With juridical formulae in these ques does not approach its realization in practise, themselves deliberately on the road of scisfetichism of the general strike, the incom tions and autonomy is a purely juridical anywhere but why on the contrary, the desion. Pacific relations with the bourgeoisie prehension of the necessary connection beformula one can come to naught. The ques pendence of the trade unions to the leaderare dearer to them than the unity of the tween the insurrection and the seizure of tion must be posed at bottom in the con ship of a party becomes everywhere, withproletariat. That is the sure result of the power, etc.
crete reality of trade union policy. cor out exception, more and more evident and post war experience. After the war, French syndicalism rect policy must be opposed to a wrong open? Yet, this corresponds entirely to We Communists are interested in every found not only its criticism but also its policy.
the character of the imperialist epoch, way to prove to the workers that the development and its completion in ComThe Character of the Party Direction which bares all class relations and which responsibility for the split of the trade munism. To try to revive revolutionary unjon organizations falls back upon the Depends Upon Specific Conditions even within the proletariat, accentuates the syndicalism would be to try to make history contradictions between its aristocracy and social democracy. But it does not at all go backwards. For the labor movement 12. The character of the Party direc its most exploited sections.
follow that the empty formula of unity is these attempts can only have a reactionary tion, its methods and its forms, can differ more important for us than the revolutionsignificance.
profoundly in accordance with the general The Syndicalist League, Embryo of a Party ary tasks of the working class.
The False Disciples of Syndicalism conditions of a given country or with the 15. The most recent expression of the 19. Eight years have passed since the The false disciples of syndicalism period of its development.
today outstripped syndicalism is the Syn trade union split in France. During the transform (In words) the independence of In capitalist countries, where the Comdicalist League (Ligne Syndicaliste. By all time, the two organizations have fought the trade union organizations from the munist Party does not possess any means of its traits, it comes forward as a political each other violently like two mortally bourgeoisie and the reformist socialists into coercion, it obviously can gain the leader organization which seeks to subordinate the hostile political parties. In these conditions independence in general, into. absolute ship only by the Communists being in the trade union movement to its influence. In to think of being able to unify the trade independence from all the parties, the Com. trade unions as rank and file members or fact, the League recruits its members not union movement by the simple preaching munist Party included.
functionaries in accordance with the trade union principle, of unity would be to nurture illusions. To If, in its period of expansion, syndical The number of Communists in leading but in acco with the princ of declare that without the prelimina uniism considered itself a vanguard, and fought posts of the trade unions is only one of the political groupings: It has its platform, 11 fication of the two trade union organizafor the leadership of the vanguard minority means of measuring the influence of the not Its program, and it defends it in its tions not only the proletarian revolution, among the backward masses, the false di Party in the trade unions. The most impor publications; it has its own internal discl but even a sufficiently serious class strugsciples of syndicalism fight at present tant factor in evaluation is the percentage pline within the trade union movement. In is impossible, means to make the future of against the identical wishes of the Com of rank and flle Communists in relation to the Confederal congresses, its partisans act the revolution depend upon the corrupted munist vanguard, attempting, though with the whole unionized mass. But the principal as a political fraction in the same way as clique of trade union reformists.
out success, to base themselves upon the criterion is the general influence of the the Communist fraction. If we are not to be In fact, the future of the revolution lack of development and the prejudices of Party on the working class which is measur.
lost in words, the tendency of the Syndical depends not upon the fusion of the two the most backward sections of the working ed by the circulation of the Communist 1st League comes to the struggle to liberate trade union apparatuses, but the unification class, press, the attendance at meetings of the the two confederations from the leadership of the majority of the working class around Liberation from the influence of the Party, the number of votes at elections of the socialists and Communists and to revolutionary slogans and revolutionary bourgeoisie cannot be a passive state. It and, what is especially important, the unite them under the direction of the Mo methods of struggle.
can express itself only by political acts, number of workingmen and women who natte group.
At present, the unification of the workfor example by the struggle against the respond actively to the Party appeals to The League does not act openly in the ing class is only possible by fighting against bourgeoisie. This struggle must be inspirstruggle.
name of the right and the necessity, for the agents of class collaboration who are ed by a distinct program which requires 13. It clear that the influence of the the vanguard minority, to fight to extend found not only in poltical parties but also organization and tactics for its execution. Communist Party in general, and in the its influence over the most backward mass in the trade unions.
It is the union of program, organization and trade unions in particular, will grow the es; it presents itself masked by what it 20. The real road leading to the unity tactics that makes the Party. In this way, more revolutionary the situation becomes.
calls trade union autonomy. From this of the proletariat is found in the developthe real independence of the proletariat These conditions permit an appreciation point of view, the League approaches the ment, the redressing, the enlargement, the from the bourgeois government cannot be of the degree and the form of the true real socialist party which also realizes its consolidation of the revolutionary realized unless the proletariat conducts its and not metaphysical autonomy of the trade leadership under cover of the words: inde and in the weakening of the reformist struggle under the direction of a revolu unions. In times of peace. when the most pendence of the trade union movement.
tionary and not an opportunist Party.
militant forms of trade union action are The Communist Party, on the contrary, It is not excluded but, on the contrary, The false disciples of syndicalism isolated group strikes, the direct part of says openly to the working class: here is very likely that at the time of its revoluwould have one believe that the trade the Party in trade union action falls back my program, my tactics and my policy, tion, the French proletariat will enter into untons are sufficient to themselves. Tha to second place. As a general rule, the which propose to the trade unions. struggle with two Confederations: behind retically, this means nothing, but in practise Party does not make a decision on every The proletariat must never believe any.
one will be found the masses and behind it means the dissolving of the revolutionary isolated strike, It helps the trade union to thing blindly. It must Judge every party and the other the aristocracy of labor and the vanguard into the backward masses, as is every organization by their work. But the bureaucracy.
shown by trade unionism, unions. French is usually different from workers should have a double and treble The Character of the Trade Union the classic English and American type by distrust towards those pretenders to leader. distinction is made here between the fact that the former are organized by ship who act incognito, under a mask, who Opposition trade unions and trade unionism and Industry and the latter, usually, by trade make the proletariat believe that it has no 21. The new trade union opposition gyndicats (the French word for labor or craft. Ed.
need of leadership in general.
obviously does not want to enter u G.