Marxism and trade unionism

Abstract

PHILOSOPHY OF TRADE UNIONRIGHTS□ MARXISM Marxism and trade unionism The financial crisis has promoteda resurgenceof interestin Marxism,raising manyinteresting questions for trade unionists JOHN KELLY, Birkbeck College, University of London One in ideas: 2007-08 impact sales of was of the the to financial revive three volumes interest crisis that in of Marxist Marx's began in2007-08 was torevive interest inMarxist ideas:salesofthethree volumesofMarx's Capital were given a boost; Capital reading groupswerestarted up; and accessibleintroductionsto Marxist political economysuchas David Harvey's A Companion toMarx'sCapitalbecame best-sellers. Thisresurgence ofinterest inMarxism raisesmanyinteresting questions fortradeunionists .First, whatdo Marxists havetosayaboutthe activities and potential ofthetradeunionmovement aroundtheworld? Second,howmuchinfluencedo Marxist ideasthemselves havewithin the tradeunionmovement? Andthird, iftheMarxist politicalproject- the abolitionof capitalism requires a coalition oftrade unionsandleftist parties ,whatis thecurrent stateofthoseparties? Classical Marxistson trade unionism MarxandEngelsobserved atfirst handtheemergenceoftheBritish tradeunionmovement, from themiddleofthenineteenth century through the partial legalisation ofunionsinthe1870sandthe emergenceof the New Unionismin the late 1880s.Theynoteddramatic shifts in theobjectivesandorganisation oftheunionsand changes in thewillingness of some employers and governments to come to terms withunionactivity. Notsurprisingly their assessments ofthepolitical significance oftradeunionism displayedequally dramatic shifts: therevolutionary optimism about collective organisation, so prominent inthe1840s writings, gavewayto a morenuancedand critical appreciation oftheconservatism ofthecraft unionismthen emergingin Britainand other partsof Europe.It was Leninwho crystallised whatbecameknownas the'pessimistic' viewof tradeunionismwhen he argued in 1902 that trade unions, by themselves,could develop amongst workers onlya limited, trade unionconsciousness .The hallmarks of thisworld view werethebeliefs that workers hadtoorganise collectively in orderto bargainwiththeemployer and thattheyrequired political representation in legislatures in orderto pass favourable legislation .Whatever thevalue of suchcollective bargaining and political activity, itdidnotgenerally pose anythreat to thecapitalist system of productionitself , a view also sharedby Gramsci. Tradeunionleadersthemselves werelargely contentto pursuecollective bargaining and political representation and so forLenin(and evenmore so forTrotsky) thenewlyemerging tradeunion bureaucracy was regarded as a potentially serious obstacle to revolutionary activity. The radical Marxist project, theabolition ofcapitalism andits replacement witha planned,socialisteconomy and society,requireda disciplinedand centralised revolutionary political party tocoordinate andlead a revolutionary struggle against thecapitalist state. The recordoftrade unionism Broadlyspeaking,the Leninist appraisalof the limitations of tradeunionism(at least froma Marxist perspective) has been amplyconfirmed by theirsubsequentdevelopment through the twentieth and intothetwentyfirst century. Trade unionshaveemerged inalmostevery country in theworldand have almostinvariably soughtto engageinthree major forms ofactivity: collective bargaining withemployers; individual representation ofworkers indisciplinary hearings, labour courts andother, similar institutions; andpolitical representation of workers'interests in legislatures . Sometradeunionsareaffiliated to,orsupportive of,political parties buttheselinks include notonlySocialDemocratic and Communist partiesbutalso Christian Democratic parties. It might be objectedthata number oftrade unionshave playedkeyrolesovertheyearsin moreradical,potentially revolutionary struggles, whether in Brazilinthe1970s,SouthKoreaand SouthAfricain the 1980s,or Egyptin 2011. Moreovertradeunionshave occasionally transcended the limitations of isolated, industry strikesagainsta singleemployeror groupof employers byorganising overtly political, general strikes directed againstgovernment policy:in Sweden 1902 for universalsuffrage; Belgium I96O-6I in protestat state-imposed wage controls ; France1968against a rangeofgovernment policies;and inseveralWestEuropeancountries in the1990sand 2000sagainstpensionreforms and austerity policies. Neitherof these claims standsup muchscrutiny. The Brazilian, South Koreanand SouthAfrican strikes werenotrevolutionary struggles inanyinteresting senseofthat word: theywere broad coalitionsdemanding freedom ofassembly, a freepress,freepolitical parties andfree elections; inshort, liberal democracynotsocialism . As forgeneralstrikes, these are a recurrent feature ofcapitalist societies and their typical focuson a veryspecific issuemeans they do notordinarily pose anythreat tothecontinuation ofcapitalism perse. Marxistideas within the trade unionmovement Itiscertainly thecasethat Marxist activists belongingtoCommunist orTrotskyist political organisations arefrequently active intrade unionsinmany countries. Mostcommonly their influence can be seen in threeareas of unionactivity: the construction of ambitious,ratherthan moderate, demandsin collective bargaining; thepromotion of strikeaction as a way of enforcing those INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 16Volume 18Issue 4201 2 demands andofbuilding solidarity andclassconsciousness ; andtheaffiliation oftrade unionstoa range ofsocialandpolitical movements andcampaignsas a wayofpoliticising tradeuniongoals andactivity. Howeverithastobe saidthat oftentimes there islittle specifically Marxist aboutmuch ofthisactivity. Thetrigger forcollective actionby tradeunionsis normally a strong senseofinjustice that probablyowes far more to diffuse notions of 'fairness' thanto Marxist ideas about exploitation. For instance, manyrankand file trade unionists intheUKtookpartinthemassive 30 Novemberpublic sector pensions strike becauseofa powerful senseofinjustice aboutthe betrayal ofgovernment promises to protect their pensions. Marxist activists continue toplayprominentrolesin theseunions,encouraging workers to vote for,and then participate in the 30 Novemberstrike;but manymore non-Marxist activists didthesame. Perhapsthe mostenduring legacyof Marxist ideas withinthe tradeunion movement is the Lenin-Trotsky viewofthetradeunionbureaucracy as a conservative and potentially treacherous social forcethatshouldneither be trusted nor relied upon.Thisattitude givesrisetoa significant amountof factional activity within...