BY JACK BARNES
The selection below is from "The Revolutionary Perspective
and Leninist Continuity in the United States," a resolution
adopted by the Socialist Workers Party at a special national
convention in January 1985.
These excerpts are from the first section of the resolution, which is included in the book The Changing Face of U.S. Politics: Working-Class Politics and the Trade Unions by SWP national secretary Jack Barnes. That book is copyright (c) 1994 by Pathfinder Press, reprinted by permission.
The entire resolution is published in issue no. 4 of the magazine New International. The recently published Education for Socialists booklet Background to `The Changing Face of U.S. Politics' and `U.S. Imperialism Has Lost the Cold War' also provides further reading on the questions taken up in this resolution.
An essential part of the strategic line of march toward the establishment of a workers and farmers government in the United States is the fight for the transformation of the industrial unions - the most powerful existing organizations of the working class - into revolutionary instruments of class struggle for the interests of the exploited and oppressed.
During the long postwar period of capitalist expansion, political conditions in the United States stood in the way of effective revolutionary work by socialists in the industrial unions. The political and economic situation that opened in the mid-1970s made it possible once again for communists to advance this fight from within the industrial unions. This dictated a sharp turn. The SWP decided to get a large and stable majority of its members into the industrial unions and to build national fractions of its members in these unions....
The Socialist Workers Party's proletarian orientation and perspective of the development of a class-struggle left wing in the labor movement constitute a permanent strategic axis, which we seek to advance whatever the political situation may be. Under the present conditions in the United States, as in the rest of the capitalist world, the sharp turn to the industrial unions is necessary to advance this perspective....
Political axis of party work in unions
The party's political work in the industrial unions takes as
its starting point the world class struggle, the crisis of the
international capitalist economy and imperialist world order,
and their manifestations in this country. It is these forces
that establish the conditions under which the struggle to
defend, strengthen, and transform the unions takes place. It is
only with this broader perspective - not the narrow framework
of union politics - that the road can be charted toward
constructing a class-struggle left wing in the labor movement,
whose goal will be the transformation of the unions into
instruments of revolutionary struggle against the employers and
their government.
Members of the SWP in the industrial unions function on three different levels.
First, they are members of the revolutionary party. Like all party members, whether in unions or not, they are constantly seeking ways to promote knowledge about the party and its activities, to involve others in its work, and recruit them to membership. This includes everything from selling subscriptions to Perspectiva Mundial and the Militant, to strengthening the internal party committees and branch institutions, publicizing an election campaign rally or forum, and explaining the party's views on political events to those who are interested.
Second, as workers, they seek to involve other workers in political activities. They encourage their co-workers to come down to the party headquarters to attend a forum, to join a demonstration that the party is helping to organize against the war in Central America, to get involved in protests against police brutality or other racist attacks, or to read the program contained in the charter of the National Black Independent Political Party.
Third, they are union activists with a revolutionary perspective for the unions. The union fractions of the SWP strive to develop the ability to function as effective units that are integrated into the labor movement. In this sense, our fractions function collectively as union politicians. Their goal, as part of nationwide fractions, is to help forge a new union leadership, which will come forward from the ranks and will fight to unleash union power to defend the workers' interests. They operate within the union structures and realities of today, with a clear view of the revolutionary transformation that will occur tomorrow....
Based on the initial experiences of our industrial union fractions since 1978, the party has taken several new steps over the past few years to deepen the turn.
One of these new steps was adopting the goal of organizing weekly plant-gate sales of Perspectiva Mundial and the Militant as a norm of membership.
Our goal is to achieve regular weekly contact by every party member with industrial workers, especially those in unions where we are building national fractions. This is another step toward integrating the entire party into the turn - those who are part of industrial union fractions and those who are not, those employed and those laid off - and thus deepening our proletarian orientation. The weekly plant-gate sales are an important way to influence and recruit industrial workers, which is the only way to establish the party as a tendency in the labor movement over the long run....
A second aspect of deepening the turn has been the establishment of two new industrial union fractions, in the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. These new fractions advance the proletarianization of the party. The ILGWU and ACTWU are two of the largest industrial unions in the United States, and they play an important role in the labor movement in both the United States and Canada. Through our orientation to these unions, we are becoming part of a section of the working class that is composed of many recent immigrants and members of oppressed nationalities, and is generally paid wages lower than workers in other industrial unions.
A third product of the turn to industry has been the party's growing knowledge about and orientation toward the struggles and organizations of working farmers. We have begun to meet farmers who hold industrial jobs in order to make a living income and try to keep their land. Over the past few years, we have developed ties with farmers through our election campaigns and other propaganda vehicles, through participation as party members in their struggles, and also as members of industrial unions seeking ways to strengthen links of solidarity and united action between the labor movement and farmers organizations. We have expanded our contact with, and knowledge about, organizations of working farmers. And we have recruited to the party the first of a new generation of farmers who are revolutionaries.
Most recently, we have broadened our political contact with agricultural wage laborers, especially in California, Texas, and throughout the Southwest. We are increasing our political attention to farmworkers' struggles there today. The big majority of these workers are Spanish-speaking, many are immigrants, and all work for low wages and under arduous conditions.