Letter: The Function of Trade Unions (1978)

Letter to the Editors from the September 1978 issue of the Socialist Standard

The Socialist Party of Great Britain cannot affiliate itself to the trade union movement as this would be following in the footsteps of the Labour Party, and this must be avoided at all costs for the most obvious historic reasons. It therefore denies that the union movement provides the ground for the worker to express his or her disgust in living under the capitalist mode of production by stopping that mode of production.

Yet this is the movement that perfectly expresses working class ideology simply because it is the union of men and women involved in the labour process — the actual men and women that make up the class and do the working.

It is pointless trying to reduce the whole movement to a negotiating body for the purpose of extracting better deals for its members — this is incorrect — the movement is alive, human. Or to quote yourselves — ‘. . . it is living, feeling and thinking workers who run society.’

So it must be the working class that's making the mistake, confusing a union with a community. It must accept socialism — embrace the doctrines of the SPGB which best expresses their needs and are best equipped to show that community the way out of capitalism. Isn't that the wrong way round?

M. Webb 

London NW5

Reply:

One important point of correction is that it is the trade union movement — or most of it — which affiliates itself to the Labour Party, not the other way round.

Trade unions can carry out that act [of] class struggle on the industrial field, to protect and improve the wages and working conditions of the working class. For this, their membership does not need to be socialist, although of course the more socialists there are in a trade union the more effective it is. The Socialist Party of Great Britain insists that “stopping that (capitalist) mode of production” — ending capitalism and establishing Socialism — must be a political act by a conscious working class. Trade unions cannot carry out that act — their usefulness is limited to struggling within capitalism. It is not clear what is meant by the assertion that this movement "perfectly expresses working class ideology” or is "alive, human”. Because trade unions are made up of a majority of non-socialists, they have often carried out policies very much against working class interests. They have co-operated in holding back wage rises, have supported their native capitalist class in wars, have provided financial and other support for Labour Party candidates in elections.

The working class are confused over many issues, including the functions, power and uses of the trade union movement. When that confusion clears up, they will have taken a big step towards the one action which is fundamentally in their interests — the replacement of capitalism by Socialism.

Editors.

Blogger's Note:

In the hard copy issue of this Standard, the reply to this letter is a bit garbled in the second paragraph, and I cannot find an editorial committee correction in a subsequent issue of the Socialist Standard. 

In the original Standard, the first sentence in the second paragraph read:

"Trade unions cannot carry out that act class struggle on the industrial field, to protect and improve the wages and working conditions of the working class."

 I'm right in thinking that's a misprint, right? Help a blogger out here.