What was Trotsky’s advice for revolutionaries on unions?

The trade unions are the basic organisations of the working class. Trotsky, like all who follow the ideas of genuine Marxism, believed the working class was the only social force which can lead socialist revolution.

But the union leaders can be timid, or even hold back struggle by their members. And anyway, the working class today looks very different to working class in 1917.

So how did Trotsky see the unions in relation to the struggle for socialism? And are those ideas - and the unions themselves - still relevant to that struggle today?

This episode of Socialism looks at the organised working class: Trotsky on the trade unions.

The CWI is producing a new book on Trotsky's life and ideas for the 80th anniversary of his assassination, which this podcast series is following. It's called 'Leon Trotsky - A Revolutionary Whose Ideas Couldn't Be Killed'. You can pre-order it now at www.leftbooks.co.uk.

Further reading

Should Revolutionaries Work in Reactionary Trade Unions? (Lenin): https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/lwc/ch06.htm

The Nature of the Trade Unions (Peter Taaffe): http://marxist.net/2019/12/11/the-nature-of-the-trade-unions/

Trade Unions and Bolshevism (Trotsky): https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/britain/ch07.htm

The Trade Unions in Britain (Trotsky): https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1933/09/unions-britain.htm

Trade Unions in the Epoch of Imperialist Decay (Trotsky): https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1940/xx/tu.htm

84. Trotsky on the trade unions

Socialism the Podcast offers a Marxist approach to the big issues we face in a world of capitalist crisis. Fighting for jobs, homes and public services for all. From strikes and mass movements through to community campaigns, history and theory. We shine a light on the struggles of workers and young people, and discuss the strategy for a socialist fightback.

News

Over the last two years of strikes the working class in Britain has begun to feel its collective power. It is about to face a Starmer-led government that will defend the interests of the capitalist class. Further development of trade union militancy is going to be vital, but our class will also desperately need its own party. Any steps that can be taken in that direction in the pre-election period will put the workers’ movement in a much stronger position for the battles ahead. That’s why the Socialist party is standing in the local elections on 2 May as part of the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), which aims to bring together the strongest possible workers electoral challenge possible. 

Check out the TUSC website at www.tusc.org.uk

This Special Episode of the Podcast, recorded on the 20th March 2024, is a recording of Hannah Sell, the general secretary of the Socialist Party, speaking at a Socialist Party public meeting in South London.
To contact the Socialist Party about this podcast or to find out about becoming a member visit: www.socialistparty.org.uk
Check out the CWI, for analysis of world events, and for those listening in other parts of the world, get in touch to join the fight for socialism in your country, that’s www.socialistworld.net

Further reading
The fight for workers’ politics now
There is not so far any sign of a national political expression of the anti-war movement, never mind one based on the workers’ movement. However, a workers’ list – including suspended, expelled and deselected Labour MPs – could get a bloc of MPs elected. The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), in which the Socialist Party participates, is campaigning to bring together the strongest possible working-class challenge at both the local and general elections.
https://socialismtoday.org/the-fight-for-workers-politics-now
Building on Rochdale – the fight for a new workers’ party
“Beyond alarming” is how Tory prime minister Rishi Sunak declared George Galloway’s victory in the Rochdale by-election, at a specially convened press conference on the steps of Downing Street. Labour leader Keir Starmer appeared equally alarmed as he apologised for having to withdraw support for the Labour candidate in the by-election, giving Galloway an easier path to victory.
Rochdale  “raised the confidence of all those looking for a working-class socialist alternative to Labour”. Even in the limited time left before the general election there is the potential to take important steps towards creating such an alternative.
https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/122735/25-03-2024/editorial-building-on-rochdale-the-fight-for-a-new-workers-party/

130. The fight for workers' politics now

Sascha Staničić, national spokesperson of the Socialist Organisation Solidarity, Sol, the CWI in Germany, discusses the CWI’s analysis of the crisis and class struggle in Germany, with Sean Figg, from the CWI’s International Secretariat.

For a whole period German capitalism has been a bulwark of stability for capitalism on the European continent. Now it has entered a period of turmoil, unprecedented since reunification more than thirty years ago. In this podcast we cover the political crisis of the German ‘traffic light’ coalition, the rise of the right-populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the mass movement against it, the Sara Wagenknecht-led split from DIE LINKE (the Left Party), the protests of the small farmers and the important strike-wave involving workers from multiple sectors.

- Visit the CWI website for more Marxist analysis at socialistworld.net.
- Support the work of the CWI by donating via PayPal here.
- Contact us by emailing cwi@worldsoc.co.uk

Crisis & Class Struggle in Germany

The crisis of world capitalism means war and conflicts, economic stagnation and crises, and political instability on every continent. The working class, young people, and the poor masses around the world are responding with uprisings, mass movements, strike waves and an increased searching for the forms of organisation and the political ideas necessary to challenge capitalism. 

Tony Saunois, secretary of the CWI, and Sean Figg, from the CWI’s International Secretariat, discuss the CWI’s analysis of the world situation, developed at a five-day meeting of the CWI’s International Executive Committee in January, which brought together comrades from each of the 14 countries in which the CWI is organised. The brutal war of state-terror being waged by the Israeli state against the Palestinians took centre-stage…

Visit the CWI website for more Marxist analysis at www.socialistworld.net

Support the work of the CWI by donating via PayPal here.

Contact us by emailing cwi@worldsoc.co.uk

Capitalism in Crisis and at War – A Marxist Analysis

Marion will build an industrial plan capable of winning, including national and selective action and overtime bans. Marion will ensure that PCS takes the lead to coordinate with other unions on pay, jobs and against Tory anti-union laws. Marion will give your reps and branches the tools they need to do the job you elected them to do. 
Get involved: https://bln.org.uk/
Leaflet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Puuc3ZZ5L4cSGjyIqlxeqLGhgO9wbMYc/view?usp=sharing


To contact the Socialist Party about this podcast or to find out about becoming a member:
www.socialistparty.org.uk
Check out the CWI, for analysis of world events, and for those listening in other parts of the world, get in touch to join the fight for socialism in your country, that’s www.socialistworld.net 

Socialism 2023
Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 November, Institute of Education, London WC1H 0AL
It will be an in-person weekend of discussion and debate on ideas to change the world hosted by the Socialist Party. 
Marion will be a speaker at the main Saturday night rally at Socialism 2023. 
At the event there will be around 40 workshops where you can ask those questions forming in your head as you listen to this, raise your own points, argue if you wish. You will be among hundreds of people who want to change the world. The topics covered will include a discussion on ‘Building Marxism in the trade unions and workplaces’ and ‘How can the anti-union Minimum Services legislation be defeated?’
You can buy a ticket that includes hostel accommodation, there’s a free creche throughout, and it will be brilliant. For tickets and info: www.socialism.org.uk


Further reading
Socialism Today October 2023 No.273
Drawing lessons from the strike wave
The current strike wave, which erupted more than a year ago with national strike action by railworkers in the RMT union, marks the beginning of a new era in the class struggle in Britain. Rob Williams gives an overview of the strike action so far and draws vital lessons for the workers’ movement for the battles to come, especially under, as looks likely, a future Starmer government.
https://socialismtoday.org/drawing-lessons-from-the-strike-wave

PCS: the real issues at stake
The dispute within the left of Britain’s largest civil service union raises key issues for the whole labour movement. Above all, the need for democratic, lay-member control of fighting trade unions. Hannah Sell and Rob Williams explain the background to the current situation.
https://socialismtoday.org/archive/221/pcs.html

129. Marion Lloyd: a socialist candidate for PCS general secretary

Capitalism and its political representatives are totally incapable of meeting any of the needs of working-class and poor people anywhere on the globe. All that is on offer is a never-ending diet of war, poverty, oppression and repression.
Now the Israeli regime is on the verge of launching a brutal land offensive in Gaza, raising the possibility of war spilling over into a wider confrontation that could inflame the whole region, and adding to the multiple crises the capitalist system is already creating internationally.
The Israeli regime’s indiscriminate bombing and starving of 2.3 million people in Gaza, including 1 million children, of food, water, medicines and fuel – “a death sentence” according to the United Nations - has provoked mass protests around the world.
This podcast, recorded on 23 October, goes behind the headlines to examine the processes that have brought us to this point – and to offer socialist ideas to build the anti-war movement to end the conflict and deliver peace, security and a decent future for the masses of the region.
In this podcast we speak to Judy Beishon who is a member of the Socialist Party’s executive committee and of the International Secretariat of the Committee for a Workers’ International, which is the world socialist organisation to which the Socialist Party is affiliated.

Get in touch
To contact the Socialist Party about this podcast or to find out about becoming a member:
www.socialistparty.org.uk

We also recommend checking out the CWI, with analysis of world events, and for those listening in other parts of the world, get in touch to join the fight for socialism in your country, that’s www.socialistworld.net 

Socialism 2023
Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 November, Institute of Education, London WC1H 0AL
It will be an in-person weekend of discussion and debate on ideas to change the world hosted by the Socialist Party. 
The many workshops will include a discussion on ‘Gaza under siege: how can a Palestinian state be achieved?’
Judy will be among the many speakers introducing workshops where you will also have a chance to ask those questions forming in your head as you listen to this, to raise your own points, to argue if you wish. You will be among hundreds of people who want to change the world.
You can buy a ticket that includes hostel accommodation, there’s a free creche throughout, and it will be brilliant. For tickets and info: www.socialism.org.uk


Further reading

Socialism Today September 2023 No.272
Is a Palestinian state possible?
This article was written in September on the 30th anniversary of the first Oslo accord – and before the eruption of the war. Judy Beishon discusses what conditions would be necessary for achieving an independent state
The article will be posted here shortly, where you can find previous articles on the issue: https://socialismtoday.org
And can be read here: https://www.socialistworld.net/2023/10/07/israel-palestine-30-years-since-the-oslo-accord-will-there-ever-be-a-palestinian-state/

Website of the Socialist Party for up-to-date articles: www.socialistparty.org.uk

84. Trotsky on the trade unions

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