Re: [Marxism] Council communism

[Waistline2@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 6/20/2009 4:57:01 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, 
_d.koechlin@xxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:d.koechlin@xxxxxxxxxx)  writes: 
 
>> I am indeed a "council communist", also known as a "left-wing  
communist", or better still a "libertarian Marxist."  But I promise not  to  
inundate 
this list with  anti-Lenin comments, now it has been  pointed out to me 
that this is  a  decidedly pro-Lenin Marxist list. I  am an English teacher in 
France, strongly involved in union activities. For the  last 8 years, I have 
tried to get union members to criticize the deals made by  the union 
leadership with the government. << 
 
Reply 
 
Greetings. 
 
Rest assured that several regular contributors to the list are not  
intimidated by any analysis. Some have long years of trade union experience.  
Trade 
union work tends to be petty, boring and worthless, unless it is part of  
factory or office work. For instance in the plant I worked in there were 3500 
 workers when I was hired in 1972. Factory work consisted of distribution 
of  communist literature, creating a network of activists within all 
departments and  on all shifts and efforts at recruitment into the party. This 
factory work was  very much independent from the trade union work. The local 
union consisted of  roughly 10,000 members spanning several plants; Lynch Road 
Assembly (5000 folks)  , Mound Road Engine (3500) and a couple small plants. 
 
Less than 100 individuals took part in regular union activity and meetings  
with maybe 10 communist of all kinds. My union is the auto workers union 
(UAW)  and it is fairly reactionary, having been this way for the past 60 
years. Today  for instance, the union leadership is pressing to shut down any 
dissent and  criticism of the Democratic Party administration because the 
uppermost  leadership earnestly believes such criticism strengthens the "far 
right." 
 
They are mistaken. Shutting down dissent means blocking the process of th  
workers leaping outside the trade union framework. Thus, factory work rather 
 than trade union work remains the most viable option. 
 
I look forward to reading some of your impressions of the trade union  
movement in France. 
 

WL. 
 (http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm)  
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