"Trade Unions," from Capitalism and Its Revolutionary Destruction by Wildcat (mid-1980s)
The best that can be said about trade unions is that in the past they merely bargained for a slightly bigger slice of the cake for their members. But the unions existence as “mediators” depends on the continued existence of capitalism. They have never sanctioned struggles which might threaten the rule of the bosses.
In this period of economic crisis there is no more room for compromise and bargaining. Struggles are marked by increasingly open conflict between unions and their members. Militant workers are quite willing to defy their union leaders. But this is often linked to calls for “rank and file control” of the unions. But it is not just the political power and privileges of the union leaders that makes the unions our class enemies. It is the inevitable result of the unions’ acceptance of capitalism. Any rank and file organisation which remains within the traditions of trade unionism will sooner or later–usually sooner–go the same way as the existing unions. The unions as a whole are now part of the capitalist system, with the job of keeping order on the shop floor, selling our labour power to the bosses, and selling the bosses’ austerity programmes back to us.
If all else fails, and these days it usually does, the unions tell us to “vote Labour” or “launch a campaign”. In this way they help divert workers discontent into the charade of capitalist democracy.
Workers continued acceptance of the unions and the traditions of trade unionism has been a major cause of the failure of recent struggles.
Trade union traditions are based on compromise, obedience to the rule-book, and acceptance of capitalist legality. They reinforce the division of the working class into different trades, industries and regions. Based on the organisation of employed workers, trade unionism also reinforces the divisions between men and women, and between employed and unemployed. Union traditions limit the participation of the majority of workers in a struggle to the simple act of withdrawal of Labour, while the leaders reach agreement on their behalf.