Posted by Phil Dickens on 22/05/2011 · Leave a Comment
As we get closer to the possibility of coordinated public sector strikes on June 30th, debate continues to rage about how best to build for the event. In particular, on the libertarian left there has been much talk of the need to build a new rank-and-file. In a recent Truth, Reason & Liberty article on … Continue reading →
Filed under Debate and discourse · Tagged with anarchist, anarcho-syndicalist, authoritarian, building from below, bureaucracy, control our own struggles, direct action, hierarchy, June 30th, libertarian, Militant, rank-and-file, revolutionary leadership, solidarity, strikes, unions, vanguard, workers, working class
Posted by Phil Dickens on 18/03/2011 · 1 Comment
During the election campaign that saw Labour sweep to power in 1997, Tony Blair boasted that his government “would leave British law the most restrictive on trade unions in the Western world.” And so it did, not only maintaining the anti-strike laws implemented by Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit but adding to them. Aside from … Continue reading →
Filed under Debate and discourse · Tagged with anarcho-syndicalists, anti-strike laws, anti-trade union laws, Anton Pannekoek, blockades, CNT, collective decision making, direct action, firefighters dispute, fundraising, industrial action, Lindsey oil refinery disputes, Liverpool Antifascists, mandated delegates, Margaret Thatcher, mass assemblies, mass pickets, militancy, miners, Norman Tebbit, picket line, postal workers, printers, Public Order Act, rank-and-file control, sabotage, scabs, Seattle general strike, sell out, solidarity, strike, strike committees, strike funds, Tom Mann, Tony Blair, trade union bureaucracy, TUC, wildcat strikes
Posted by Phil Dickens on 19/01/2011 · 1 Comment
On 26th March, the Trades Union Congress are calling a march in London against the government’s austerity measures. This has reignited one of the longest-running debates in activist politics: that of peaceful protest versus direct action. In particular, the line is drawn between those worried that a violent minority will hijack the event and distract … Continue reading →
Filed under Debate and discourse · Tagged with anarcho-syndicalism, Ben Ali, demobilisation, demonstration, demonstration of anger, direct action, FAU, Gilles Dauvé, International Workers Association, IWA, Liberal Conspracy, march, movement building, passive protest, PCS, peaceful protest, popular discontent, Public and Commercial Services union, reformism, revolt, revolution, safety valve, solidarity, Solidarity Federation, Subway sacked worker, Sunny Hundal, Topy Top sacked workers, TUC, Tunisia, Yarls' Wood, ZSP
Posted by Phil Dickens on 31/12/2010 · 4 Comments
The seventh and final part of a series exploring anarcho-syndicalism, its aims and principles, and the practicalities of enacting them in the real world. The basic foundation of anarcho-syndicalism is that ordinary people, through solidarity and direct action, have the power to improve our own lives. We do not need bosses, bureaucrats, or political parties … Continue reading →
Filed under What is anarcho-syndicalism? · Tagged with activism, anarchist communism, anarcho-syndicalism, community organising, democratic centralism, dictatorship of the proletariat, from each according to his ability to each according to his need, Industrial Workers of the World, IWW, libertarian, mass participation, organisation, rank-and-file control, revolutionary leadership, revolutionary unionism, self-organisation, social centres, SolFed, solidarity, Solidarity Federation, solidarity networks, squatting, strike, trade unions, unions, vanguard of the proletariat, workers' assemblies, workers' self-organisation
Posted by Phil Dickens on 29/11/2010 · 3 Comments
The sixth part of a series exploring anarcho-syndicalism, its aims and principles, and the practicalities of enacting them in the real world. In part five of this series, I examined how to rebuild the community consciousness and sense of solidarity that once defined the working class. Here, I want to look at building upon that … Continue reading →
Filed under What is anarcho-syndicalism? · Tagged with Anarchist Federation, anarcho-syndicalism, Anton Pannekoek, community, community organisation, community unions, direct action, Don't Vote - Organise!, Glasgow Rent Strike, IWW, Lewisham Bridge occupation, libertarian, non-hierarchical organisation, Poll Tax rebellion, radical, rent strike, Seattle Solidarity Network, sit-in, solidarity, solidarity networks, squatting, strike, working class
Posted by Phil Dickens on 29/09/2010 · 13 Comments
The fourth part of a series exploring anarcho-syndicalism, its aims and principles, and the practicalities of enacting them in the real world. There is one principle that organised workers of different tendencies all agree on. Ask trade unionists, syndicalists, anarcho-syndicalists, communists, and socialists of any stripe, and you’ll get the same answer. Never cross the … Continue reading →
Filed under What is anarcho-syndicalism? · Tagged with an injury to one is an injury to all, anarcho-syndicalism, blackleg, Canadian anti-scab legislation, class consciousness, class traitor, crossing picket line, demobilised workers, Jack London, making amends for crossing the picket line, mass participation, organisation, organise the unemployed, picket line, rank-and-file control, scab jobs, scabs, solidarity, strike breakers, strike funds, Thatcher's children, the longer the picket line the shorter the strike, unemployed, United Auto Workers, Viggo Mortensen, war of ideas, workers assembly
Posted by Phil Dickens on 15/08/2010 · 6 Comments
Charity, defined biblically, is an unlimited loving kindness towards others. It’s a virtue, and one that is recognised far beyond the Christian faith. After all, who could argue that giving to those less fortunate is wrong? Anarchist communism would seem to be precisely the philosophy that encourages charity. The basic mantra of “from each according … Continue reading →
Filed under Debate and discourse · Tagged with abolish wage slavery, anarchist communism, Big Society, Capitalism, charity, community organisation, cooperatives, credit unions, CrimeThinc, David Cameron, fire your boss, Infoshop, IWW, LibCom, libertarian communism, Liverpool Solidarity Federation, Merseyside Anarchists, Molly McClure, mutual aid, PCS, politicians, radicalism, reformism, Rolling Thunder, self-managed exploitation, solidarity, Spanish Revolution, the Commune, vultures, workers collectives
