Class unions do not preach the political neutrality of unions. In a society marked by the confrontattion of two antagonistic classes (the capitalists and the workers), working-class organizations, like unions, cannot be neutral.
They have to take political action against the capitalists’ laws and actions, and organize a broad-based movement to wage the political struggle against the government.
Class unions denounce all the capitalist parties, even those that try to give themselves a friend-of-labour image, like the NDP. But they are in favour of supporting a real party of the working class.
Let’s look more closely at the political action of class unions.
Obviously, class unions are against all anti-worker laws, be they blatantly reactionary like the wage freeze, or setbacks under a “pro-worker” guise, like the PQ’s Bill 17 on occupational health and safety. But class unions do fight for reforms and laws that enable the working class to better defend itself.
For example, class unions in the 1930s were in the front ranks of the struggle for laws on unemployment insurance and medicare.
Unlike reformist leaders, class unions have no illusions about the possibility of eliminating capitalist exploitation or of bringing about lasting improvements in the situation of the working class with laws or reforms.
But they do struggle for legislative improvements as partial measures to alleviate the suffering the capitalists impose on the workers, knowing full well that the capitalists will inevitably try to take back what they have been temporarily forced to concede.
Reformists believe that they can get better laws passed by submitting briefs to the government, meeting with ministers, and through back-room politicking.
But class unions recognize that all laws passed conceding rights to workers were only passed because of the political pressure brought to bear with mass actions and fierce struggle.
Of course, the political action of class unions is not limited to opposing bad laws and fighting for better ones. This is only a part of their political action, and not the major part at that.
Class unions take up key struggles of workers that put forward demands important to the whole class, popularize these struggles and organize active support for them across the country.
They oppose the repressive measures of the capitalists, such as police attacks on picket lines, and all other policies and actions of governments that go against the workers’ interests.
Class unions bring to the workers’ attention not just their own struggles against exploitation, but the struggles of all oppressed people.
In this way, class unions develop political campaigns on various subjects important for the development of the workers’ consciousness, and strengthen the struggle against the capitalist system.
To turn the workers away from class struggle and revolutionary politics, some union misleaders spread the lie that unions should have nothing to do with politics at all. They pretend to be neutral and above party matters.
In reality, the leaders who preach political neutrality are far from being neutral themselves. In practice they support the various capitalist parties, either openly or covertly.
Historically, some union leaders in the building trades and other unions supported the Liberal or the Conservatives parties.
Today, the majority of the union misleaders in English Canada claim to adhere to “labour” politics. They support the NDP, which has always opposed revolutionary struggle and the overthrow of the capitalist system, and they put forward the sell-out strategy of “vote NDP, don’t fight.”
In Quebec, some top leaders like Louis Laberge, Jean Guerin-Lajoie of the FTQ and Andre L’Heureux of the CSN support the party of the Quebec nationalist bourgeoisie, the PQ, that claims to have “a bias in favour of workers.”
Thus, in one form or another, the top leadership does support political parties, but capitalist parties that are basically opposed to the struggles of the working class, that would lead them to a dead end and defeat.
Class unions, however, are not against supporting political parties. In fact, in order to move the struggle for socialism forward, they must support a party that is fighting to do away with capitalism, a communist party.
Since they share common final objectives, class unions and the communist party must work closely together and support each other mutually.
Since unions are the working class’s broadest mass organizations, they are made up of workers of all political tendencies and opinions. Class unions are organized on the basis of industry, workplace and in some cases, trade. While they do play a key role in the struggle to end capitalism, they cannot play the leading role.
On the other hand, a communist party is made up of the vanguard of the working class, the workers who are most class conscious, most determined and devoted to the class struggle.
It defends the interests of all of the working class and the masses of people. It orients, unifies and leads the struggle of the people as a whole.
The party is thus the working class’s highest form of organization. It gives political orientation to all of the organizations of the working class. Its calls to action and its strategic orientation are taken up by the workers’ organizations so that the working class can advance united and organized.
Collaboration between the two forms of organization, the party and the unions, is essential to enable the working class to advance. Without the party, the unions would be limited to partial and isolated struggles for reforms. At the same time, without the support of the unions, the party could not become a true mass force capable of moving the revolution forward.
As Marx wrote in a resolution of the International Workingmen’s Association on unions: “Aside from their immediate work of reacting to the pestering manoeuvres of capital, they must become the organizing centres of the working class fighting towards that great goal, its total emancipation. They must help any political and social movement in favour of this aim.”
But the unions’ indispensable support for the party does not come about overnight. It is won through long and patient work of education and persuasion, and by the masses’ own experience with the party. The support is not imposed but is won democratically.
Communist union activists bring the party’s program and its calls to action to the union movement. The party wins the confidence and respect of the masses of workers and convinces them that its orientation is correct. When the unions take up this orientation they are showing their support for the party. This is when the class unions and the party draw closer together and their collaboration is consolidated.
As the party becomes a real force among the masses and it wins the broad support of the unions, the collaboration between the two will become closer.