Labor exchange
Workers' exchanges (also known as “bourses du travail” in French ) are the focus of trade union work in revolutionary syndicalism . At first only intended as an employment agency on the part of the workers, the labor exchange developed into a multifaceted fighting organization for the revolutionary workers. Individual syndicalist sub-unions at a certain regional level merge to form a labor exchange according to the essential principle of federalism .
Organizational principle
Workers, regardless of their occupation, should organize themselves in the local trade unions. These in turn should join together to form a labor exchange that is limited to a certain region. A state federation should then be formed from these regional labor exchanges. Since workers 'exchanges were supposed to be the counterpart to the state and had the goal of freeing the workers from any authority, this intention had to be reflected in the organization itself: workers' exchanges were not a central instance. There should be no authorities and important decisions should be made by consensus among members.
The labor exchange was to be managed by a group made up of an equal number of members of the respective syndicates. Important decisions would be made in the Assembly of Delegates and in sub-commissions.
In addition to the labor exchanges, which represent a local association, every worker should organize himself in his respective industrial association. This is an amalgamation of all professions.
Tasks and goals of the labor exchange
Labor exchanges had the following tasks and goals:
- Improvement of the economic situation of the workers, i.e. the struggle for better wages and working conditions
- Promotion of syndicalism and its ideas
- Strike organization
- Education according to the principles of syndicalism
- Solidarity of the workers with one another and with all movements close to syndicalism
- Take all necessary measures to carry out a social revolution
In case of a revolution
If there were to be a revolution, the labor exchange would have the task of planning the economy away from central authorities and regulating both consumption and production in cooperation with the industrial associations. The basis for this would have to be that the vast majority organize themselves in anarcho-syndicalist unions. The local labor exchanges would determine the consumption needs of the local population and take over the administration of the community. She would pass the demand on to the state federation, which would then determine the total consumption demand. The industrial association would take over the production. The industry association and the labor exchange would manage and plan the economy together. Thus the labor exchange would be an institution that organizes the economy solely from the hands of the trade unions and thus the workers. The concept is in contrast to centralism and nationalization .
History of the labor exchanges
Historical context
At the time of the French Revolution in 1789, especially the peasants and the bourgeoisie were satisfied by the social changes. The guild system was abolished, but the economic situation of the workers remained bad and in fact they were still dependent on their employers. It formed workers' organizations to improve their situation. Despite state repression through the law “Le Chapelier” , the number of organized workers increased. In the 1880s there was an influx of members in the French trade unions. Reasons for this were, among other things, the repeal of the law "Le Chapelier" and the disappointment with political socialism , which dampened hopes for major social changes through political parties.
The "Bourses du Travail" and the "Fédération des Bourses du Travail"
As early as the 18th century there were first ideas for setting up labor exchanges. However, the first was not formed until 1886 in Paris. They provided a counterpart to the syndicates, which were limited to one occupation, and enabled workers in their community or locality to join forces. The tasks of the labor exchanges were:
- Unemployment assistance and job placement (hence the name Börse)
- Education of the workforce
- propaganda
- Organization of strikes and resistance to repression by the state
By 1900 their number rose to 57 in all of France. In 1892 a total of 14 labor exchanges were formed to form the “Fédération des Bourses du Travail”, the nationwide association of labor exchanges. In 1895 the syndicalist Fernand Pelloutier became general secretary of the Federation of Workers' Exchanges. He had a major influence on the concept of labor exchanges.
The establishment of the Confédération générale du travail (short: CGT)
In 1895 the independent trade union federation CGT was founded. The aim was to unite the “Fédération des Syndicates”, in which the trade unions were limited to one occupation, and the “Fédération des Bourses du Travail”. Due to hard disputes about the common direction, a final agreement was not reached until 1902 at the Congress of Montpellier. The majority of the members of the labor exchanges took the position of realizing changes with an economic revolution instead of political reforms . The majority of the revolutionary voices thus gave the CGT a radical character. Both federations became independent sections of the trade union federation.
The fall of the labor markets in France
Since its inception, the CGT has been in a dispute over its direction. Roughly speaking, reformists and revolutionaries faced each other. By 1910 it became apparent that reformist currents would gain the upper hand. In 1906 and 1914 general strikes failed , which weakened the revolutionaries.
In the course of the First World War and the following years, revolutionary syndicalism lost more and more of its influence. Thus the CGT split in the 1920s, when the revolutionary syndicalists split off and the influence of the communists grew. The vision of the labor exchanges of building a society and economy without a state thus lost its importance in the French trade union movement.
The influence of the labor exchanges on other countries
Syndicalism only spread widely in Germany after the First World War. At the 12th Syndicalists' Congress in Berlin in December 1919, the new FAUD principles were adopted, in which the labor exchange played a central role. By 1922, 32 labor exchanges were formed from 204 local unions. The focus was on the Ruhr area, Central Germany and the major cities. By 1926, seven provincial labor exchanges had been set up, each covering a larger area. Of central importance for the conception of the labor exchanges in Germany is the book "Das ist Syndikalismus - Die Arbeiterbörsen des Syndikalismus", first published in 1923, in which the study commission of the Berlin labor exchanges names key aspects of the labor exchanges.
In Spain, the organization principle of the labor exchanges was implemented in some parts of the country during the revolution in the Spanish Civil War .
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Rocker 1919, p. 20
- ↑ See Röhrich 1977, p. 27 ff. And p. 54
- ↑ See Clostermeyer. P. 35
- ↑ See Rocker, p. 21
- ↑ See Rocker 1919 p. 5 and p. 20; see Free Workers Union Bremen 2005, p. 25 ff.
- ↑ See Rocker 1919, p. 8 f. and 20 ff.
- ↑ See Clostermeyer 1984, pp. 20 ff.
- ↑ See Clostermeyer 1984, p. 33 ff.
- ↑ See Röhrich 1977, p. 27
- ↑ See Clostermeyer 1984, p. 36 ff.
- ↑ See Clostermeyer 1984, p. 41 f.
- ↑ See Röhrich 1977, p. 51 f.
- ↑ See Röhrich 1977, p. 52
- ↑ See Vogel 1977, p. 95
- ↑ See Free Workers Union Bremen.
- ↑ See Souchy 2007, p. 81 ff.
See also
literature
- Augustin Souchy: Night over Spain. Civil War and Revolution in Spain 1936–1939 1st edition of the revision. Nevertheless publisher, 2007 ISBN 978-3-922209-51-5
- Angela Vogel: The German anarcho-syndicalism. Genesis and theory of a forgotten movement Karin Kramer Verlag, Berlin 1977
- Cornelia Clostermeyer: From the union to a syndicalist society. On the theory and practice of French revolutionary syndicalism Druckerei Kurz & Co Stuttgart, Tübingen 1984
- Free Workers' Union Bremen (ed.): "This is syndicalism". The labor exchanges of syndicalism 1st edition. Edition AV, Frankfurt a. M. 2005, ISBN 3-936049-38-6
- Rudolf Rocker: The declaration of principles of Syndicalism Syndikat - A, presentation held from December 27th to 30th, 1919 in Berlin
- Wilfried Röhrich: Revolutionary Syndicalism: A Contribution to the Social History of the Labor Movement Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1977, ISBN 3-534-07342-8