Absolut
30th October 2009, 22:23
I havent been able to find an article about it in English, and I havent found any comprehensive reports on it in Swedish either, but I might just be able to give a brief summary.
Amongst the 60 or so motions that was presented, a new "declaration of principles" (dont know the correct translation, but you get my point) was adopted and the creation of a new position, general secretary, was voted through.
The new principles (shortened and translated by me):
1. The workers of the world are exploited by the capitalist system, which only strives for profits. [...] Out of these conditions, the class-struggle is born.
2. Syndicalism is, first and foremost, a tradition of struggle within the workers movement, not an ideology. [...] By building an organisation with its basis in the workplaces, we can, in the short term, prevent the most immidate results of the exploitation, and in the long term, overcome the capitalist system.
3. Despite the splits within the working class, the SAC means that all workers shares some fundamental interests. [...] As all the workers share the same interest, there is a need for an organisation that also gathers all the workers.
4. The exploitation of the working class takes on different views (?) depending on where in the societal hierarchy we are. [...] No forms of discriminations or supression can be tolerated. The SAC is an antirasist and feminist organisation.
5. Within the SAC, we believe in the power and competence of the working class, which is to say, our own power and competence. We do not need the authorities blessing to give legitimacy to our struggle or justify our existance. We know that neither libertarian socialism or organising would be possible if we didnt believe in our own ability. The SAC believes that the workers must organise independently from all outer interests, as they are expressed by the state and the capitalists. The SAC is an anti-authoritarian organisation and sees direct action as the means to change society and our living- and working conditions.
6. Our power is based in our organisational method. [...] If workers are to organise effectively, the organisation needs to be independent from all other interests, except those of its members.
7. In the production of goods and services, workers have the power to change society. That power is latent in the process of production. [...] That is why the workplaces is our biggest and most important area of organisation.
8. Workers have no nations. Our lives are immidiately connected to our brothers and sisters all over the world. Global solidarity is a prerequisite for the liberation of the working class. The SAC oppose the violence that states, "non-governmental organisations" (couldnt think of a proper translation for it) and paramilitary groups use to uphold the world order of capitalism. The SAC believes workers have a right to defend themselves towards their violence.
9. The goal of the SAC is libertarian socialism: a society no longer divided by rulers and ruled; a society no longer consisting of exploiters and the exploited; a society liberated from the force of government. Under libertarian socialsm, society controls the direction of the production, which gives work meaning. The workers control the organising of the producion, which gives the work substance.
10. We have a big task ahead of us, but we know that we can organise and win victories. We struggle with our own power, we fight were we live our lives, simple as that. That is the only way for the self-responsibility to develop, which is the foundation of the free socialism.
This is all roughly translated, and I left some parts out, because I couldnt be bothered to translate them. Either way, this is the SACs new principles (the last update of the principles happened in 1976, if Im not mistaken). There is also the issue of the general secretary, which hasnt existed for a few years (there was one before, but Im not sure between what years). This position was removed before, because the SAC decided it prevented the members from organising independently and volountarily. The volountary organisation didnt really work out as planned, so the position is back. The mission of the GM is mostly to coordinate the efforts of the different LSs (Lokal Samorganistaion: Local Branch), not to wield any executive powers over the different local branches. I myself am a bit skeptical towards this, but I dont really know how it worked without a GM, seeing as I wasnt a member then.
Apart from that, a motion to create a "Register Coordinator" was voted down. For those that doesnt know what the Register is, Ill explain it shortly. It is a method of struggle, which a few of the local branches within the SAC has adopted. Basically, what they do, is that they create statistics over the wages and working conditions of a certain area of work, say for example the restaurants in a certain area. When they have gathered these statistics, they themselves decide on an acceptable wage and what they deem to be acceptable working conditions, and then they go after every restaurant that doesnt live up to the conditions set by the Register. The aim of the Register is to take away from the powers of setting wages from the employers, and ultimately, strip them of all their powers. You have to keep in mind that not all the local branches of the SAC are part of the Register and that they only have around 1500 members, of which a majority are "paperless", ie they dont have any documentation that theyre here legally. This results in them working "black", outside of any institutions control. Either way, this method was applied in the beginning of the century in Sweden (dont know if it was applied anywhere else, probably was), by the LO (the social democratic union). Back then, it was much bigger and stronger than it is today, and in some places, it worked as a unemployment office of sorts. Lets take an example. Lets say youre moving from town A to town B and you need a job. You go to the local office of the Register, and they have a list of all the employers in town. They then recommend you to go to employers C or D, because they treat their workers fairly. Employer E and F are real swines, so theyre pretty much boycotted. This, of course, aimed to strip the employers of their powers to employ, or at least this was the ambition, Im not sure if it worked that way everywhere. This is the general purpose of the Register. Now, back to the motion. A few local branches connected to the Register motioned for a coordinator, but this was voted down, due to there being too few local branches connected to the Register.
There was also a discussion on what the conditions for applying for a membership in the SAC should be, and the Central Comittee suggested that if you are in any sort of position where you set wages or have any sort of priviliage similiar to that of an employer, you are prohibited from joining (this is already in effect). They also suggested that people applying for a membership cant be blackfoots or have a history of being one, nor should an applying person be admitted if they have a record of naming people to the authorities. This was, however, not voted through, as it is the responsibility of each local branch to decide this.
As a final note, there will be a new editor for the SACs weekly paper, Arbetaren (The Worker). As far as I can tell, he seems alright. He said he wants to concentrate on creating a precense of the paper on workplaces and such, which I cant really disagree on. He at least seems better than the alternatives, of which one wanted the paper to "guide leftists to a good voting alternative".
Thats pretty much it. If youre interested and know Swedish, I recommend you check out Arbetaren.se (www.arbetaren.se). Otherwise, I cant really direct you anywhere. If I see any English reports from this, Ill post them.
EDIT: On a more sad note, the total number of people organised in the SAC is currently around 5500, which is a drop from 7500 a couple of years ago. A major drop was seen when the conservatives and liberals won the election and started an anti-union policy. However, after the initial drop, the number seems to have stabilised now, and a lot of discussions has taken place as to what to do about it and how to increase the number of members, so Im pretty hopeful.
Amongst the 60 or so motions that was presented, a new "declaration of principles" (dont know the correct translation, but you get my point) was adopted and the creation of a new position, general secretary, was voted through.
The new principles (shortened and translated by me):
1. The workers of the world are exploited by the capitalist system, which only strives for profits. [...] Out of these conditions, the class-struggle is born.
2. Syndicalism is, first and foremost, a tradition of struggle within the workers movement, not an ideology. [...] By building an organisation with its basis in the workplaces, we can, in the short term, prevent the most immidate results of the exploitation, and in the long term, overcome the capitalist system.
3. Despite the splits within the working class, the SAC means that all workers shares some fundamental interests. [...] As all the workers share the same interest, there is a need for an organisation that also gathers all the workers.
4. The exploitation of the working class takes on different views (?) depending on where in the societal hierarchy we are. [...] No forms of discriminations or supression can be tolerated. The SAC is an antirasist and feminist organisation.
5. Within the SAC, we believe in the power and competence of the working class, which is to say, our own power and competence. We do not need the authorities blessing to give legitimacy to our struggle or justify our existance. We know that neither libertarian socialism or organising would be possible if we didnt believe in our own ability. The SAC believes that the workers must organise independently from all outer interests, as they are expressed by the state and the capitalists. The SAC is an anti-authoritarian organisation and sees direct action as the means to change society and our living- and working conditions.
6. Our power is based in our organisational method. [...] If workers are to organise effectively, the organisation needs to be independent from all other interests, except those of its members.
7. In the production of goods and services, workers have the power to change society. That power is latent in the process of production. [...] That is why the workplaces is our biggest and most important area of organisation.
8. Workers have no nations. Our lives are immidiately connected to our brothers and sisters all over the world. Global solidarity is a prerequisite for the liberation of the working class. The SAC oppose the violence that states, "non-governmental organisations" (couldnt think of a proper translation for it) and paramilitary groups use to uphold the world order of capitalism. The SAC believes workers have a right to defend themselves towards their violence.
9. The goal of the SAC is libertarian socialism: a society no longer divided by rulers and ruled; a society no longer consisting of exploiters and the exploited; a society liberated from the force of government. Under libertarian socialsm, society controls the direction of the production, which gives work meaning. The workers control the organising of the producion, which gives the work substance.
10. We have a big task ahead of us, but we know that we can organise and win victories. We struggle with our own power, we fight were we live our lives, simple as that. That is the only way for the self-responsibility to develop, which is the foundation of the free socialism.
This is all roughly translated, and I left some parts out, because I couldnt be bothered to translate them. Either way, this is the SACs new principles (the last update of the principles happened in 1976, if Im not mistaken). There is also the issue of the general secretary, which hasnt existed for a few years (there was one before, but Im not sure between what years). This position was removed before, because the SAC decided it prevented the members from organising independently and volountarily. The volountary organisation didnt really work out as planned, so the position is back. The mission of the GM is mostly to coordinate the efforts of the different LSs (Lokal Samorganistaion: Local Branch), not to wield any executive powers over the different local branches. I myself am a bit skeptical towards this, but I dont really know how it worked without a GM, seeing as I wasnt a member then.
Apart from that, a motion to create a "Register Coordinator" was voted down. For those that doesnt know what the Register is, Ill explain it shortly. It is a method of struggle, which a few of the local branches within the SAC has adopted. Basically, what they do, is that they create statistics over the wages and working conditions of a certain area of work, say for example the restaurants in a certain area. When they have gathered these statistics, they themselves decide on an acceptable wage and what they deem to be acceptable working conditions, and then they go after every restaurant that doesnt live up to the conditions set by the Register. The aim of the Register is to take away from the powers of setting wages from the employers, and ultimately, strip them of all their powers. You have to keep in mind that not all the local branches of the SAC are part of the Register and that they only have around 1500 members, of which a majority are "paperless", ie they dont have any documentation that theyre here legally. This results in them working "black", outside of any institutions control. Either way, this method was applied in the beginning of the century in Sweden (dont know if it was applied anywhere else, probably was), by the LO (the social democratic union). Back then, it was much bigger and stronger than it is today, and in some places, it worked as a unemployment office of sorts. Lets take an example. Lets say youre moving from town A to town B and you need a job. You go to the local office of the Register, and they have a list of all the employers in town. They then recommend you to go to employers C or D, because they treat their workers fairly. Employer E and F are real swines, so theyre pretty much boycotted. This, of course, aimed to strip the employers of their powers to employ, or at least this was the ambition, Im not sure if it worked that way everywhere. This is the general purpose of the Register. Now, back to the motion. A few local branches connected to the Register motioned for a coordinator, but this was voted down, due to there being too few local branches connected to the Register.
There was also a discussion on what the conditions for applying for a membership in the SAC should be, and the Central Comittee suggested that if you are in any sort of position where you set wages or have any sort of priviliage similiar to that of an employer, you are prohibited from joining (this is already in effect). They also suggested that people applying for a membership cant be blackfoots or have a history of being one, nor should an applying person be admitted if they have a record of naming people to the authorities. This was, however, not voted through, as it is the responsibility of each local branch to decide this.
As a final note, there will be a new editor for the SACs weekly paper, Arbetaren (The Worker). As far as I can tell, he seems alright. He said he wants to concentrate on creating a precense of the paper on workplaces and such, which I cant really disagree on. He at least seems better than the alternatives, of which one wanted the paper to "guide leftists to a good voting alternative".
Thats pretty much it. If youre interested and know Swedish, I recommend you check out Arbetaren.se (www.arbetaren.se). Otherwise, I cant really direct you anywhere. If I see any English reports from this, Ill post them.
EDIT: On a more sad note, the total number of people organised in the SAC is currently around 5500, which is a drop from 7500 a couple of years ago. A major drop was seen when the conservatives and liberals won the election and started an anti-union policy. However, after the initial drop, the number seems to have stabilised now, and a lot of discussions has taken place as to what to do about it and how to increase the number of members, so Im pretty hopeful.