This thread is not to be a rehashing of the class nature of the trade unions, I think that there is no question on this subject that they fall on the side of the bourgeoisie and function no less than as the policemen of the capitalist state in the proletarian ranks. That being said, I was wondering if any of you think that there is a quantifiable difference in the way in which unions operate depending on their particular legal configuration in their respective nation-states. I started thinking about this question from the exchange between Devrim and some Wobblies on the libcom thread "IWW Meltdown." Do the unions derail class struggle utilizing different tactics across the globe? If so, what are these variations? Do these variations matter in the context of left communist interventions into union cooption of working class militancy?
Definitely. There is a real division of labour between unions, and within unions, and this also follows national peculiarities. For example, in countries like Italy, France and Spain you have very left, rank and fileist, even 'anarchist' unions, reflecting the lack of control exerted by the main confederations, which are dominated by the Stalinists and Socialists. Examples are the COBAS in Italy, Sud in France, CGT in Spain. .
