Fifth Congress of the Communist International
This resolution was presented to the 5th Congress of the Communist International
in the context of a split in the trade union movement internationally, and in many countries, which
led many communists to conclude that the reformist unions could not be won to
revolution, and that communists should join or form revolutionary unions only.
The leaders of the CI argued that the communists must fight for working class
unity, making it clear that the reformists were the splitters, in order to win
over the masses in the unions. The resolution advocates that communists pursue a
policy of a united front from below, all the while fighting for clear communist
policies;
First Published: in Inprekor, iv, 119, p. 1577, 16 September 1924. These extracts were published in The Communist International: 1919-1943, documents/ selected
and edited by Jane Degras. 3 vols. Vol. 2, 1923-1928, pp.127-134;
Source: [email protected].
...By fighting inside the unions for unity, communists extend the sphere of influence of the communist parties and the Communist International without for a momnet losing contact with the massses. The fight for unity inside the trade union movement is the best way of winning the masses...The old Comintern slogans of winning, not destroying hte unions, of oposing flight from the unions, of fighting for the re-entry of those who have left, of fighting for unity - these slogans remain in force and must be carried through with resolution and energy...
Our attitude to the Amsterdam International as defined by previous congresses remains in force. In its top ranks the Amsterdam International is a bulwark of international imperialsim, an organization expressing particularly blatantly the conservatism, backwardness, national narrow-mindedness, bourgeois-imperialist sentiments of the workers most corrupted by the bourgeoisie. The fight against the Amsterdam International remains the most important task of the Comintern and its sections ...In our fight there are two things we must remember: (a) that there are millions of workers in the Amsterdam unions; (b) that a left wing has arisen there, still formless and politically vacillating... These workers will be emancipated from the reformist illusions to the extent that communists manage to take the lead in the industrial struggles of the working class. Industrial disputesa re particularly favourable occasions for the application of united front tactis for exposing the fascitst strike-breaking role of the leaders. The left wing of the Amsterdam International has no clear program and tactics... A beginning has been made on the question of the attitude to the Russian unions, but on the fundamental political questions (reparations, Dawes plan, colonial policy, coalitions with the bourgeoisie, etc), the left wing does not yet differ in essentials from the right. The fundamental and cardincal defect of this left wing is that it wishes to 'reconcile' reformaism and communism, and cherishes the hope that it can find a middle way between these two deadly enemies...The Comintern and the communist parties support the left wing in so far as it really fights against the programme and tactics of the Amsterdam International. To oversetimate the left wing, to ignore its timidity and inconsistency would be a grave error. Communists and the trade union organizations they control must propose to the left wing of the Amsterdam International the formation of joint committess of action... Communists must demand that the left wing in the Amsterdam International, who say that an understasnding with the revolutionary unions is desirable, that they put these proposals into action in every country in the daily struggle...
The four years work of the Red International of Labour Unions has brought together and united all the revolutionary elements in teh world trade union movement into a single world organisation. The Amsterdam International has long lost its monopoly. It is the task of the Comintern and its parties to fight energetically for the for the further unification of the revolutionary unions, for their organisation in the RILU, and for the xtension of communist influence and communist leadership inthe red unions of all countries. These tasks can be accomplished only if the fight for the unity of the trade union movement is carried through with all consistency...Unity could be re-established by convening an itnerantional unity congress at which all unions affiliated to AMsterdam and the RILU are represented on a proportional basis. Such an international unity congress, at which all unions thoroughout the world would have to be represented, could lay the foundations for a new united trade union international ... The creation of a united international on the basis of freedom of agitation and the strictest discipline in all actions agaisnt the bourgeoisie would naturally lead to the dissolution of the existing parallel internationals (RILU and IFTU). But so long as we do not succeeed in re-establishing the international unity of the trade union movement, the Communist International and teh communist parties must ocntinue to give support and assistanc eto the RILU and all organisations affiliated to it.
...The weaknesses in
our trade union work are in general the following:
1. Inmany countries there
are no communist fractions' where they exist they have been created from
above.
2. The failure to form fractions in organisations led by communists or
communist sympathisers.
3. The failure to form fractions in reformist unions
when there are parallel revolutionary unions (france).
4. Inadequate
discipline applied to party members who follow their own line, leading to flight
from the unions and the pursuit of their own independent trade union policy,
regardless of the decisions of the parties and the Comintern (Germany).
5.
The paries pay too little attention to the revolutionary unions which have been
formed alongside the reformist unions (America, Belgium, Holland); they should
systematically guide these revolutionary workers and train them in the use of
communist tactics.
6. Propaganda in unions is too abstract...
7. With few
exceptions (Germany), work in the factory committeees lack s care and
thoroughness; inability ot exploit mass industrial struggles to build up factory
committees.
8. Craft traditions and prejudices, still deeply rooted even
among revolutionary workers, are not combated strongly enough.
9.
Preparatiosn for trade union and trade union federation congresses and
conferences are extremely bad from the political and party angles; speeches by
communists at such meetings are quite casual.
10. excessive nervousness in
regard to reformist splitting measures, inadequate exploitation of individual
and particulalry mass expulsions from the unions.
11. Understimation of the
fact that the factory, factory committee, and the trade union are the natural
field for organising the workers united front.
12. Undersetimation of the
importance of trade union work...
All these weaknesses exist in different
degrees in almost all countries. The basic defect, and the origin of all
weaknesses in our trdae union work, is the abscence of party cells in the
factories...
1. The central task
of all communist parties is to build fighting fractionsbeginning with the
factory...and to strengthen the control of party organisations over the
activities of individual members and particuarly trade union fractions.
2.
Work must be concentrated on the masses and factories. Hence the necessity of
forming factory committees where they do not yet exist, and of revolutionising
and intensifying the work of those already in existence....
4. All
independent revolutionary unions, and the unions of those expelled by the
reformists, must be unbtied in every country and brought together with the
opposition in the reformist unions through committees of action...
6. Where
the trade union movement is split, systematic work must be carried on among the
masses for the re-establishment of unity by the calling of a unity congress on
the basis of proportional representation and freedom of the ideological
struggle..
7. .... Unrelenting struggle must be waged against communists
leaving the unions. The slogan must be 'Back to the unions'...
9. Particular
attention must be paid to the organisation of workers in those industries which
may play a decisisve part in the working-class struggle for power (transport,
mining, engineering, chemicals, electrical power stations, and gas-works). Teh
success of communist party work in the unions will be measured by its success in
uniting and organising these most important branches of the national
economy.
10. A start must be made on the formation of mixed committees
(French-German, German-Polish, German-Czech, English-Russian, Russian-Polish,
etc) to organise joint parallel actions on both sides of the frontier....
11.
The communist parties in countries where the bourgeoisie exploit colonial and
semi-colonial peoples must pay particular attention to the growing trade union
movement in the colonies...
13. It is a condition of success inthe struggle
that we shoudl know our enemies. Therefore the communist parties and the unions
musst make a thorough study of employers' organisations, their structure, their
agencies, and the means they use to corrupt and disintegrate the workers'
organisations...
14. All communist parties should establish close contacts
between the unions and the members of the unions doing military service...In
particular we must try to establish close contact between the merchant seamen's
organisations and the sailors in the navy.
The fifth Comintern congress endorses all decisiosn of previous congresses on the taks of communists in the trade union movement, and directs the attention of all communistpartiues to the extreme importance of this work...This is a question of life an death for the social revolution. That is why the fifth congress summons all its sectiosn not to depart by one hair's breadth from the decisions, and to carry through to the end the winning of the unions, that is, the winning of the masses.