There is power in a union! A few comments on anarchism and the labour movement, with some suggestions of what we should be doing to spread anarchist ideas in it. The anarchist origins of May Day Not many people know why May Day became International Workers Day and why we should still celebrate it. It all began over a century ago when the American Federation of Labour adopted an historic resolution which asserted that "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labour from and after May 1st, 1886". In Italian as Le origine anarchiche del Primo Maggio Syndicalism : Its strengths & weaknesses The main organisational form in libertarian politics today is syndicalism. Alan MacSimon, a delegate to Dublin Council of Trade Unions who has also attended a European gathering of revolutionary unions looks at the potential, and limits, of syndicalism. Italian Syndicalism and Fascism Article refuting Bob Black's claims that the "Italian syndicalists mostly went over to Fascism." In fact, they fought fascism tooth and nail. Printed in Black Flag 217 Reply to Bob Black Letter in reply to Black's comments on the article "Italian Syndicalism and Fascism." From Black Flag 219 Low pay = Jobs? A global lie A low paid job is better than no job. At least that's what those supporting corporate Globalisation argue. Big companies like Nike and Gap pay workers badly, expect them to work long hours in appalling conditions, buy off or exclude their trade-unions but at least at the end of the day, these workers take home a pay packet. WSM position paper on The Trade Unions Unions - how can the 'democratic deficit' be tackled? The leaderships see themselves as a protected elite, and many union members feel powerless to do anything about it. Rulebooks are often written in such a way as to make it as difficult as possible for ordinary members to influence how decisions are arrived at. Review : The Labour Movement and the Internet The internet - viewed by some as the highway to the future, dismissed by others as an over - hyped toy with little practical value. Conor Mc Loughlin reviews a new book on the internet and its use by the labour movement.

Anarchist-Communists and the Italian 'Base Union' Movement Since its beginnings, the Italian workers' movement has expressed two trends: one bureaucratic and tending towards reformist, the other self-organized and tendentially more radical or revolutionary Pissed Off Projectionists: Bringing The Class War to a Theater Near You! For the first time in nearly seventy years anarchist militants would be at the forefront of a class struggle in the Boston area, successfully leading a campaign for unionization using explicitly anarchist strategies, tactics, and methods of organizing. Class Struggle In The Green Mountains: Vermont Workers' Center The VWC opened the doors to its first office space in the spring of 1998. The mission of the center reads: "We seek an economically just and democratic Vermont in which all residents have living wages, decent health care, childcare, housing and transportation Developing Workers' Autonomy: An Anarchist Look at Flying Squads Flying squads -- rapid response networks of workers that can be mobilized for strike support, demonstrations, direct action and working class defense of immigrants, poor people, and unemployed workers The two souls of the trade unions [1995] Union activists are facing new management attacks but the trade union leadership speaks only of partnership with the bosses. Des Derwin, member of the Executive of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions and of the Dublin Private Sector Regional Executive Committee of SIPTU gives his personal view on the two souls of the unions. Workers fight for useful jobs Jobs are under threat all over the place. It is not just ones that are useful to us; that are chopped. There are also workers in plants producing weapons, nuclear power, and so on whose futures are far from secure What the Lucas plan proposed Over a period of two years a series of proposals that later became known as the Lucas Plan were drawn together through the active involvement of most of the workers in the 15 different Lucas factories. Its aim was to shift Lucas Aerospace, away from the production of military goods and towards the production of socially useful goods

(British) Anarchist Trade Union Network The object of @TU is to link up anarchists with an interest in work and trade unions, share information and news, debate issues, organise and generally raise the profile of anarchism in unions and to develop campaigns (for example pushing to get unions to disaffiliate from the Labour Party and to spend the money on their members).