The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-05-16
The Fight for World Trade Union Unity

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testant and similar trade union or
CARNATIONS.
The most serious obstacle on this
road is the line Of tactics of the right
wing of the Amsterdam international,
which want to choke off the initiative
campaign for unity at any price; the
methods Of sabotage employed to this
end are extremely varied. The or
ganizational and political focus of the
campaigns against unity is however,
the Second International, and this for
very simple reason: Whoever advo-
Gates the united front of the bour-
geosie must be against the united
front Of the workers.
The complexity of the situation,
the difficulty of the struggle, old hab-
its and traditions, insufficient flexibil-
ity, and the inability to make the
necessary organizational changes have
also given rise to several deviations
in our own ranks. The more openly
we speak Of those deviations, the
sooner will we succeed in overcom-
ing them.
THESE deviations are as follows:
4 (a) Organizational conservatism;
OBJ the Interpretation of the slogan of
unity as a maneuver; (c) unity at
any price; (d) the bunting of the
struggle against the social-democracy
in trade unions; (e) tendencies for
the dissolution Of the revolutionary
trade unions, and even of the R. l.
L. u.
The fight against oreanizational
conservatism must be carried on by
us in the most decisive manner. If
the dissolution of any Independent
union may be Of service in the con-
quering Of mass organization, this
dissolution must take place, for or
ganization is not an end in itself but
means towards an end. Everything
depends upon the situation and the
ratio of the strength of the Com
munists and the reformists in the
labor movement.
On the other hand comrades are Of
the opinion that our slogan is only a
maneuver. This entirely incorrect
point of view must be combatted most
theoretically. We demand a serious,
self sacrificing and sincere struggle
for the unity Of the trade union move
ment. Every Communist, every party
member, must take note of this once
and for all.
THE obstinate resistance of the So
\ cial-democrats to unity has led
several adherents of unity to the fol-
lowing considerations: Since social-de-
mocracy bitterly opposes any endea-
vor for unity because of fear of Com
munist propaganda and agitation, it
may happen that the Communist
struggle against reformism will be
blunted for the sake of the unity Of
the trade union movement. This is
the most dangerous tendency in our
campaign for unity. If it should
chance to happen that in our strug-
gle for unity the intensity of our
Communist criticism against reform
ism should be blunted, then the unity
which we might have attained would
be turned against us. We must fight
any such tendencies in a most decis-
i've manner.
Further, we should notice that the
desire for unity with some comrades
takes on the form of stormy impati-
ence. This impotence serves as an
explanation also for those tendencies
which consider the liquidation of the
entire trade union movement as Che
only right solution. The Communist
International was and remains de-
cidedly against any such tendencies.
The struggle for unity does not sig
nifty liquidation. The liquidation Of
the r. I. L. U. is proposed as liquida-
ton In order to bring about a united
international, it presupposes the liqui-
dalton Of the Amsterdam international.
The situation is similar in the vari-
GUS countries France, Czecho-Slo-
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