The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-11-09
BY V. YARoTskY.

] DAAD u eAACh that Tie WI hG4S nave Sc
cured the right of organization only as
/ the result of the most fierce and stub
born struggle There is no need to
recall that the first quarter of the 10Th
century was an epoch of the struggle
of the British workers for the right to
combine Up to the SOS the French
/ workers had to suffer the most intense
/ prosecutions for the slightest attempt
to unite against their masters, nor
need we recall the wellknown fact
Of the complete prohibition of any
workers organizations whatsoever in
former Russia prior to the first revolu-
ton of 1905. The subsequent law on
societies March 4, 1906, however.
had for its object the stemming of
| the stormy growth Of the trade unions,
which task it fulfilled successfully.
All these historic facts are now we'll
known to every educated worker.
More important, however, is the fact
that after the formal recognition on
the part of the bourgeoisie of the
/ rights of the workers to form their
own organizations, the working class
was compelled by bitter experience to
admit the truth of Lassalle's concep-
ton that every Constitution" Qnclud-
ing the law on trade unions) is moth
ing more nor less than an "expres.
sion of the real correlation of forces"
The offensive of capitalism against
labor in present-day England quite
1 definitely confirms this conception, in
! view of the policy of the conservative
/ government of Great Britain, which is
most definitely based on restricting
the rights of the trade unions. And
since under bourgeois rule the real
/ correlation of forces always has the
sharp end of the wedge directed
against the working class, the preca-
robustness of the entire system of legal
norms which determine the frame
work Of activity and the rights of the
! trade unions in capitalist countries
becomes evident
U. S. S. r. Presents Different Case.
WE find quite a different state Of
W affairs under the conditions of the
Droletarian dictatorship established in
The U. S. S. R. after the October revo-
| luton. The result of the revolution
vas a radical shifting in the entire
system Of correlation of social forces:
The rule of the bourgeoisie was re-
placed by the rule of the working
| class. This, in the first place, was
| bound to be reflected by a change in
| the very nature of the legislation on
| trade unions Instead of the laws and
legal standards which regulate the
rights of trade unions being SCRAPS
Of paper" scrapped at every step by
the organs of the bourgeois state and
the employers, these standards in the
U. S, S. R. are a part of the funda-
mental laws of the workers and peas.
ants country in which the govern
ment is constructed on the basis of
working class rule. Article 10 of the
constitution of the u. S. S. r. estab-
fishes on the one hand the social and
not state legal status of the trade
unions, as it presupposes the support
Of state organs to the unions, as work
ers' organizations constructed on the
| basis of independent activity. On the
other hand, this article definitely
brings the trade unions into the sys-
tenn Of social relstions, enjoying par
ticular privileges in the workers
state. 1t implies the grant of prem
| ses as labor palaces" trade union
houses" etc, rent free, reduction in
ices for utilizing the post, telegraph,
telephone, railway and water trans
port, etc.
Already from the mere fact of the
! inclusion Of support of the trade
I unions being amongst the fundamental
tasks Of the state it arises that the
rights and powers of the trade unions
in the U. S. S. r. must be regarded as
something quite different from those
/ in bourgeois countries. Under condi-
tons of proletarian dictatorship these
rights are a system Of social relations
which strengthen the proletarian die
tatOrship itself.
This is the reason why the legisla-
ton on trade unions in the U. S. S. r.
has a very broad structure and grants
these unions rights unknown IN the
legislation of western Europe or Amer
lea.
Sole Lawful Body Of Workers.
ENIRST Of all, according to the labor
legislation OF the U. S. S. r., the
trade unions are the only lawful rep
resentatives Of the workers in social,
political and economic life. This con-
ception is formulated in the code Of
abor laws" in the following manner:
The trade unions, which comprise citi-
Zens working for wages in state, So
cial and private enterprises, institu-
lions and businesses have the right to
approach various organs on behalf OF
the wage earners as a party conclud.
ing collective agreements and also act
| 49,