The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-03-01
A Socialist in Search Of Workers Party

revolutionary use of parliamentary
struggles is Of vital Importance.
. UT the basic thing to remember
Lis that the struggle for workers
control of industry, if it is to be sue
cessful, must inevitably lead to a
struggle for power and the establish
ment Of the proletarian dictatorship.
This is a political struggle (not to
be confused with pure parliamentar-
ISM in which all the struggles Of the
workers on the industrial field find
their concentrated expression. 1t is
quite true that this conception of the
class struggle is not the conception
of the socialist party. AS was shown
above, the socialist party has aban-
doned the proletarian class struggle
altogether. But this only proves that
the entire plea of Budenz was sadly
misdirected. The socialist party can
no longer respond to pleas which call
for working class action of any kind.
A Slogan Full of Dangers.
d UDENZ proposes penetration of
1.-the unions "by a radical philo-
sophy," but warns against the cap
ture of the unions "by certain social
list or radical groups" He considers
the latter ga policy doomed to COM
plete defeat" This slogan of "pene-
tration but no capture" may sound
nice but it is full of dangers. More
over, too strict a devotion to such
policy inevitably leads to comprom-
Use with and surrender to the reac-
dictionary bureaucracy, which makes
penetration sheer mockery.
ITO attempt really to penetrate the
i unions with radical philosophy
chased on a sympathetic desire to at
tain victory for the workers." means
to engage in the most intensive
struggle with the policy of class col
Elaboration, compromise, betrayal,
corruption and surrender to the
bosses which is now dominating the
American trade union movement.
This means a life and death struggle
against the reactionary trade union
bureaucracy. Why? Because any
attempt at progressive action in the
made unions, however mild provided
il is sincere and consistent, meets
the bitterest and most INSCRIPTIONS
attacks of the reactionaries. The lat
ter stop before nothing to stem the
advance of progressive and working
class theology in the unions. Isn't
Budenz aware of that? Isn't he
familiar with the history of the
American labor movement? Right
now, today, the trade union reaction
aries are bending heaven and earth
to expel, destroy and rid the unions
of every progressive element even at
the cost of destroying the unions?
What lesson, can we learn from even
the recent experiences of the pro-
gressives and left wingers in the
Miners Union and in the Needle
Trades Unions, to mention only two ?
THE only lesson to be derived from
L these and similar experiences is
this: that in order to make the
unions what they ought to be or
gans of struggle for the interests Of
the workers-the unions must be
wrested completely out Of the hands
of the reactionaries and placed where
they belong, in the hands Of the rank
and file, led by progressive and eft
wing leadership. This must be the
program of every true and honest
progressive in the trade unions. This
is the program Of the Trade Union
Educational League. And it is to
these elements that Budenz must turn
for a solution of the problems which
confront the American trade union
movement at the present time.