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State and Citizen
The Corporate State
Stability and Progress
Power Over Finance
Strike Action
Fascist Europe
Foreign Policy
Conclusion
Regulation 18b
Roll of Honour
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Strike Action, Political Action, or Power Action - WHICH?
Reprint of 1936 British Union of Fascists document on Trade Unionism
 From
the earliest beginnings of Fascism and National Socialism in this country
our opponents have sought to discredit us in the eyes of organised workers
by persistently repeating the lie that we-the British Union-are out to
smash the Trade Union movement. This pamphlet is the reply to all such
lying statements. We seek to strengthen, not to smash, the Trade Union
movement, and a study of this pamphlet will, I am sure, prove to the real
trade unionist that we make no idle boast when we say 'that industrial
organisation has more to gain from National Socialism than from any other
conception of civilisation.
Far from desiring to smash trade unions, we take pride in the past history
of the unions; we appreciate the difficulties under which they operate;
we intend to strengthen the unions (by legislation not by pious wishes
and resolutions); we intend the unions, strengthened to 100 per cent membership
and built up to full industrial status, to play an important part in the
government of the State.
Thus, you will see that we take a vital interest in the past, present
and future of the trade unions in this country.
The role which the unions will fulfil under National Socialism in Britain
is one for which they will be endowed with full statutory powers, hence
we describe the exercise of these powers as "Power Action" in
contradistinction to the "Strike Action" and "Political
Action" which has previously marked the limits of trade union activity.
In the following pages we give our criticism of both strike action and
political action. We then set forth the details of our new "Power
Action," which we are convinced will meet with the approval of every
sound trade unionist. Will you consider these proposals before you allow
anybody to bluff you into the belief that the British Union is anti-trade
union?
THE MISSION OF TRADE UNIONS.
The early Trade Unions were formed in the teeth of an opposition as bitter
and as vindictive as that which is brought to bear against National Socialism
to-day. Its active spirits were victimised, imprisoned and persecuted.
After a stern and bitter struggle, the Unions were given legal recognition.
It was their mission to represent the collective interest of wage-workers
in the newly industrialised state, a state in which inhuman conditions
were the rule rather than the exception.
STRIKE ACTION.
 The
only weapon possessed by the workers in the early stages of their fight
was the strike weapon-the ability to effect a bargain with their employers
by withholding their labour. This was, at best, a poor weapon because
it injured the workers themselves and meant starvation for them and their
families. Moreover, whenever organised workers withheld their labour,
black-leg labour was brought in to take the place of the workers on strike,
leading to rioting and the use of troops to defeat the Unions in their
fight. Many a page of English history was written in the blood of those
early pioneers of the trade union movement with singularly little to show
on the credit side of the workers against the price which they were called
upon to pay for their right to organise and combine.
Although the methods of fighting have somewhat changed, the strike weapon,
after a century of effort to improve its efficacy is still a poor weapon
which can be justified only by the assumption that there is nothing better
to take its place.
It is my contention to-day, as it always has been my contention, that
strikes are futile. The only time when a strike could be successful would
be during a "boom" period when markets are rising. At such a
time concessions are granted at the threat of a strike without the threat
being carried into effect.
In modern times, however, the great majority of trade disputes are fights
in defence of existing standards when, during periods of depression, those
standards are threatened with reduction. In such conditions the strike
is able to achieve little or nothing which will be of benefit to the workers
concerned.
NO REAL BENEFITS.
At the worst a strike or lock-out in such circumstances benefits the employers
by allowing them a period of time in which accumulated stocks may be cleared,
during which period they are relieved from the necessity of paying wages
and the workers are starved into submission. The miners "lock-out"
of 1926 is a classic instance of this process.
At the best the workers concerned win a partial victory amounting to a
fraction of a penny per hour after forfeiting many weeks' wages whilst
on strike and their losses are seldom completely recovered.
POLITICAL ACTION-ITS TEST AND FAILURE.
In consequence of a realisation of the inherent weaknesses of strike
action, Keir Hardie and others associated with him set out at the latter
end of the nineteenth century to forge the alternative weapon of political
action for inclusion in the armoury of the Trade Unions. In 1900 the T.U.C.
combined with the I.L.P., the Fabian Society and some smaller associations
to form the Labour Party. In 1906 twenty-nine Labour M.P.s were returned
and the second weapon became available.
SWING OF THE PENDULUM.
From that time onward there has been a constant swinging of the Trade
Union pendulum from Strike Action to Political Action, and from Political
Action back to Strike Action.
In the thirty years which have intervened there have been two Labour Governments,
but the problems of adjustment between employers and employed have not
been solved.
That whole period has been marked by alternating disillusionment. Strikes
have been tried and they have failed. After every such failure has come
a phase of political action which in turn has failed. Then has followed
another phase of industrial action, and so the game has gone on. Small
gains have been registered in each sphere, but the sum total of all the
gains has not been commensurate with the progress of industrialism as
a whole.
TOO MANY IRONS IN THE FIRE.
Political Labour (the Labour Party) has had too many irons in the fire
to be able to look after the particular iron which it was their duty to
forge.
As politicians they have ceased to represent the interests of Labour in
the factories and workshops. Dabbling in Internationalism (the affairs
of other nations) has occupied far more of their time than attention to
Nationalism (the affairs of our own nation).
When these political leaders are sent to Parliament they are set in a
new atmosphere entirely divorced from the atmosphere of the worker in
the pit, the factory, the farm or the workshop. They join "the best
Club in London" and behave as "club-men" rather than as
workers. The problems which are of life-and-death seriousness to you become
merely interesting subjects of debate for them. They feel no economic
pressure. Their salaries are secure and adequate. By comparison with your
wages, even their old salary of £400 per year was adequate, but they have
been able to secure a £200-per-year increase in their own rate of remuneration
by political action without a strike. How happy you would be if they would
so well represent your interests as to obtain £200-per-year increase on
your income of much less than £400 per year for you through political
action which you have built up.
Your political leaders have graduated from the workshop to the talk shop.
You are still living far below the conditions which should be available
from the resources of modern technique in industry, although you have
generously placed them in a position where they receive a standard of
living which is the workers' just due. What are you going to do about
it?
SACK THEM, AND THEN WHAT?
Of course, if you do what you should in your own interests, you will sack
them for abusing your trust, but even then your problem remains. How are
you to improve your conditions until they approximate to what they should
be?
Sacking one set of leaders and replacing them by another set will not
solve your problem if you leave undisturbed the conditions which have
led to your betrayal. Your problem is not solved until you can devise
machinery which you can operate for the solution of your problem.
Let me state your problem briefly. You know full well that of the wealth
which you produce you do not receive your full share. You know, moreover,
that you could produce far more wealth (that is to say "goods ")
than you do produce. You know that if you were allowed to produce all
the wealth which you could produce and to receive your fair share of that
wealth the menacing features would be forever removed from your life.
Poverty, unemployment and insecurity would no longer have the power to
haunt your waking hours and make nightmares of the hours which should
be spent in sleep. The problem is 'twofold in nature. It is to (a) produce
more, and (b) receive more of what you do produce.
WORKERS' CONTROL IN INDUSTRY.
We National Socialists contend that a measure of workers' control in industry
is essential to the solution of that twofold problem. Workers' control
can be exercised only through workers' organisation, therefore, it is
frankly ridiculous to suggest that we desire to smash the unions. On the
contrary we want to improve the unions to make them fitting instruments
of control and then to invest them with the statutory authority which
will enable them to exercise that control.
Let us consider in order of importance the improvements we have in mind.
First of these is 100 per cent. Trade Unionism. At the present time, out
of 18,873,000 insured workers, a little over 4,000,000 are members of
Trade Unions, less than one-quarter of the total. Thus, in spite of all
the best efforts of the Unions, for every worker who is a trade unionist
there are three non-unionists.
HOW TO GET 100 PER CENT. TRADE UNIONISM.
There is only one satisfactory method of securing 100 per cent. Trade
Unionism-that is, by State legislation. Every worker will be compelled
by the law of the land to become a member of the trade or industrial union
appropriate to his trade, profession or calling just as at present he
is compelled by the law of the land to insure against sickness and unemployment.
The compulsion in one case is no more an encroachment on the liberty of
the individual than is the compulsion in the other case quoted. It follows
quite naturally that if workers are to be compelled to join their appropriate
unions, those unions must be National not sectional, industrial not political,
in character.
The concern of the unions under National Socialism would be with industrial
rather than Party political affairs. It would be obviously unfair with
unions on their present basis to compel workers who are fundamentally
opposed to the politics of the Labour Party to join a trade union which
is controlled and used to the Party advantage of the Labour Party.
INDUSTRIAL CONCERNS OF THE TRADE UNIONS.
The industrial questions with which trade unions will be concerned will
be 'those connected with and arising from their own industry, not the
affairs and conditions of other industries. The scope of their considerations
will be much wider than is at present the case and will cover not only
wages and hours of employment, but every phase which may re-act on the
well-being of the industry in which they, as workers, have invested their
most valued possession- life itself.
These workers' organisations will be concerned with planning for the equitable
distribution of the present product of industry with full authority to
assert all just claims, but, in addition, they will also have the authority
to take their own decisions for increasing the total output of their industry
and the equitable distribution of the increased output.
LEADERSHIP OF THE UNIONS.
The leadership of the unions would, of course, be based on the same industrial
considerations, and party politics would play no part in their selection.
They would be selected as leaders because of their knowledge of affairs
and service in their own industry. The members of the union who elect
them will elect them to attend to the affairs of their own, not some other
industry, and the members will hold such leaders personally responsible
for satisfactory progress and good conditions in their own industry.
CONTROL OF THE CORPORATIONS.
Under National Socialism every great industry will be controlled by a
corporation, conferring upon that industry powers of economic self-government.
In that corporation will be represented employees, employers, and consumers.
Each group possesses equal power, and in the event of a deadlock between
employees and employers, the Government will secure a fair deal for the
workers by direct intervention.
The employees' representatives will be elected by all the workers engaged
in the industry (exclusive of managers and high executives). These employees'
representatives would be the "leaders" of the Unions and would
be dependent on the vote of the employees concerned for their continued
leadership.
POWER ACTION.
It is now made clear that the "Power Action" of National Socialism
is something to be applied by the workers themselves through the Corporate
Machinery of the organised state. They will not have to plead a case to
the employers of their own industry, asking for charitable consideration
which they know in advance will not be forthcoming. Neither will they
have to "lobby" corrupt politicians who know little and care
less about the problems of workers in this, that, or the other industry.
They, as the workers in their own industry, will be given statutory powers
of control, equal to those of the employers, which they can use to determine
the conditions which shall obtain in their own industry.
They will be an integral part of the corporate machinery governing their
own industry, and as such have "power" in their own hands which
they can bring into action to secure for themselves progressively increasing
standards of living and the general improvement in conditions which they
require and which they know to be practicable.
THE SUPREMACY OF POWER ACTION.
This Power Action is constructive. It gives to those concerned in industry
the power to increase the yield of wealth from their own industry; Power
to direct the flow of this increased yield into the homes where it is
needed; Power to overcome the technical difficulties at present standing
in the way; Power to defeat the machinations of the vested interests of
International Finance which, at present, bar the way to prosperity; Power,
through the direct vote upon which the Government will depend, 'to change
that Government if at any time it fails to carry out its duties effectively.
Compare the above with the futility of strikes or lock-outs and all the
unnecessary suffering which 'they involve (strikes and lock-outs which
are mutually destructive for employees, employers, and the whole community).
Compare it, too, with the farce of present-day political action with glib-tongued
politicians, Labour leaders in the political field roaring like lions
when in opposition and braying like asses or bleating like sheep when
power is placed in their hands.
YOU GET THE POWER.
They promise you the millenium when seeking office and give you 'the "bird"
when they get there.
We offer you the "power" to do for yourselves the things you
want done.
You, as the people vitally concerned in your industry, will have the power,
through your industrial corporation to legislate conditions for that industry.
You will no longer be compelled 'to await legislation from a Parliament
which does not understand the requirements of your industry. You are the
people who understand the needs of your industry-miners for mining, engineers
for engineering, farmers and farm-workers for agriculture, spinners and
weavers for the textile industries, etc. Why should you wait on the will
of lawyers, financiers, and racketeers in Parliament for the essential
requirements of your industry?
National Socialism will give to you and your industrial corporation the
power to legislate your own industrial conditions.
The principles of organisation of the Trade Unions functioning within
the corporate state of National Socialism may be briefly summarised as
under:-
-
The respective unions must be on a basis of "one big union"
for each industry.
-
Each union must comprise within it's ranks 100 per cent. of the workers
engaged in the particular industry.
-
Octopus unions which have sought to merge under one control members
of different clearly defined industries must hand back to the union
from which they have been "pirated" those sections of workers
engaged in such industries.
-
Where members of a craft union are employed in a separate industry
they must function as members of the industrial union concerned, but
without prejudice to their right to membership in their craft union.
-
Reorganisation, where necessary, to meet these requirements, must
be carried out from within the unions.
-
Where one industrial union comprises clearly defined groupings of
workers engaged in widely different categories it should be organised
on a basis of category unions within the industrial union.
-
The funds of each union will be reserved for the benefit of contributors.
-
The rights and responsibilities of the unions will be incorporated
in a "Charter of Labour" drawn up by the unions and approved
by the Government.
Now let us consider the National Socialist attitude to existing trade
unions.
We view it as an obligation on all our members working in occupations
covered by trade union organisation to join and to serve their appropriate
unions.
They will work loyally within those unions for the attainment of our
ideals. They will not "scab" or "blackleg" in the
event of a dispute. We have a "fighting" reputation. That reputation
will be fully justified by our members in any dispute. They are not "quitters"
and you will find them standing loyally with you shoulder to shoulder
in closed ranks in any dispute affecting their own industry and willing
to give financial support to workers of any other British industry who
may need such support to help them through a dispute.
They will not, however, advocate or accept any responsibility for a strike
which has a political significance (i.e., any general strike which seeks
the overthrow of an elected Government). There is, and can be, no justification
for an effort on the part of any section of the people (however well organised
such section may be) to seek to reverse a majority decision, recorded
by ballot, of the whole of 'the people.
READ "ACTION"
- THE PATRIOTIC WORKERS' PAPER
FOR REAL TRADE UNION ARTICLES
British Union - 1936
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