A Trend in the Wrong Direction..in history..

 

 

 

 

A Trend in the Wrong Direction

(The case for defending an independently elected Party Control Commission was made by US revolutionary James P Cannon at a time when the Trotskyist party in the US, The Socialist Workers Party, was experiencing a growth of members as a result of the student radicalisation of the 1960's.
Posted for those interested in past discussions relating to organisation and cadre development in a Leninist Party.-Martyn Ahmet)



November 12, 1966
Copies to:

Ed Shaw, New York

Jean Simon, Cleveland

Reba Hansen

New York, N.Y
Dear Reba:
This answers your letter of November 2 with which you enclosed a copy of Jean Simon’s letter of October 12. I was surprised and concerned by Jean’s proposals to change the constitutional provisions providing for an independent Control Commission elected by the convention, and making it a mere subcommittee of the NC, which would mean in effect a subcommittee of the PC. This would be the de facto liquidation of the Control Commission as it was originally conceived.
As far as I can see all the new moves and proposals to monkey with the Constitution which has served the party so well in the past, with the aim of “tightening” centralization, represent a trend in the wrong direction at the present time. The party (and the YSA) is too “tight” already, and if we go much further along this line we can run the risk of strangling the party to death.
As I recall it, the proposal to establish a Control Commission, separately elected by the convention, originated at the Plenum and Active Workers’ Conference in the fall of 1940, following the assassination of the Old Man. The assassin, as you will recall, gained access to the household in Coyoacan through his relations with a party member.[6] The Political Committee was then, as it always will be if it functions properly, too busy with political and organizational problems to take time for investigations and security checks on individuals.
It was agreed that we need a special body to take care of this work, to investigate rumors and charges and present its findings and recommendations to the National Committee.
If party security was one side of the functions of the Control Commission, the other side - no less important - was to provide the maximum assurance that any individual party member, accused or rumored to be unworthy of party membership, could be assured of the fullest investigation and a fair hearing or trial. It was thought that this double purpose could best be served by a body separately elected by the convention, and composed of members of long standing, especially respected by the party for their fairness as well as their devotion.
I can recall instances where the Control Commission served the party well in both aspects of this dual function. In one case a member of the seamen’s fraction was expelled by the Los Angeles Branch after charges were brought against him by two members of the National Committee of that time. The expelled member appealed to the National Committee and the case was turned over to the Control Commission for investigation. The Control Commission, on which as I recall Dobbs was then the PC representative, investigated the whole case, found that the charges lacked substantial proof and recommended the reinstatement of the expelled member. This was done.
In another case, a rumor circulated by the Shachtmanites and others outside the party against the integrity of a National Office secretarial worker was thoroughly investigated by the Control Commission which, after taking stenographic testimony from all available sources, declared the rumors unfounded and cleared the accused party member to continue her work. There were other cases in which charges were found after investigation to be substantiated and appropriate action recommended.
All these experiences speak convincingly of the need for a separate Control Commission of highly respected comrades to make thorough investigations of every case, without being influenced by personal or partisan prejudice, or pressure from any source, and whose sole function is to examine each case from all sides fairly and justly and report its findings and recommendations. This is the best way, not only to protect the security of the party, but also to respect the rights of the accused in every case.
As far as I know, the only criticism that can properly be made of the Control Commission in recent times is that it has not always functioned in this way with all its members participating, either by presence or correspondence, in all proceedings - and convincing the party that its investigation was thorough and that its findings and recommendations were fair and just.

* * *

It should be pointed out also that the idea of a Control Commission separately constituted by the convention didn’t really originate with us. Like almost everything else we know about the party organizational principles and functions, it came from the Russian Bolsheviks. The Russian party had a separate Control Commission. It might also be pointed out that after the revolution the new government established courts. It provided also for independent trade unions which, as Lenin pointed out in one of the controversies, had the duty even to defend the rights of its members against the government. Of course, all that was changed later when all power was concentrated in the party secretariat, and all the presumably independent institutions were converted into rubber stamps. But we don’t want to move in that direction. The forms and methods of the Lenin-Trotsky time are a better guide for us.

* * *

I am particularly concerned about any possible proposal to weaken the constitutional provision about the absolute right of suspended or expelled members to appeal to the convention. That is clearly and plainly a provision to protect every party member against possible abuse of authority by the National Committee. It should not be abrogated or diluted just to show that we are so damn revolutionary that we make no concessions to “bourgeois concepts of checks and balances.” The well-known Bill of Rights is a check and balance which I hope will be incorporated, in large part at least, in the Constitution of the Workers Republic in this country. Our constitutional provision for the right of appeal is also a “check and balance.” It can help to recommend our party to revolutionary workers as a genuinely democratic organization which guarantees rights as well as imposing responsibilities, and thus make it more appealing to them.
I believe that these considerations have more weight now than ever before in the thirty-eight-year history of our party. In the present political climate and with the present changing composition of the party, democratic centralism must be applied flexibly. At least ninety percent of the emphasis should be placed on the democratic side and not on any crackpot schemes to “streamline” the party to the point where questions are unwelcomed and criticism and discussion stifled. That is a prescription to kill the party before it gets a chance to show how it can handle and assimilate an expanding membership of new young people, who don’t know it all to start with, but have to learn and grow in the course of explication and discussion in a free, democratic atmosphere.
Trotsky once remarked in a polemic against Stalinism that even in the period of the Civil War discussion in the party was “boiling like a spring.” Those words and others like it written by Trotsky, in his first attack against Stalinism in The New Course, ought to be explained now once again to the new young recruits in our party. And the best way to explain such decisive things is to practice what we preach.
Yours fraternally,
James P. Cannon

Defend the 4: Historic victory for Socialist Party trade-unionists

From the Socialist:

The white flag of surrender is currently flying over Unison HQ (Britain’s main public sector union). For five and half years the union bureaucracy have sought to justify and defend the witch-hunt against four Unison activists and Socialist Party (CWI in England & Wales) members.

They have spent over £100,000 and have been prepared to lose thousands of defecting members and many good activists.

Despite losing in two courts - Employment Tribunal (ET) and Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) - they were still willing to spend another £100,000 in taking the case to the Court of Appeal, with the Orwellian argument that the lower courts had breached the union’s human rights in not being allowed to ban the four!

The case was due to be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in December. But on 20 November the union did a complete U-turn.

They have written to the court to withdraw their appeal. In doing so the union has now accepted the previous courts’ decision that they acted illegally.

A hearing will now be called to determine the compensation that the union will have to pay to the four.

The four have now set legal history in defending the right of union members to defend themselves from being attacked by union bureaucracies seeking to silence them.

The four Socialist Party members were disciplined by Unison on trumped-up charges of racism, after producing a leaflet at the 2007 Unison conference, challenging the Standing Orders Committee about ruling resolutions off the conference agenda. The ET completely exonerated the four on bogus allegations of racism.

Unison took disciplinary action in 2007 against Glenn Kelly, Onay Kasab, Brian Debus and Suzanne Muna and then took three of the activists’ branches away from democratic lay member control and into regional administration.

The Four challenged the union’s actions in court and twice the courts ruled that they were unlawfully and unjustifiably disciplined.

The EAT further found that the disciplinary action violated Unison members’ democratic rights.

Unbelievably, Unison filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal against the ET and EAT’s decisions. Then on 17 July this year, Unison demanded the right to claim costs if they won the appeal. But the Unison leadership’s demands were thrown out of court.

In a humiliating response to Unison’s attempts to bully the four out of defending themselves in court due to lack of money, Lord Justice Elias called Unison "shabby".

This is a victory for the Socialist Party and the Four, who have refused to be bullied and intimidated. They have run a determined five-year campaign exposing the actions of the union.

The Socialist Party would also like to put on record its thanks to the lawyers who gave their support and time for free, showing that not all lawyers are just in it for the money, in particular, Nick De Marco.

NSSN conference calls for one-day general strike against austerity

Around 500 workplace reps assembled in Friends Meeting House in London Euston today for an excellent sixth annual National Shop Stewards Network conference.

After watching a moving film commemorating the many struggles and anti-cuts events over the last year, NSSN chair Rob Williams kicked off the day's discussions, reminding the audience that it was their conference, to discuss and debate building workplace struggles, solidarity, and action across the whole trade union movement.

To introduce the first discussion, entitled 'The Fight back against Austerity', the conference was addressed by PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka, NUT Deputy General Secretary Kevin Courtney, BMA member Dr Jackie Grunskill, and from Northern Ireland the newly elected NIPSA (Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance) President Padraig Mulholland.
 

NIPSA President Padraig Mulholland

Mark Serwotka emphasised the unprecedented nature of the attacks in this period, concluding that "normal rules of engagement do not apply".

With 85% of the cuts still to come, unions need a response that is up to the scale of the battle; "a radical opposition is required now more than ever...

"We need people bold enough to say that there should not be a single cut". He supported the NSSN's intention of lobbying the TUC in September to call for more strike action on the scale of 30 November 2011 and greater.

Padraig Mulholland deplored the hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs that are being lost and the fact that with wages being held down and working hours cut, "poverty levels are going through the roof".

He called for unified, non-sectarian workers' struggle against the coalition government and said that his union is preparing for the autumn, when he believes there needs to be a one-day strike as part of a unified fight across Britain and Northern Ireland.

Kevin Courtney emphasised the need for trade unionists to build strong networks on the ground and recognised the NSSN as a serious organisation in this process.

He declared that defending pensions is still a crucial demand, and that it is possible for governments to make changes.

For instance President Hollande in France has just reduced the pension age from 62 down to 60! To strengthen the fight on pensions and wider issues, the NUT is aiming to build unity amongst teachers by working with the NAS/UWT following an agreement of "historic significance".

After these first platform speeches, NSSN communications officer Suzanne Muna moved a NSSN Guide to Action, which welcomed the TUC national demo being organised in October and called for it to be a "start to the next phase of an action-based campaign against austerity.

"We advocate that the next step should be for the TUC to organise a one-day general strike, which includes both public and private sectors" (for the full text see below).

Then came a wide-ranging discussion from the floor in which trade unionists from a number of different unions took part, including Unison, PCS, NUT and Unite.
 

Afternoon agenda

Later in the day, a session entitled Workers in Struggle was addressed by RMT president Alex Gordon, POA chair PJ McParlin, Youth Fight for Jobs activist Jacqui Berry, Remploy trade unionist Ray Ludford and by a rank and file construction worker.

Speakers from the floor gave valuable elaboration on recent workplace disputes, including on MMP in Bootle, Coryton refinery, Honda, Ratcliffe-on-Soar and Sheffield recycling centres.

Phil Potter FOC at MMP Bootle addresses conference

PCS member Tony Mulhearn from the Liverpool 47, who was a Liverpool mayoral candidate for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) last month, spoke of the importance of TUSC in encouraging workers to stand as anti-cuts candidates in elections.

A business section of the conference was introduced by NSSN secretary Linda Taaffe, who referred to a written report that had been circulated (text below).

Linda appealed for finance donations to be sought widely from supporting trade unionists and trade unions; and a new steering committee was elected for 2012-13.

Finally, in an inspiring end to the day, international solidarity was expressed, via a filmed address from Greece, and by Esenbek Ukteshbayev from the trade union federation Zhanartu in Kazakhstan who graphically explained the plight of socialists and trade unionists in Kazakhstan who are being harassed, jailed and even killed by the Nazarbayev regime.

In a rousing closing speech, PCS assistant general secretary Chris Baugh summed up the conference, paying tribute to the many excellent contributions during the day when he commented: "To try to do justice to all of the speakers is virtually impossible".

He spoke of the need to prepare for an autumn offensive against the government's attacks that will be on a bigger scale than last year and "this time it must involve workers across the public and private sectors".

Few of the hundreds present in the hall will have left without feeling that the NSSN has already made a tremendous mark on events, and with the authority and allegiances it is building up, can go on to become an even more decisive force in making sure we have a trade union movement that is up to the tasks ahead.
 

Terry Pearce from Bracknell commented:

Excellent NSSN conference, inspiring speeches from trade union activists fighting victimisation, redundancy and attacks on their wages and conditions.

These are rank and file workers at the coalface of the struggle against this vicious government and the bosses.

Great platform speeches from some of our best trade union leaders. Inspirational videos and speeches from trade unionists from around the world, many facing state violence on a day to day basis.

These were not merely nice, articulate speeches, they are a reflection of the day to day struggle of workers in austerity Britain. This conference was however more than just about speeches, this was a call to action.

We call for full support for the TUC national demonstration on 20 October, but more than that we call on the TUC to announce a one day General Strike of both public and private sectors.

This is now the only way to combat the Coalition's pensions cuts and cuts to wages, jobs, services, privatisation of the NHS etc.

We call on all NSSN supporters to redouble their efforts over the coming months to build support for this strike around the country, at the same time this will build the NSSN and increase the effectiveness of rank and file trade unionism throughout the country.